How to Master Your Fingerboard

Once upon a time there was a young and somewhat cocky violinist who thought he just about had the violin all figured out.

So one day, whilst ‘talking shop’ with an old-timer, he listened with a very skeptical ear as the codger stated the following. ‘To have consummate knowledge of the fingerboard you must be able to place a finger on any note, no matter where it is on the violin, without any preparation. Just out of the air.’

‘Huh’, thought the young hotshot, ‘I bet he’s not talking about notes way up on the E string. There’s no way to put your hand on those without SOME kind of preparation. I mean, they’re so close together up there. I bet he’s confusing his wishful thinking for reality.’

As the years went by the cocky young violinist became a not-so-young and somewhat less cocky violinist.

His eyes and ears began opening to levels of playing in which feats described by the old-timer were taken for granted.

Fortunately, for the maturing player, his desire for improvement proved stronger than his skepticism. He desperately wanted to raise the level of his game.

And finally, he saw that to do so meant to develop in ways that stimulated and grew his mind.

He began to appreciate the POWER of mental visualization; and, more importantly, how to harness it to the specific task of mastering the violin fingerboard.

Though a challenge at first, the new way led to great security in performance and pleasure in practice.

After many years of benefit, the now fully seasoned and much wiser fiddler recognized the need to pass these secrets on to others.

And thus, ‘Kreutzer for Violin Mastery’ came into being.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. I thought to finish the little story above with a ‘The End’. But then I thought, ‘no, there is no end to worthwhile practice, just endless joy. Therefore my story should not be said to end.’

P.P.S. To join the story, if you’ve not already done so, pick up your copy of Kreutzer for Violin Mastery today.