The “Royal Court” of Kreutzer Etudes, part 1

Many people have asked, over the 2 years since volume 1 of ‘Kreutzer for Violin Mastery’ was released, if there are certain etudes that I are particularly key to making rapid progress.

Now, when I’ve answered the question I’ve always prefaced it with, ‘They are all ‘keys’ to making progress. Each has a valuable lesson to teach.’

And this is very true.

Yet when it comes right down to it, I find myself returning again and again to what I will now go on record as being my ‘Royal Court’ of volume 1. Yes, I’ll divulge the royal courts of the other volumes in future newsletters. Matter of fact, I’ll even have my ‘Supreme Royal Court’ that narrows the field of each volume down even more.

But let’s content ourselves with the first volume for today.

The 5 etudes I’m going to name right now are so important that I committed them to memory many years ago, and continue to use them to this day – worked through them this morning, in fact.

They are; #2, #9, #11, and #12. Here’s why.

Number 2 is deceptively easy. To play it with ease, fluidly and flawless intonation requires a beautifully formed and flexible left hand, and a pure understanding of the workings of the bow arm.
These skills are as essential to violin playing as swinging a bat correctly is to baseball.

Number 9 is about the inner workings of the left hand. It’s about the subtle control of one’s articulation, and finger independence. It also strengthens the hand and increases ones left hand endurance.

Number 11 develops the ability to sing while moving from position to position. It requires fine movements of the left forearm and great control over the flow of the bow. Many a student passes over this etude without even scratching the surface in terms of benefits to cleaned from it.

And finally, number 12. A wonderful study for intonation, shifting, stretching the left hand, and, if done properly, string crossing. I have 2 ways of playing this etude, very slow and very fast. In the former I develop tone production over the range of the instrument. In the latter, velocity.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. As I mentioned, in coming emails I will divulge my picks for the other volumes as well. Might be a good idea to pick up all four volumes AND take advantage of the nice discount for doing so. It’s an investment that’ll pay dividends in time saved – no wasted practice time – and improvements made for a good 2 years.