What’s Good for Your Playing

Some of you may recall that several months back I said that Milstein felt tennis was a good sport for a violinist. And this is true, to a point.

Tennis does require you to use the whole arm to strike the ball, and that does compliment the ‘Russian School’ of bow technique.

But the real fact remains that the best thing for violin playing remains violin playing. It reminds me of an injured basketball star talking about getting back in shape.

He said, “You can do all the cardio you want, but the best way to get in shape for playing basketball is to play basketball.” I guess it seems pretty intuitive, doesn’t it?

The real question is, then, how do you play in such a way that you keep the risk of injury low while challenging yourself to build technique and stamina?

First thing I do these days is warm my left arm and hand up with some vigorous massage. Just a couple of minutes are all you need.

While I’m doing this I’m getting my head in the game by visualizing myself playing – scales, etudes, a concerto, whatever inspires me at the moment. This act of visualizing in itself will trigger an autonomic response in the body, sending additional blood out to your hands and arms.

All right, now I’ve got the fiddle in my hands. If I’m feeling rested and energetic very little warm-up is needed. If, on the other hand, I’m tired and somewhat distracted, I’ll spend 15 to 20 minutes warming up slowly, starting with, say, slow scales with a very relaxed vibrato.

Once you get warm you can begin to push yourself – upping the tempo, playing more passionately, increasing the vibrato speed, etc. From time to time pause for some stretching – neck, back, arms, hands, fingers. And I Always have water next to me as I practice.

Hydration is as important to a violinist as it is to an athlete of any stripe. You must take it seriously!

Lastly, let’s not forgot about breathing, especially when playing technically challenging music. And you’ve got to ‘practice in’ the belly-breathing too, or you will almost certainly forget to do it in performance, where it matters most.

Uh, don’t know about belly-breathing yet? Then the time has come for your to get the course that will change the way you think and play the most glorious instrument made by man.

It’s that simple. .

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Incidentally, Tania, Clara, and I will be hailing from Scotland for the next 9 days. I will try to post a few newsletters during this time but orders will ship until our return, sorry.