Nervous energy is contagious. Try not to emit it and do your best not to let the nerves of others put you off.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Monday, 28 March 2011
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.
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.
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.
Friday, 25 March 2011
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.
Thursday, 24 March 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
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 :)
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
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiegel_im_Spiegel
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