How Fire Walking Meets Violin Playing

Right off the bat I’d like you to know that I’ve never fire-walked, nor do I have any intention of doing so. In fact the whole exercise is rather silly, in my humble opinion.

This is not to say that there isn’t something to be gleaned from the practice where violin playing is concerned.

But first let’s dispel some fiction surrounding this fire walking business.

There isn’t any fire.

There is, however, a bed of ash covered embers on which to transport yourself a certain distance. And, as I understand it, the layer of ash covering the embers actually insulates the practitioner’s feet from harm – as long as you keep moving and don’t do a Frankenstein imitation along the way.

In other words, no altered state of mind required.

Now, let’s get back to violin playing. What’s true of walking across a bed of hot coals is equally true of drawing beautiful sound out of a violin. You’ve got to keep the bow moving and you can’t do a Frankenstein imitation along the way.

Well, it’s ALMOST that simple.

There is, for instance, the matter of the slight increases and decreases of arm weight transferred to the string as you move from frog to tip and back. There is also the placement of the bow relative to the bridge, and the angle of the hair to the string.

All these I wrote about recently, if you opened the newsletter.

What I didn’t write about is what can be going on in your brain as you draw the bow through space.

You see, as I’m drawing the bow, I’m also visualizing myself drawing the bow and producing the sound I want to hear. And this isn’t something I only do with the violin under my chin.

In fact I recommend you exercise this power of the imagination many times a day. The more you recall this ‘right hand moving through space creating sound’ image to mind, the better your tone will get.

I also wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the exercise produces alpha waves in the brain – something to remember when it’s time to perform in public.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. For much more on the art of visualization as it applies to violin playing come put the distilled knowledge of a master in your DVD player.