When To Listen To CDs
Last night my little family joined up with a few other small families to observe the annual rite of Halloween. Now, our daughter, who is 4 years young, still does not ‘know’ candy. When anybody in our home wants something sweet they will get an organic medjool date, a banana with raw almond butter and agave nectar, or a piece of fruit.
She does know to say ‘trick or treat,’ and she does know that by holding out a bag she will get something put into it.
The meaning of Halloween for her is becoming our cat, ‘Jesse’. This transformation is accomplished very quickly with a pair of ears, a tail strapped on with a belt, and the application of some eye-liner to grow whiskers.
A couple looks in the mirror and for her the transformation is complete. She’s ‘Jesse’ for the rest of the night, and you better not call her by any other name.
As we traipsed around our neighbor she entertained herself, and the rest of us, with ‘cat speak’. She also stood awestruck in front of the various mechanical manikins, huge spider webs, and carved pumpkins.
In contrast, one of ‘Jesse’s’ co-conspirators seemed to be having a very different experience.
From the get-go she was on a mission; candy collection. I don’t think she noticed anything else going on around her. She certainly didn’t seem to be enjoying her extravagant store bought costume. Horrifically carved pumpkins on spider web infested decks didn’t get so much as a passing glance.
I felt a little sad observing the grip of sugar addiction taking hold.
Well, enough about Halloween. The point I really mean to make by relating last night’s events is the following.
When you begin studying a new piece of music don’t be in a hurry to purchase a recording of it. Doing so is like having your senses taken over by the desire for candy on Halloween. The glitz and polish of a commercial recording can overwhelm one’s own creative instincts in a hurry.
No, act as though the piece was written for you. Try to come to terms with the composer’s intentions on your own. Put YOUR passion into it.
Eventually, after you have a considerable amount of yourself invested in it, you may listen to some recordings. You are doing so as much to confirm what you are doing right as you are to find what is wrong.
All the best,
Clayton Haslop
P.S. Soon I will be issuing Violin Mastery DVDs on repertoire. I will not be giving you interpretations. I will be giving you facts. The facts on playing fundamentals that enable YOU to form consummate interpretations. Meanwhile, there’s still time to get yourself up to level of playing fitness I will assume in the coming DVDs with Kreutzer for Violin Mastery, Vol. 1 and 2.
P.P.S. The mountains of Appalachia won’t ever be the same after we sing to them in January, I assure you. Come get the
