A couple days ago I received a query asking how to play ponticello easily and to great effect. Now in case you don’t already know, ponticello is a kind of special effect. And it is produced when the bow tracks so close to the bridge that the string is forced to produce higher frequencies than are part of the normal overtone series. The result is a kind of eerie, slightly scratchy color to the sound.

Now, there are two issues that make the execution of this effect a little more challenging than drawing a pure tone.

First, it is critical that the bow track right next to the bridge without fail. You’ll notice that when you draw a normal tone the bow can move back and forth between bridge and fingerboard to somewhat without negatively impacting the sound – one does like to avoid this, however. As soon as the bow wanders from the bridge in ponticello, the effect disappears immediately.

The second issue is control. Because the bow is not fully ‘in the string,’ as we say, there is a greater tendency for hidden tensions in the bow arm to manifest in just the sort of wanderings mentioned above.

Sometimes, as when the bow suddenly passes OVER the bridge – and this happens to everyone at one time or another – this ‘wandering’ becomes more akin to an alarming betrayal.

The question, then, is how to practice this technique so it becomes secure and well behaved.

First thing I would do is slow, quiet, long bows ponticello – that is, with the bow right next to the bridge – to get in touch with the bow stroke, from tip to frog. Once you’ve gotten a sense of the bow placement and the relaxed unfolding of the bow arm, you can begin playing some scales and arpeggios using the entire length of the bow; very smooth, no spaces between the notes. At first you may want to play single notes per bow. As the ease of maintaining bow control increases, however, I suggest you slur notes together, reaching eight or twelve to a stroke.

Gradually increase the weight on the string, relaxed arm weight, until reaching forte or even fortissimo. Remember, the downward weight and pressure should in no way affect the freedom of the arm to move the bow horizontally.

Now ponticello is also often called for in combination with tremolo, a fast, repeated, and unmeasured stroking of one note. To practice this variant I recommend arriving at tremolo by starting at a slow rate of speed using just the forearm, in the upper half of the bow. From there gradually increase the speed and narrow the travel of the bow. As you stroke more rapidly, again add arm weight to reach a dynamic of forte.

The secret to all this is the purity of your detach. I do not use my wrist – unless I’m feeling quite lazy – to produce the tremolo; simply the forearm. In short, the elbow joint must be absolutely free of restriction.

Ponticello really forces you to separate the vertical weight of the arm from the relaxed horizontal movements of the arm. It requires absolute freedom in the joints of the right arm. And these together make it an excellent tool for sharpening the efficiency and purity of your bow arm.

Clayton Haslop is Concertmaster (first violinist) on hundreds of Hollywood movie soundtracks, including The Matrix movies, Titanic, Avatar, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Star Trek, Up, Jurassic Park, Apollo- and The Perfect Storm. Haslop’s bestselling Instructional DVD courses are used by beginning violinists to professionals worldwide.

Recently I have been studying a very esoteric form of Chinese philosophy called Hwa-Yen. It is the philosophical basis of Zen Buddhism.

In the process I have learned something about the way Asian language systems, Chinese in particular, conceptualize and name the objects we see in our every day world.

So this morning I was reflecting on this a little bit while I was practicing, and it struck me that my thinking about violin playing mirrors the Chinese approach to language and conceptualization very closely.

There is a subtle and interesting difference between the East and West in this, and if you stay with me I think you’ll get something worthwhile out of it, something that may indeed benefit your violin practice.

In Chinese, to give a few examples, the word for ‘train’ translates, literally, as ‘fire car,’ automobile as ‘gas car’, and bicycle as ‘foot-stepping car.’ In English, however, we have quite different and distinct words for each of these things; etymologically they are seemingly quite unrelated.

In the Chinese mind, then, their linguistic construction first identifies ‘train’ as a generalized term, a vehicle for transportation. This generalized term is then modified by an adjective to describe one requiring fire for operation – at least trains did in the old days.

So even from the way our object words are constructed you can see that the Western mind tends to compartmentalize, to identify each ‘thing’ with its own, specific word. The Eastern mind, on the other hand, tends to generalize and then differentiate, through the use of an adjective; this ‘thing’ is BOTH like these many things AND, simultaneously, is something quite different.

Now let’s talk violin playing. Many violinists I have taught have wanted to ‘nail things down’ when they came to me; this is THE way the fingers of the left hand articulate, this time, every time.

And for such players it comes as a surprise that in one Kreutzer Etude I talk of the fingers lightly tapping the string, and in another of the four fingers moving as if some kind of a constant motion machine; the former implying a digital type of articulation, the latter something quite analogue.

And, in fact, BOTH must be accomplished to reach the highest levels of performance.

The world of form IS full of contradictions and the message of music is, by definition, transmitted within this same world of form.

There is no escaping this.

So, though I say there are contradictions does not mean one surrenders to chaos. There are, after all, ways of playing the violin that are more efficient, effective and conducive to getting even wildly different types of music across than others.

The point is, however, that your technique must be fluid, dynamic, and able to embrace and effortlessly expand through a great range of textures and expressions.

So there isn’t just one way to articulate with the fingers of the left hand. And there isn’t just one way to ‘take the string’ when initiating a tone.

The challenge of a violin system, however, is to provide for all these ‘contradictions’ within something of a generalized framework, otherwise you have hopeless confusion in place of a technique.

In short, you need a method of approaching the instrument that is BOTH superbly straight-forward and simple, AND supremely flexible and adaptive.

As proof, when we listen and watch a truly great master moving effortlessly through a vast range of expression we often can’t help but think, ‘and they make it look so simple.’ And so it has become, for them, as it must for you.

Clayton Haslop is Concertmaster (first violinist) on hundreds of Hollywood movie soundtracks, including The Matrix movies, Titanic, Avatar, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Star Trek, Up, Jurassic Park, Apollo- and The Perfect Storm. Haslop’s bestselling Instructional DVD courses are used by beginning violinists to professionals worldwide.

This morning I was looking forward to getting my daughter off to school, having a nice, full practice session, and then sitting down to write.

The best laid plans

Instead, I just finished a penmanship lesson with my daughter, who convinced me that her ‘cold’ was worthy of a day away from school. No, it doesn’t mean we sit around in front of a tv all day. After I get this little note off to you we’ll turn our attention to reading.

My practice session will have to wait.

Here’s the deal with trills. I believe that the ultimate speed at which you are able to trill, is determined by God.

Yet even more importantly – the Clarity, and ultimately the effectiveness of our trill, is completely up to you.

There are people of course who, when you say ‘trill’, give the impression someone just pressed a doorbell. It’s that fast and effortless.

Yet often the challenge that falls to such people is that of getting control or variability to it – a blazingly fast trill can be out of character in some music – a Mozart Andante being one good example.

Most of us are faced with the opposite problem, namely how to develop the finger reflex we’ve been given to convey an impression of something more.

There are two things that enable this – technique and smart planning.

On the technical side you must resist the urge to press the vibrato into service in an attempt to amplify the finger’s natural reflex. Invariably the result of this will be a muddy, featureless blur. I can guarantee, no one is going to be fooled or impressed.

The best approach is always to stay with the finger – keeping it as light and clean as it can possibly be. The more relaxed you are, the better the result.

What you CAN do, after you’ve isolated the finger motion to a high degree, is experiment with the height you take it above the string. Yet in doing so you must remember to keep the hand relaxed, otherwise it will revert back into a knot of frustration.

The other side of the trill coin involves planning.

If you focus on a given pre-determined of oscillations for the trill – assuming it’s duration is a beat or less, and allow yourself to visualize the entire event each time you arrive to it, you may find yourself ‘tricking’ your finger into accomplishing more than you thought possible.

This requires patience, relaxation and focus – yet I am constantly surprised by the results I get from doing just this.

There are countless etudes and studies devoted to trills. Yet none are more enjoyable and satisfying than those found in Kreutzer. In volume 2 of ‘Kreutzer for Violin Mastery’ I take you through all sorts of possibilities – measured, unmeasured, prepared, with terminations and without terminations.

There are some players who believe in practicing trills using various rhythms. I haven’t mentioned this here because I don’t feel they really produce the results I’m after. Kreutzer does.

Though challenging indeed, these Kreutzer etudes can really clean and polish a trill beautifully.

Clayton Haslop is Concertmaster (leader) on hundreds of movie soundtracks, including The Matrix movies, Titanic, Avatar, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Star Trek, Up, Jurassic Park, Apollo- and The Perfect Storm. Haslop creates bestselling Instructional DVD courses used by beginning to professional violinists worldwide.

categories: learn to play violin,how to play violin,violin lesson DVD,violin teacher,music education,music,education,advice,careers,motivational,entertainment

Today’s message should be very helpful to you if you are like many a violinist, and can always use an insight or two to keep your right arm technique sharp.

Most violinists have four main challenges when it comes to their bow-arm; keeping it straight, keeping it horizontal, achieving clean, non-disruptive string crossings, and coordinating changes of string and direction with the left hand.

Now, you may think of disagreeing with me. You may be thinking, ‘my biggest problem is with spiccato, I can do all those other things.’

If that’s the case, I’d say, you’d be wise to pay attention, since your difficulties may have more to do with these fundamentals than you think.

Actually today I’m just going to discuss the first two challenges – keeping the bow straight and keeping it horizontal. For most of us ’straight’ is pretty well understood to mean parallel to the bridge. What is less understood, in my experience, is the need for the components of the bow arm to facilitate the horizontal travel of the bow.

And for these to happen there are exactly 3 joints you have that must ALLOW them to happen – the wrist, the elbow and the shoulder.

Take the wrist – one of the most common mistakes I see is a raising of the wrist at the frog. Raising the wrist immediately takes one component of your bow-arm out of the horizontal plane of movement that is so necessary to an efficient, seamless bow.

So how should the wrist flex? The wrist must flex forward and remain within the ‘plane of motion’ the bow arm inhabits, while also maintaining the bow in a position parallel to the bridge.

This idea of staying in the plane of motion extends to the elbow as well. I see a lot of players introducing unnecessary complications to their bow-arm by elevating and lowering the elbow in the course of drawing a full bow.

Well, there’s just too much going on, and all that contrary energy is getting fed right into the bow stick.

And last, there’s the shoulder. How fresh is the memory of my father standing next to me tapping my shoulder to get it to relax during my early years of practice.

Though relaxed, the muscles in the shoulder must nonetheless control critical movements of the upper arm that comes into play at the lower part of the bow and during string crossings.

I’ll talk more about string crossings soon, yet for now it’s important to understand that, although the shoulder is bearing the weight of the arm and bow, it must be relaxed, as it plays a critical role in moving the bow straight and horizontally at the frog.

One cannot confuse the vertical movements involved in string crossings with the lateral movements of the upper arm involved in bowing. They are two different and independent movements of the upper arm.

This morning I again made a worthwhile investment into my practice by playing Kreutzer Etude #2 at the extreme frog. You might be interested to know that for me to accomplish it, at tempo, from top to bottom with a really smooth detach bowing, I ‘belly breathed’ like a stallion in heat. You’ve got to keep the upper body absolutely relaxed to do this, and belly-breathing is a secret every violinist should know.

Clayton Haslop is the Concertmaster on many Hollywood movie soundtracks including The Matrix movies, Titanic, Avatar, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Star Trek, Up, Jurassic Park, Apollo 13 and The Perfect Storm. Clayton Haslop’s bestselling Instructional DVD courses are used by beginning violinists to professionals worldwide.

categories: learn to play violin,how to play violin,violin lesson DVD,violin teacher,music education,music,education,advice,careers,motivational,entertainment

If you take just about any passage of music in the violin repertoire and gather five players to play it, chances are you’ll see five different fingerings being used.

This may not be the case, however, if those 5 players came from the studio of one teacher.

Now, I consider that I have had four main teachers in my life.

What is interesting, as I look back, is that two of them tended to have specific fingerings for any given passage, and sought to adjust my technique to accommodate them.

The other two took a very different tack.

In high school I studied with a very gifted Italian violinist by the name of Guido Mansuino. He felt, if you couldn’t play a passage with a given fingering after three honest attempts, it was time to find another way.

Milstein was much the same way.

In the interim, however, I spent three years with Eudice Shapiro at the USC School of Music. Now Shapiro was a truly extraordinary violinist, one of the finest of the 20th century, in fact. Yet I would still place her firmly in the school of ‘adaptive technique’, where fingerings were concerned.

I must admit to having chaffed at the bit in this regard whilst under her tutelage.

It was only when I arrived at Milstein’s door that I again began to really feel the adventure of musical exploration and of personal innovation.

Yes, fingerings were a big part of this agenda.

He himself was constantly looking for new and unique ways of doing things; often playing different fingerings in successive performances – he was unrivaled in his ability to do this.

In short order I found myself investigating three, four, or more ways of fingering a passage before coming to one solution allowing for the right musical impact as well as a fluid, facile execution for my hand.

This process fired my imagination to do so.

Admittedly, there are times when your fingering options are limited, and you really must rely solely on technique to get the job done.

Yet this is far more rare than most violinists realize.

So if you run into a problem playing a passage, stand back and take a fresh look at those fingerings. Chances are, with a little investment of time, you’ll surprise and delight yourself with a much more effective way of playing a passage that seemed impossible seconds before.

And you’ll actually be SAVING time and effort in the bargain.

Clayton Haslop is Concertmaster (first violinist) on hundreds of Hollywood movie soundtracks, including The Matrix movies, Titanic, Avatar, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Star Trek, Up, Jurassic Park, Apollo- and The Perfect Storm. Haslop’s bestselling Instructional DVD courses are used by beginning violinists to professionals worldwide.

categories: learn to play violin,how to play violin,violin lesson DVD,violin teacher,music education,music,education,advice,careers,motivational,entertainment