"How to practice effectively" TED-Ed

Here's another TED-Ed video about practice.
Well explained!

Shoulder rest? Or no shoulder rest, that is the question.

Shoulder rest is always a popular topic in violin playing.

I, personally, have been experimenting with it for quite a while. I was suffering with chronic neck pain and shoulder stiffness, sometimes even headache, plus I always felt the need of stretching the body all the time after I played violin for some time. It was a big problem. Because I needed to play for long time, practicing and performing, as a professional, but it was coming to the point that I couldn't pick up the violin, feeling inspired to do the musical work with joy and excitement. I needed to do something about it.

So, I did a lot of research. I tried many different kind of shoulder rests and chin rests with all sorts of combination. I even made a custom made chin rests for myself, working with the specialist.

Those research was good, but it never really solved the problem completely.

Then, I decided to try "No shoulder rest".
I read the book called: "Play the Violin without a Shoulder Rest (and save your neck)."
And it showed me how to transition from with to without.

I did the transition gradually. It took for a while. First, I used the shoulder rest called "Play On Air", inflatable shoulder rest acts like a pillow. It was very comfortable. But, it muted the sound a little.
Then, I changed to a small red circular sponge, which I still sometimes use with a non-slip woodworking mat.

And now, I mostly play only with the non-slip mat attached under the violin.

And I never get that fatigue anymore. No neck pain, no shoulder pain, no stiff body, no headache. I can play for quite long time. The violin feels very light. It's closer to my body and it feels very natural. The violin is very movable, so I feel physically more flexible. Plus, I don't have to install the shoulder rest each time to the violin and no more worries for the slip-off and no need to store the clumsy shoulder rest in the case.

It did make me work on it for a while. It needs a little different approach from when you have a shoulder rest. Also, your body needs to adjust to the new way of playing and it takes time and focus.

I was also trying to find the best chin rest for this setup. I ended up not using the custom made chin rest. The one I picked finally was Guarneri chin rest which the specialist pointed me out at one point that no one's facial shape fits with the style.
The reason Guarneri chin rest works for me is that I can hook my chin onto the middle part (which is the right thinner side of the chin rest) and support the violin by my head weight more easily. If the surface of the chin rest is flat, I cannot really catch the violin the same way. By hooking the chin, the violin body can go higher or lower and side to side without doing it with your neck. It's very flexible while you can maintain your spine straight. And this is very different concept from "filling the gap". Many people say you have to fill the gap in between your chin and collarbone, so select the height of the chin rest and the shoulder rest accordingly. But you don't need to fill the gap entirely. By filling the gap, it actually disable you to have more freedom in the movement, you get locked up in one position and it is exhausting to play in one locked position for hours. Our body is not naturally designed to do that.

I recently found this great web page that explains very well about the benefit of no shoulder rest playing with great excercises and it has some videos, too. So, check out via the following link!

"Rest No More? (The shoulder rest, that is)" by Jonathan Swartz


Also, there are many great violinists who doesn't use shoulder rests and checking their performance videos would be helpful.

Itzhak Perlman
Aaron Rosand
Anne Sophie Mutter
Leila Josefowicz
Julian Rachlin
to name a few...

Also, great violinists in the past,

Heifetz
David Oistrakh
Mischa Elman
Joseph Gingold
Nathan Milstein
and many more..


If you're having a chronic pain, it's worth considering this. And I hope this helps you to have more enjoyable playing experiences and healthier body and mind.


Happy playing!

"How to read music" TED-Ed

Here is a great video explaining how to read music from TED-Ed (by Tim Hansen). Very easy to comprehend. If you're beginner music reader or someone who wants to get reminded of it with a clear explanation of music notation, take a look.

How not to make your neighbor go insane.

I often hear from my students how difficult to practice without annoying some people around them, their families, roommates or their neighbors. Even if the student didn't get the actual complaints, he/she is still dealing with the fear of disturbing some people, makes him/her less want to practice.

A simple solution, use a practice mute.

Here is what I use.

The metal one is heavier, so it reduces the sound quite more than the rubber one. Just be careful when you use the metal one. If the violin is tilted when you're holding the violin (when not playing), it could come off and damage the top plate of your violin. I had a similar situation and it almost made a scratch mark on my violin.

I use the rubber one for my 5-string violin (I cut one more slit by myself). It reduces the volume, but not too much, if you prefer to hear more sound.

They also sell the one that combines the metal and rubber which seems quite nice, having the good features from both.

Both are pretty inexpensive to get and will certainly let you practice anytime you want without disturbing anyone.

Enjoy your practice!

Five rules

Here are "FIVE RULES" that Dounis says in "The Violin Players' Daily Dozen Op.20".

FIVE GENERAL RULES

TO BE STRICTLY ADHERED TO

1. Cultivate at all times a feeling of absolute comfort while practicing.
2.  In practicing finger-exercises, watch your bow; in practicing bow-exercises observe a good position of the left hand.
3. Accent the weaker notes; make every note sound with a clear, full and round tone.
4. Remember always that in technic evenness is that which counts most.
5. Form the habit of listening to your playing with the utmost attention sharpen your hearing so as to detect the slightest disturbance in the flow of tone. 

FIVE LEFT HAND RULES

TO BE STRICTLY ADHERED TO

1. Keep the elbow well under the violin and the fingertips parallel to the strings.
2. Try to forget the existence of the thumb; never press it against the neck of the violin.
3. Do not strike the fingers upon the strings with too much force. It is wasting one's physical energy. Cultivate a very sudden and elastic spring-like finger action and keep every preceding finger on the string.
4. In shifting, pay due attention to the guiding finger which is the finger stopping the last note before shifting.
5. In a downward shift, remember that the thumb acts as a forerunner to the other fingers.

FIVE BOW RULES

TO BE STRICTLY ADHERED TO

1.  At all times cultivate freedom of movement.
2.  Bear in mind that the elasticity and flexibility of all joints of the arm and the fingers are as important as those of the wrist.
3.  Have and retain always a balanced hold of the bow; try to feel every stroke with your fingertips.
4.  Accent the up bow to equalize it with the down bow.
5.  Never forget to round off the crossing of strings and the change of bow.

 

Hit a plateau in progress? Read this!

It's very common that we expect constant progress, but in reality, there are lots of plateau that we have to go through to get to the next level.

Recently, I've read a book called, "Mastery" by George Leonard and it explains so well about the way we learn things and master it, including our tendency and failure models. I recommend this book to anyone who is learning something, or about to start a new thing, or already on the path of mastering something.

It was so well described that I want to share some of the things he says in the book.

He starts with:
"What is Mastery?
It resists definition yet can be instantly recognized. It comes in many varieties, yet follows certain unchanging laws. It brings rich rewards, yet is not really a goal or a destination but rather a progress, a journey. We call this journey mastery, and tend to assume that it requires a special ticket available only to those born with exceptional abilities. But mastery isn't reserved for the supertalented or even for those who are fortunate enough to have gotten an early start. It's available to anyone who is willing to get on the path and stay on it-regardless of age, sex, or previous experience."



He explains what the journey of mastery looks like: "There's no way around it. Learning any new skill involves relatively brief spurts of progress, each of which is followed by a slight decline to a plateau somewhat higher in most cases than that which preceded it."


Here is what it looks like:

He continues, "To take the master's journey, you have to practice diligently, competence. But while doing so-and this is the inexorable fact of the journey-you also have to be willing to spend most of your time on a plateau, to keep practicing even when you seem to be getting nowhere."


In our world, we tend to expect things with constant growth like this. The endless climax.

 But it doesn't match up with our own day-to-day  existence. And here is what happens.

 The sudden drop. If in violin playing, it means quitting, giving up.


 He also mentioned about 3 tendencies we have depending on our personalities when it comes to mastery. He says:

"We all aspire to mastery, but the path is always long and sometimes rocky, and it promises no quick and easy payoffs. So we look for other paths, each of which attracts a certain type of person. Can you recognize yourself in any of the following three graphs?"

The Dabbler is who approaches each new sport, career opportunity, or relationship with enormous enthusiasm, loves the shine of newness, but the plateau that follows is unacceptable if not incomprehensible and lose enthusiasm, starts thinking, this really isn't the right thing for me. It's too competitive, noncompetitive, aggressive, non-aggressive, boring, dagerous, whatever.. Starts telling everyone that it just doesn't fulfill his/her unique needs and move onto something else.

The Obsessive is a bottom-line type of person, not one to settle for second best. He/She stays after class talking to the instructor, asks what books and tapes he can buy to help him/her make progress faster. Makes a robust progress at the beginning, but when he/she finds him/herself on a plateau, he/she simply won't accept it. Doubling his/her effort, pushes him/herself mercilessly. The Obsessive manages for a while to keep making brief spurts of upward progress, followed by sharp declines-a jagged ride toward a sure fall. When the fall occurs, the Obsessive is likely to get hurt. And so are friends, colleagues, stockholders, and lovers.

The Hacker is willing to stay on the plateau indefinitely, after sort of getting the hang of a thing. He/she is the physician or teacher who doesn't bother going to professional meetings. At work, he/she does only enough to get by, leaves on time or early, takes every break, talks instead of doing his job, and wonders why he/she doesn't get promoted.

He states, "These characters, then, have proven useful in helping us see why we're not on the path of mastery. But the real point is to get on that path and start moving."



He writes many more interesting facts and tips to the journey of mastery. I highly recommend to read this book if you're having a plateau and wondering why.

So, give up on escaping from the plateau and let's rather enjoy each moment. The plateau is inevitable. Stay on your path to mastery!