Come join us for group violin lessons in Bedstuy, Brooklyn this month!

This month, I will be teaching for Music For The People at Bailey's Cafe in Bedstuy. We'll begin the first day on July 11th, 3pm.

The group lessons are scheduled on the most Saturdays throughout till August 1st. It'll be in a nice friendly environment and would be a great starter for someone who hasn't played violin before. Please call or e-mail the number listed in the poster above for more details including the schedule.

If you or someone else are interested in a group violin lesson, come join us or spread the words!

Boxing throw movement for smooth bowing

I recently discover the common practice in bowing and the boxing throw. So, I wanted to share it with you today.

Not so interested in boxing? Well, I'm not so much, either and am not going to suggest you to practice boxing..! But I found that very fascinating to see how similar the movements are.
So, keep on reading!


First of all, both the bowing in violin playing and the boxing throw have same goals:
To have fully controlled, powerful and most natural arm movement.


Watch this video and notice how he rotates his right arm.


Yes, the rotation of the right arm. This is the key point!

This method can be applied well in the upper strokes (from the mid to the tip of the bow).



Experiment:
Bend your right arm and extend it in front of your body with or without rotating the arm.

Did you notice the difference?
Rotating the arm makes your arm move much more smoothly and effortlessly, doesn't it? Because your arms are designed to move that way naturally.

Also experiment:
Make a fist and as you squeeze the fist, slowly extend your arm.
Make a fist and loosen up the fist, then slowly extend your arm.

Did you notice that when your fist is tight, you can't really extend your arm smootly?
This can be apply to keep your right hand relaxed when you hold the bow.


Here are common tips for boxing:

• Rotate Your Arm: Another method to increase the power of your jab is to rotate your arm mid-way through throwing it. You should start with your palm facing inwards towards your face and once the jab is thrown, rotate your arm so that your elbow is pointing outside and your fist rotates also, so your palm ends up facing downwards.
• Keep fist relaxed throughout this movement, until just before the point of contact when it is fully clenched.
• Your knees should be bent every time you throw a punch [...] If you stand straight up, you’re more liable to get caught with a punch and you’ll also produce less power.

(Quoted from http://www.mightyfighter.com and http://boxingbeginners.com/how_to_box_punches.php)

That applies to string players as:

• Rotate your right arm for smooth bowing.
• Keep your right hand relaxed
•  Keep your knees bent slightly at all times. 

*As you rotate, you might touch the lower string. Try avoiding it by bending your body slightly backwards. The violin will tilt toward the left slightly.


Hope this method helps you for smooth bowing.

How to enjoy practicing violin when it seems impossible.

 Have you ever been discouraged from practicing violin, thinking that, "Oh jeez..., I have a long way to go. Am I ever gonna be able to play this song?" or even, "I'm just not good at this. I'm not meant to be playing the violin." and etc...? and end up being reluctant to even pick up the violin to start practicing?

Well, don't worry! You're not alone. Especially in this highly competitive, fast paced society, it's very easy to get into this self-defeating mindset. These overwhelming feelings are poison that can kill your motivation and enjoyment. But what's the antidote?

Here's what I would suggest:

1.) Set achievable goals.  

Nobody would be able to play like Heifetz tomorrow,
but you might be able to memorize the song that you're working on by the weekend.

2.) Be patient. Progress is slow and steady.
As slow as a turtle - a happy turtle.

3.) Don't push yourself TOO hard.  

Be kind to yourself.

4. ) Make a little step each time. 

 As little step as possible.

5.) Never compare yourself to your icon or higher level players and judge yourself based on it.

Always focus on YOUR OWN development. 

6.) Be creative, experiment as much as you can. 

There's no single way to play violin.

7.) Make lots of mistakes, noises.

Beware of what you learn from them.

8.)  Rest when you're tired.

You wouldn't progress much  anyway when you're exhausted.

 And here's a good quote:

Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the person's capacity to act.

-Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Happy Easter,

Happy practicing!

Pain?!

Are you in pain from practicing? Then, it's time to check your setup.

(this is a collection from my past research)

Chin rest & Shoulder rest are the two things that support violin players hold the instrument in the right position.

As you know, we have so many different body features; the neck length, the arm length, the shoulder width, the shape of chin, etc.. Chin rests & shoulder rests also have a big variety. And it's very important to have the right kind of chin rest/shoulder rest setup for your instrument. If not, it causes all sorts of technical problems, pain in neck, shoulders, stiffness, soreness, headache..

So, if you're practicing and you're feeling pain or discomfort, consider your setup.

Here are some tips:

• If you're putting your neck down too much, then, your chin rest is probably too low.
• If you're raising your shoulders, maybe you need either more height on either chin rest or shoulder rest.
• If you have discomfort where the chin sits on the chin rest, then your chin rest is probably not the right shape.
• If you're having a difficulty reaching the tip of the bow, try using the chin rest that's center-mounted. For shorter arms, center-mounted chin rests help to have more control for the upper half part of the bow.
• Make sure that the instrument is touching your collar bone. If not, then maybe your shoulder rest is too high. Try higher chin rest and lower shoulder rest.
• Your head should be free to move. No tilting to support the instrument. If tilting, then that's not the right chin rest for you.
• Is your spine straight?
• There are things like, gel pads or suede cover for chin rests that help for discomfort or for more grips. It's easy to try; just put it on your current chin rest.
• If your chin or cheek look unusual (like making wrinkly shapes) against chin rest, the shape of your chin rest is probably not for you.

If you can go to a violin shop and can try a few different kinds, please do. Also, most of the shops understand if you want to try a certain kind of chin/shoulder rest for some times to try out at home for free return/exchange, so it's worth asking.

I'd say it's pretty long process for finding the perfect setup for you. Also, our bodies change overtime as we grow, so that should be also taken into consideration for the long run.

Also, it could be pretty challenging to find the right setup for yourself. There's a service called, Volute Service by Claire Stefani and she's based in New York.  I, myself, had a consultation with her and got a custom chin rest and a new shoulder rest through the session. I highly recommend this service.

Also, there's a web site that would be helpful: Violinist in Balance, explaining the process of finding the right chin rest/ shoulder rest.

It can be quite a journey to find the right setup, so don't give up, be patient!

And NEVER feel bad about yourself if you have discomfort or pain in your body or you're told to relax as much as possible to hold the instrument and it just seems so impossible. You probably don't have the right setup on your instrument yet.

Enjoy the process of finding the perfect setup for you!
When you do have the right setup, I promise that your violin playing will be joyful and you just can't wait to pickup the instrument!

The "Strad" article of Dorothy DeLay on teaching

Here's an interesting article of "The Strad" about Dorothy DeLay, one of the greatest violin teacher in history. She has taught so many influential classical violinists of today, including Itzhak Perlman, Sarah Chang, Midori, Nigel Kennedy, Schlomo Mintz, and many more..

11 views on teaching by Juilliard School violin professor Dorothy DeLay

Here's the 11 views of Dorothy DeLay from the article:

1. What's the secret to my teaching? I've spent many hours doing it every day.

2. Those who play well have two important qualities: self-confidence; and a sense that what they believe is equally important to others. Children are born with these qualities, but as time goes by they are lost. A teacher must strengthen them.

3. One should never say to a pupil, 'that's wrong'. Instead one should say, 'that's fine', and then find easy steps towards the discovery and correction of the fault. Pupils can develop areas of 'withdrawal' and fear, so the teacher must work on these gently and with tact.

4. The audience arouses 'dragons' if passages haven't been practised properly.

5. Forget past criticisms. Don't become your own worst enemy.

6. Everyone has talent, but there are different types of it ― verbal, mathematical, musical, spatial, physical, social and moral.

7. Performers must understand the value of what they do ― it is their responsibility to create something beautiful so that others may love it.

8. Sometimes fingers won't do what's required of them ― insecure shifting for example. The problem is that shifts are either too fast or too 'squeezed'. It helps to think of shifts as a train journey from A to B: before arriving at B, one gathers together one's things, gets up and disembarks, but without haste.

9. Only since Kreisler has continuous vibrato come into general use. Today the accepted view is that vibrato should support the line or phrase, so that at the end of the phrase, the vibrato relaxes.

10. Tension limits all aspects of violin playing. Some violinists, such as Itzhak Perlman, look awful, but still sound great because they have a large vocabulary of stroke types.

11. We have to remember parents' hopes for their children. Every teacher knows that parents can, and do, make terrible mistakes. One has to remind them that their children need to relax and have interests other than violin playing in order to develop.

Welcome to the web site of Brooklyn Violin Lessons