Create or Consume

I keep saying that we should create at least as much as we consume.

Heard a talk recently about how 'to live' is to make music and it is imperative that we all create our own 'music'.

Often when I am studying an exercise I find that I make a burst of progress when I improvise around a technical or musical issue in the music.

Perhaps practicing / playing the violin should also be about creating music rather than reading / consumer other composers music.

When I write my own compositions it all seems to make a lot more sense.

When I feel a certain way and I use music to express how I feel it all seems to make a lot more sense. I cease to worry about the notes.

Anyways. perhaps it might help to improvise (within / along / above) a study and create as much sound as I would if I simply read straight from the page. It seems to work. it seems to open the mind and improve understanding.

It seems to open the mind.

If you're not sure about the music, abandon the notes and start improvising until it all starts to make sense.

E.g. instead of play a straight scale move around on the scale in a way that help analyse the key signature / hand position / string tension / bow position / mood of the key... The notes are a means to an end.

Stop reading. Stop consuming. Start writing. Start playing. Start creating.

The Gift

Music is a gift. Try to offer it whole heartedly. The audience will celebrate the music with an applause.

Bowing Index Finger

Working at improving my bowing arm.

Some problematic issues..
- my shoulder gets tense and nervous.
- my wrist likes to sit high like a crane.
- I seem to lose flexibility and fluidity.

I've found an interesting bowing exercise that seems to help keep everything relaxed.

When practicing a study. Simply life the index finger off the bow whenever playing an upbow!? This seems to help the other fingers relax and keep the wrist in check.

It's interesting to focus on when some fingers are not required.

I think the high wrist problem occurs because I try to retain the same 'index + 2nd finger' pressure that I have when I'm playing at the tip as when I'm playing at the nut. To resolve that, when playing at the nut keep the index finger off the bow, this results in the 4th finger activating and the wrist supporting the 4th finger etc etc.

A Gig at Government House

Had a great time performing with friends at government house to celebrate the launch of the Australian Poetry Library website. Great fun!

Deliberate Practice

So what is deliberate, or mindful practice? Deliberate practice is a systematic and highly structured activity, which is, for lack of a better word, scientific. Instead of mindless trial and error, it is an active and thoughtful process of experimentation with clear goals and hypotheses. Violinist Paul Kantor once said that the practice room should be like a laboratory, where one can freely tinker with different ideas, both musical and technical, to see what combination of ingredients produces the result you are looking for.

Few musicians take the time to stop, analyze what went wrong, why it happened, and how they can correct the error permanently.

Mindless Practice

Have you ever listened to someone practice? Have you ever listened to yourself practice, for that matter? Tape yourself practicing for an hour, take a walk through the practice room area at school and eavesdrop on your fellow students, or ask your students to pretend they are at home and watch them practice during a lesson. What do you notice?

You’ll notice that the majority of folks practice rather mindlessly, either engaging in mere repetition (“practice this passage 10 times” or “practice this piece for 30 minutes”) or practicing on autopilot (that’s when we play through the piece until we hear something we don’t like, stop, repeat the passage again until it sounds better, and resume playing through the piece until we hear the next thing we aren’t satisfied with, at which point we begin this whole process over again).

Bullet Proof Musician

Violinist Nathan Milstein is said to have once asked his teacher Leopold Auer how many hours a day he should be practicing. “If you practice with your fingers, no amount is enough,” was Auer’s response. “If you practice with your head, two hours is plenty.”

http://www.bulletproofmusician.com/how-many-hours-a-day-should-you-practice/

A Performance at Government House

Had a string quartet gig at govt house last night. The Australian poetry library launched their website!!!!

It was awesome. We did all the standards.

Issues:
- Outside gigs are super lamo.
- Playing through the programme with the cello is important.
- Listening to a few recordings simplifies things.
- Experience helps.

In general, the first violin needs perform like a solos and bring confidence to the others.

A Gift

Interestingly...

Some people simply don't 'have' music and also, music can actually be given to another as a gift.

The ability to create music is exceptional.

Free Quartet Music

http://www.hindson.com.au/wordpress/free/string-quartet-albums-available-for-download/

Singing

From watching the Glen Gould doco I found something interesting whilst playing this evening.

If you play through music sometimes there can seem to be a slight disconnect. It's as though the music is written and there is a process between reading it and performing it that seems to be held back some how.... << bad explanation of a very subtle idea.

Perhaps this is a better approach. I've always been jealous of people that can perform by memory. When I do play from memory the music seem to be generated like a song in which I actually follow the rise and fall of the melody etc. Sometimes whilst reading sheet music that gets lost and it end up being 'one note after another'.

Today I tried something different.

Sing a section and comprehend it. Then play it. I found that it felt like I was playing it by memory. It's as though singing activates that part of the brain that takes ownership of the melody. When I played the music back after singing it (whilst reading the music) it felt like I was playing it by memory. It felt as though I was trying to play the music I was singing / reading.

It felt great
- much more musical.
- faster and easier.
- better comprehension.
- clearer perspective of what the purpose of a given set of notes was in the context of the phrase.
- magic magic magic.

I sing like Glenn Gould does... Horrible mumbles.

It was magical to hear how much better my violin playing is that my singing or anything else.

It was nice to hear how different my vocal sounds is to my violin sound.

It was nice to hear the different sounds and explore the 'idea' of the music without having to worry about actually playing the violin.

It was nice to read the music and use my brain without having to worry about the technically of holding and playing the violin.

There is no such thing as technical difficult. Just a lack of musical comprehension.

"We do not play the piano with our fingers but with our mind." (Glenn Gould)

After singing and comprehending the music the technique become a non issue!? My brain new what was expected and so my body was prepared for those longer shifts / accidents etc.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Gould#Eccentricities
Gould is widely known for his unusual habits. He usually hummed while he played the piano, and his recording engineers had mixed results in how successfully they were able to exclude his voice from recordings. Gould claimed that his singing was subconscious and increased proportionately with the inability of the piano in question to realize the music as he intended. It is likely that this habit originated in Gould's having been taught by his mother to "sing everything that he played", as Kevin Bazzana puts it. This became "an unbreakable (and notorious) habit".[51] Some of Gould's recordings were severely criticised because of the background "vocalise". For example, a reviewer of his 1981 re-recording of the Goldberg Variations opined that many listeners would "find the groans and croons intolerable".[52]

Glenn Gould

This weekend I watch Glenn Gould: Inner Genius the documentary and it was amazing. A true musican genius. A renaissance man. Right now I feel as though he is the great musician the world has ever seen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Gould

I want to listen to his records above anything else right now.


I'll post about the way he sings when he plays next..

Pekka Kuusisto

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pekka_Kuusisto

I saw Pekka perform with his Piano's colleague at the Musica Viva concert on the weekend and he completely inspired me.

He's the sort of player that makes you want to get up on stage with him and start playing.

He's the most comfortable and expressive musician i've seen in years.

He owns / composes / experiences / lives the music when he plays. I love it.

Contagious

Nervous energy is contagious. Try not to emit it and do your best not to let the nerves of others put you off.

The Left

I've found that if I play with my torso leaning more towards the left... I am more relaxed.

For some reason my left shoulder likes to go 'up' and forwards when I start to feel pressured.

If I do my best to ensure my shoulders are broad and level. And have the violin out to the left slightly it also helps my bow arm with a little more room and a more comfortable resting place on the string.

Forwards and right and closed causes me problems.

Open, broad, vertical, slightly left (especially with lots of long bows) seems to help with creating a regular loud sound.

Also. I forgot how import the idea of 'stroking' the cat is... The change of bow stroke begins slightly before the bow actually changes string. Like painting a fence with slow fertical strokes.... the brush contines upwards at the top even through the wrist has begun to flex and move downwards.

The wrist should start moving in the right direction before the bow or fingers pick up on the change (for a slow constant fluent sound).

Retaining a 'crow like' angular wrist hovering high in the sky is problematic.

The Minutia

To be an artist is to take pleasure in the detail.

The best drawings are those which are meticulous. Focusing on each stroke and enjoying the slow and detailed process is the entire story. The creative idea can take a few minutes but the creation of the art work is pain staking and full of minutia.

For those who are always focused on the big picture, violin just ain't going to be easy.

Getting lazy, or aiming for the 'overall idea' or having a casual go at art just doesn't work. Playing a beautiful melody and followed by a lazy note destroys the entire melody. The details on everything must be retained.

Somehow this relates to the idea of a performance being make up of a number of blocks arranged in a way that captures the imagination of the audience.

There is a physical repetition to being an artist.

There is no room to get lazy.

A constant and concerted effort to capture the detail of a performance results in a stress free believable experience.

Understanding music is easy. Enjoying the emotion of music is easy. Perhaps imagining a musical idea can come in a flash. Performing requires a reliable and refined constant and passionate appreciation for detail.

Touch. Fingers. Sound. Strings. Metal. Wood. Hair. Finger nails. Skin. Eyes. Arms. Vibration. Acoustics. Intonation.

When you're at the beach you can focus on the horizon or you can close your eyes and feel the sand in between your toes.

Music is created to convince an audience. It is series of ideas that lead the audience to expect some sort of resolution. Getting lazy and being sloppy with the details shows up in the audience's mind like huge walls they have to try to ignore.

Good, not lucky

If a perform us a collection of simple elements, then...

To be given, or even asked to perform should be a celebration of one's ability. It should not be a chance for the performer to some how fluke a Stella performance.

Aim to perform well, rather than excellent.

Accept that you ability is reflective of your normal playing, not your best playing.

Try to be the best man for the job.

Competition should encourage preparation and study.

Momentum

It's interesting how any given performance has a momentum.

There is a certain pace that is expected by the audience that is not present when rehearsing alone.

My stress seems to stem from this sense of immediacy and inevitability.

To perform is to embrace the idea that 'the show must go on' and that the curve of the experience for the performer should remain constant.

Moments of Fixation

I find I get help back, embarrassed, sweaty hands, confused, distracted, worried and stressed out by certain moments in a performance or meeting at work.

There is often a significant few moments in a presentation or performance that I seem to focus on.

Sometimes I am required to perform when I am not ready. The presence of the audience always makes things worse. The performance is just not good enough.

Sometimes I am required to perform when I AM ready. When I have done all the required work and I am fit and 'the best' man for the job.The presence of the audience still has the same affect and no matter what I do the nerves of the situation get too much and the performance is not good enough.

It's as though preparation doesn't solve this problem. (I do do a lot of preparation). It's as though the prying eyes of the audience is completely disabling.

It's as though I fixate on those few moments of significance and they begin to distract me and destroy me.



Those moments of significance exist because they portray an important meaning. Those moments seem to hold significance because the audience will use them to make their judgement. Those moments in a meeting at work are important because they portray an important meaning.

This week, following a number of performances (a few solos) in the musical South Pacific at The Kings School I realised something significant.

These moments of signifiance can only exist as long as they fit within the entire performance. The fact that you have conjured up these signifiant moments is a testement to your ability to perform. These moments are a sign that the audience is engaged... Those moments are only significant because they come before and after something else.

My solution is leading me to place in which all efforts are 'preparation'. All blocks in a performance are equally important.

The mind space of the performer should be constant and let the audience chose to engage when it pleases them.

In a performance. All phrases are equally important. They are all leading to those moments of significance. The truth is that there is no such thing as a moment of signifiance. Fixating on individual moments is a purposeless effort.

Accept that each sentence in a presentation is as important as every other sentence. Accept that the moments of significance only work if they fit within all other moments.

Everything is a form of preparation. Perfection is not important. Mistakes are completely acceptable. Mistakes can be valuable and enjoyable.

I imagine a 'curve of the experience'. The start and end are simple and not demanding and perhaps there is a climax. There are no sudden spikes in the experience of the performer. There should be no moments of fixation.

To understand the 'curve of the experience' is to accept that each block is equally important.

If nothing else. Harnessing an equal amount of energy on each phrase can help curb those moments of stress & panic. Let the 'present' moment distract you. Enjoy how each moment unfolds.

That moment, later in the performance... that moment in tomorrows presentation... that moment in the future... that moment is now... engage and prepare and when that moment strikes let is pass in the acceptance that is is as important as everything that has lead up to it.

A moment is 'made to be important' because of what comes before it.

Try to be the best man for the job and let go of concern for any individual moment.

Moments of significance are simple blocks placed carefully on top of other simple blocks in an arrangement that captures the imagination of the audience. On it's own it holds no challenge.

This idea came to me following the comment of a friend... "wow, you have excellent posture when you place." Here complement gave my brain the space to free up and consider myself objectively.

Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007

Love this!

Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cello_Suites_%28Bach%29

Written for the cello but still great on the violin :)

Arvo Pärt - Spiegel im Spiegel

A stunning violin composition by Arvo Pärt - Spiegel im Spiegel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiegel_im_Spiegel

A Left Hand Revelation

From all the writing and discussion I've seen about improving ability most of it has returned to the right hand and arm.

The idea that the right side is after all the side that causes the vibration is interesting.

I'm starting to become aware that the left-hand is actually the intelligence focus and the confidence builder. Being decisive with the left hand seems to resolve right arm issues.

Focusing on the left hand and focusing on the sound quality seems to make a big difference. Focusing on right hand technique seems distracting and secondary.

I believe intonation and tonal composition is more important than sound production. It actually drives sound production.

It's as the the left hand drives the right!! Fascinating.

None of this stuff applies to everything though...

Hammer Time

Increasingly I'm finding it interesting and helpful to practice studies without a bow.

The process of hammering the fingers down hard enough so the sound resonants slightly is great for improving confidence and clarity in the left hand. Especially when it comes to shifting positions.

Doing basic yoga exercises with the right arm (eg raise it up over you head) without holding a bow whilst hammering the notes withthe left hand really helps relax the upper back.

Working with just the left hands makes it easier to focus LH type issues that I normally would not be aware of... so much attention goes to the bow!

This idea is in contradiction to the theory of playing with light fingers, but I feel as though this sort of exercise will inevitably help with that.

Alcohol

Studying violin recently has been inspiring.

 

I wrote something interesting in an email recently...

 

"I've realised that... If I had the space to relax and be free I would like to be simple and focus on spending time with friends, family and play the violin... But, alas, I am in a world that requires me to have money and support others etc. I'm lucky I'm Australia i guess."

 

I think that is kinda of true.

 

During the week I came home from work after having had two beers. The beers were great. I ate some food after i walked in the door and then did some practice, my usual 1 hr play through of sevcik, flesch, schradieck, kayser, mazas, ... I found being drug was a real hinderance to with the following...

- focusing on the melody / phrasing of the music. however simple it might be.

- having a nimble and senstive reaction with my body. my arms and fingers seems clumsy.

 

I think I've come to the conclusion that alcohol hinders rather than enhances playing the violin.

 

 

Ray Chen

Last night was one of the most beautiful evenings I've had with the Sydney Sympony Orchestra (SSO) at the Opera House in years. Ray Chen, a 21yr old Taiwanese violinist, was the highlight of the evening with his performance of the Brahms violin concerto. My friend Emily, who normally performs with the SSO had the night off and had a spare ticket for me. Luckily her boyfriend was away in New Zealand racing across the mountains in a fitness competition (swimming, running, cycling, kayaking, climbing, ...). He's very cool. We like him.
Ray Chen is a young, smart, powerful, super intelligent, creative, soft, direct, 'straight-up', confident, inspiring violinist. He took our breath away. It was stunning to see someone so young have so much fun with something that looms over so many musicians. He, and the orchestra, had a great time and the audience was left speechless.  He gave me a lot to think about with my own playing, options, approaches, techniques, colours, movement, sound, space, ..... Along with the concerto the orchestra performed a Berlioz overture and Tchaikovsky symphony, also far beyond my expectations.
 

Know what you CAN play

Started marking my music with stickers to note the sections that I struggle with. This has brought to light 3 great ideas that feel great...

1.  I know what sections or bars I'm going to struggle with.
2. I know what sections I can play through and enjoy without wondering if I'm off the mark. Paranoid.
3. I don't waste time playing swath of music that I already know I can play in random search of notes that might need work.

So the process of working through my studies is...
1. Start a study, the next one on my huge list. See previous post for details.
2. Pick a slow tempo and start the metronome.
3. Play through from beginning to end confidently. Slow down if insecure.
4. Pick the 2 worst spots and mark them with stickers.
5. Focus on those 2 spots. Improve them.
6. Try not o spend more that 15min on each spot.
7. Finish and write down the tempo that you would like to start with next time.
....
8. When you return to the study go back to step 2 and repeat....!!!

Routine is the best way to train the body and relax the mind.