When You Matter

As a performer, I think you ‘matter’ to a listener when what you are doing is felt to be equal or greater than the value of that person’s time.

Yesterday I spent a few minutes with this month’s issue of ‘Strings’ magazine and enjoyed an interview with Yo-Yo Ma. If you have it I’d recommend taking a look at it.

His major point was that ‘content, communication, and reception are the three elements that go into a performance. And unless they are in harmony, there is no magic.’

Most of the article focused on the player side of the equation; the content provider and communicator.

But for balance I think a thought should always be given to the person being communicated to, the receptive one.

If you’re not communicating something your listener is desirous of hearing at least one of you is bound to feel time is being wasted.

Often it is not even a matter of the music selected; one might play a piece quite differently for children than you would for playing colleagues. But this is assuming your technique allows for this kind of flexibility.

And that’s the bottom line, really. How does one absorb music in such a way that it can flow effortlessly in any circumstance.

Well, I think the practice techniques you use are absolutely key. You won’t find better ones than those being used by hundreds of violinists right now.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. The aspiring virtuoso can up the stakes Paganini for Violin Virtuosity, Vol. 1.