The Mind/Hand Connection

In the Waldorf educational system, based on the teachings of German intellectual and spiritualist Rudolf Steiner, young children are introduced to many arts and crafts that utilize their hands. Steiner’s belief, back at the beginning of the 20th century, was that these activities stimulated and strengthened the brain.

Numerous studies have since born him out.

Turn’s out what’s true for children is also true for adults. Now we are finding, contrary to the conventional wisdom of the last several decades, that adults can produce new gray matter as well.

This should make us feel very good. We are, after all, violinists.

What got me thinking of this was some blowback I’ve seen about my site. It seems the word is out that I might know a thing or two about playing the fiddle.

Somethun’ ought to have rubbed off after three years with Milstein, right?

One of the most provocative notions, and one that has stirred some interest out there is the idea of holding the fiddle with the left hand.

Now, I’m not going to repeat what I’ve already said on the subject. If you want to see it you can head over to my site and click on ‘Violin Secrets’ to look at past newsletters.

What I do want you to consider, in your next few practice sessions, is how much more clever, flexible, and strong your left hand must be to hold the instrument at the same time you finger it – I know what some of you are thinking, don’t go there on me.

Mind you, I’m not calling for you to hold it in the air while you play.

No, just fully support it. Make a ‘V’ between your thumb and hand for it to rest in. Don’t let it slip down to the saddle between your thumb and hand. That will limit your ability to get around.

Experiment with it. Play slowly enough that you can think ahead – you should always be doing that. Feel how balanced the hand becomes. The fulcrum for the finger pressure on the strings is now localized right under the neck, rather than at your shoulder.

OK, if you find some new life coming into your left hand as a result of doing this, great, now keep one further thing in mind. As with any newly acquired habit, you will tend to revert back to the old way of doing things when the pressure is on. It takes courage and mental discipline to stay the course.

You might even have to risk a few ‘spills’ as you reinvent yourself.

I used to have moments when my violin would slip off my shoulder momentarily. Yes, this can be mildly disconcerting, but at the same time I felt that I was gaining so much in terms of fluidity, control, and tactile pleasure from the switch that I stayed the course.

Bottom line, my left hand now illuminates the process of playing the violin in a way it never did before. As a result my phrasing, fingering choices, and overall satisfaction have been impacted.

I hope you will reap similar benefits.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Just so you know. I still have seats left for the January Masterclass/Seminar. And as I have had a large influx of new subscribers recently I’m going to extend my ‘early bird’ discount for a short while longer. Get yourself a hot seat against the winter chill right now.