Why You Can’t Beat the Basics
If you’ve just recently signed on to my newsletters you’ve probably been wondering, ‘where is this guy, does he really exist?’
Well, I do, and I’m sorry I’ve been preoccupied with other pressing matters of late. But all is well, and I’m rearing to give you the best of the best where it comes to violin playing.
As I write this I’m sitting in the flight lounge in Cincinnati Airport waiting for a connection to LA. No, I’m not going out to fight fires, though I’m sure they can use all the help they can get.
I’m on my way to begin scoring sessions for ‘Spiderwick Chronicles’ due for release in February. And as James Horner is the composer I’ll be playing concertmaster on the project. I’m certain we’ll have some wonderful music to look forward to.
But the upcoming film is not what’s on my mind right now. Perhaps I’ll give you some impression on it in the next few days.
Today, however, I find myself thinking back to one of the greatest challenges I ever faced as a recording musician – the sessions for ‘Matrix’.
Any of you that have heard the soundtrack to those films will know what I’m getting at.
The music was exceedingly demanding technically.
When I arrived at the first session and opened the book – remember, I’m sitting in the hot seat – I almost dropped my fiddle. Nothing but black. Page after page of black.
And believe me, the ‘black’ wasn’t just in first position either.
Immediately my pulse quickened to warp speed, butterflies swarmed around my stomach, and I began thinking really helpful thoughts like, ‘Guess my goose is cooked now.’
Fortunately I didn’t allow myself to remain in that state.
First I began focusing on my breathing, on doing the belly-breathing I teach in my courses.
Next order of business was to visually go through the music and plot my route to success. Quickly I identified the thorniest passages and put fingerings and bowings to them, using only my power of visualization to test the various possibilities.
I hadn’t even picked up the violin, to this point.
Once I had some solutions, and my ‘eyes’ had taken the entire cue in, I began to play – quietly and slowly. At the same time I counted under my breath, verbalizing each beat as I played.
When the most difficult bits were in hand I went back and ‘shadow-boxed’ the cue from top to bottom, at tempo.
I was just lightly and effortlessly putting my hands on the notes.
Fifteen minutes after opening the book, and with several minutes to spare before the session began, I felt a surge of confidence and excitement.
I was going to have a ball wailing on this piece of music.
What is interesting about this, and what I hope to touch you with today, is that the steps I use to master extremely difficult music quickly are the same steps, or practice techniques, one can use at any stage of the violin game to accelerate progress – breathing, counting, and visualizing.
It kind of reminds me of baseball. Think great hitters – dare I use the name Barry Bond – it’s the guys that execute the fundamentals well, each and every time, that meet with success time and time again.
The violin is no different.
And the fundamentals should be simple and easily understood. This is one of the greatest issues I have with many teachers.
They make them too complicated.
I think all the basic elements of violin playing can be explained in 30 minutes or less. Yes, there are complications that can arise, and you need to be aware of them. But mostly it becomes a game of taking away extraneous tension and motion. Of getting to only that which is absolutely essential.
Just as a virtuoso baseballer would approach the swing of a bat.
Now, the greatest complaint I have with most players is they try to play too fast, too soon. Their minds are two steps behind the fingers instead of two steps ahead.
If I’d approached the ‘Matrix’ cue I talked about above that way I wouldn’t have gotten any traction whatsoever on it. It’s the ‘run and gun’ approach to violin playing.
When you get involved with my approach to playing in a serious way, whether in the courses or by jumping in with both feet and coming to a masterclass, you find me restating certain concepts over and over.
Mastery comes through increasing presence of mind – consciousness – while executing a clearly understood ‘skill set’ in a variety of situations.
All the best,
Clayton Haslop
P.S Today you can benefit from my approach to violin playing no matter what level you’re currently at. If you’re just starting out you can join my newest program, the Violin Mastery Beginners Circle. Intermediate players can join me in taking the classic etudes of Rudolph Kreutzer to a whole new level. And truly advanced players will rocket themselves to virtuosity playing Paganini.
