Send Mediocrity Packing
Recently I was sent an old film clip of none other than Jasha Heifetz doing an outrageous imitation of a mediocre violinist. Surrounding Heifetz, while he gave this little performance, was a small class of elite players, they were all shaking with laughter.
What made it funny, and also kind of sad, for me was it’s close resemblance to truth.
There are far too many players out there that play music far beyond their capabilities. They’ve fooled themselves into thinking they are really doing something special on the violin, when they are really only making ‘bapapa’ – my daughter’s word for a certain bathroom product.
In short they are doing there own kind of unfunny, hollow imitation.
Let me qualify what I just said a little bit. It is not necessarily that the music is too difficult. Sometimes it is simply that they are not playing a given piece in a way that they can play it.
It reminds me of something Nathan Milstein once said to me – something that I think of and quote often. ‘It is not what you play, but how you play it, that counts.’
What he meant by that statement harkens back to Mozart’s quote, ‘Anything can be ventured in music provided it is beautiful and inherently musical.’
Effective violin playing is a plastic art. Though you can borrow from other players, you must remember that each of us is unique. You will loose your authenticity and, chances are, your technical effectiveness by blind imitation that makes no allowance for your unique abilities and limitations.
To really become a truly effective violinist/artist you must ‘get in touch’ with and be honest about your own strengths and weaknesses.
You get in touch by being fully present while you practice. As many of you know by now, my counting method, which you will find in ”Kreutzer for Violin Mastery, Vol. 1”, will greatly assist you in getting and staying present. Actually it will do much more than that.
Nobody but you, yourself, can keep you honest.
It is your passion for truth – a.k.a. humility – that will accomplish that.
Once you are in the moment, and honest with yourself, you can begin the quest for a way of playing that is ‘beautiful, and inherently musical’.
If you truly desire reaching your ultimate potential on the violin, and I genuinely hope you do, then I strongly suggest you not only digest every thought, idea, movement, and sound on my Kreutzer course, but that you also attend my three day Masterclass/Seminar over Martin Luther King weekend in January at the breathtakingly beautiful Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.
It may be the most inspiring weekend of your musical life. And how ironic that, given our primary, though not exclusive, focus will be Kreutzer.
All the best,
Clayton Haslop
P.S. “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
