Know Your Fingerboard, By Feel

Many years ago a well-known violinist was walking the streets of a major European city. As he passed a small but elegant hotel he heard the familiar sounds of the Tchaikovsky Concerto coming from the second floor suite.

The strange thing was, although it was being played exquisitely, it was all sounding one half step low. By listening for open strings the man determined that the violin itself was tuned down. His curiosity getting the better of him, he went into the hotel and asked who was occupying the 2nd floor suite.

It was Nathan Milstein.

When I heard of this story, sometime during the period I was seeing him regularly, it made immediate sense to me. ‘He’s forcing himself to play by feel,’ I thought.

Now, if you think this is an easy feat, try playing some highly chromatic music that takes you into position, with your instrument tuned down. Unless you really don’t have an ear, and have been playing by feel all this time, I bet you are going to find yourself pulling your hand sharp for quite a while until your ear ‘detunes’.

It takes discipline AND a good amount of mental exertion to keep yourself on pitch. The mind-expanding benefit, however, is that when the pressure is on, as at performance time, your left hand will be locked on the notes like a laser guided missile.

For a great left hand workout play through Kreutzer 2,3,5, 8, and 10, with the violin tuned down. Remember, the notes must remain in tune relative to your open strings.

It’s like in the movie ‘Star Wars’. Yoda says, ‘Master your feelings, Luke.”

All the best,
Clayton Haslop

P.S. If you’ve been working with my practice methods you should be way ahead of the game in achieving this. If you haven’t, I suggest you get started right now.