Extend Like a Kirov Dancer
You may find this rather surprising, yet back in the mid-eighties yours truly here became familiar with ballet in a way few musicians do.
I married a dancer.
Now, the marriage, as it turned out, was rather short-lived, and I must admit to at least 50% of the blame for that. Yet, at the same time, I received a lot from that marriage, a lot of positive things. And those are what I chose to remember now.
I met Jamie during rehearsals for an interesting ballet, set to the music of Beethoven’s ‘Archduke Trio.’ Immediately I was intrigued, she was obviously highly sensitive and artistic.
When we arrived onstage, and I began to watch her dance, I fell in love.
Jamie had a way of completing movements that took one’s breath away. It was in her ability to HOLD an extension, something that she attributed to training for years with a former Kirov dancer.
Truly it set her apart from all but a very few American dancers at that time. After all, this was several years before ‘the wall’ came down. The Russian approach to dance was only present in this country through the handful of dancers that had managed to defect from the Soviet Union. A feat not easily accomplished.
In any case, I learned something from this exposure that has influenced my practice and thinking about technique and expression ever since.
You see, many a player will ‘chicken out’, lose their nerve, when face with large leaps of position or string. They will leave themselves room by prematurely departing for the new destination.
The great artists do not compromise. They FIND a way to sustain every note, full value, before proceeding; no matter what the seeming distance separating one from another.
And this you can do too.
On the violin the secret lies in understanding how to move one’s hands and arms efficiently and accurately; to take away the need for time.
One of the best etudes for learning and practicing the secrets of extension, is Kreutzer #12. This is the final etude you’ll find in Volume 1 of Kreutzer for Violin Mastery.
You may find this rather surprising, yet back in the mid-eighties yours truly here became familiar with ballet in a way few musicians do.
I married a dancer.
Now, the marriage, as it turned out, was rather short-lived, and I must admit to at least 50% of the blame for that. Yet, at the same time, I received a lot from that marriage, a lot of positive things. And those are what I chose to remember now.
I met Jamie during rehearsals for an interesting ballet, set to the music of Beethoven’s ‘Archduke Trio.’ Immediately I was intrigued, she was obviously highly sensitive and artistic.
When we arrived onstage, and I began to watch her dance, I fell in love.
Jamie had a way of completing movements that took one’s breath away. It was in her ability to HOLD an extension, something that she attributed to training for years with a former Kirov dancer.
Truly it set her apart from all but a very few American dancers at that time. After all, this was several years before ‘the wall’ came down. The Russian approach to dance was only present in this country through the handful of dancers that had managed to defect from the Soviet Union. A feat not easily accomplished.
In any case, I learned something from this exposure that has influenced my practice and thinking about technique and expression ever since.
You see, many a player will ‘chicken out’, lose their nerve, when face with large leaps of position or string. They will leave themselves room by prematurely departing for the new destination.
The great artists do not compromise. They FIND a way to sustain every note, full value, before proceeding; no matter what the seeming distance separating one from another.
And this you can do too.
On the violin the secret lies in understanding how to move one’s hands and arms efficiently and accurately; to take away the need for time.
One of the best etudes for learning and practicing the secrets of extension, is Kreutzer #12. This is the final etude you’ll find in Volume 1 of Kreutzer for Violin Mastery.
All the best, Clayton Haslop
P.S. Interestingly, a sensational etude for applying the same skills for clean, accurate shifts is found in number #11. Kreutzer was a smart guy, he just didn’t supply the ’how to’ maunal to go with his etudes. Good thing there’s one available now.
