Why Practice Techniques Fail

Don’t know whether you missed me last week or not, yet I did have a couple of good reasons for not making any deposits to your inbox.

I was in LA for most of the week, and I’ve been with flu.

Don’t know if what both my daughter and I have been experiencing is H1N1 – aka ‘swine’ flu – or not. Whatever the heck it is, I sure don’t recommend it.

The good news is I’m feeling much better now; quite a relief.

I did receive an email a few days ago that I’d like to respond to. The question was whether I use ‘rhythm patterns’ to practice fast 16th note passages.

Now in case you haven’t heard of ‘rhythm patterns’, they consist of taking straight 16th passages and playing them with 4 different rhythms as a means of getting more control and fluidity through them.

In the first version, one plays them in pairs, the first note as a dotted 8th, the second as a 16th. In the second version, the rhythm is reversed; the first note short, the second long.

A third variant consists of holding the first note of each group of 4 long, and playing the other 3 quickly. And finally, one plays the first 3 quickly and holds on to the last of each group.

Now, I haven’t used patterns in my own practice for many, many years for the simple reason that the ‘mindful counting’ technique I now use takes me much more quickly to where I want to be.

For one thing, it’s just too easy to run those rhythms on ‘automatic pilot’, if you know what I mean. And automatic pilot translates to automatic time-wasting in my book.

For me, consciously labeling the beats and visualizing the notes as I play them is the quickest way to give my arms and hands the guidance they need. Once I’ve done that, rhythm patterns, no rhythm patterns, it’s all the same to me. Not a problem.

The trick is to become the constant observer of yourself practicing good violin playing habits. Do this and good things are bound to happen.

Now one of the most affordable and convenient ways to acquire good playing habits is my Allegro Players program. It is designed for adult players with some experience who nonetheless have some less-than-ideal playing habits, and who want to fix them pronto.

All the best, Clayton Haslop

P.S. Just had another batch made of my little DVD entitled, Dynamic Breath Control for Violinists. Though it began life as the first month of lessons for my Beginners Circle it has a wealth of information useful to even very experienced players.