Categories
Performing Transformation through the Violin

Lean into Your Stage Fright

Performing feels uncomfortable. Sometimes horribly so. Accept that as a truth and go so far as to lean into your stage fright.

The fear you are feeling signals that you are considering a project that is meaningful and important to your growth as a musician and human being. So acknowledge that being on stage is different than every day life; it’s not like tying your shoes or waxing your car.

Expect the inevitable butterflies, shaky knees and sweaty palms. The worst thing you can do is to try and push away these physical manifestations of how you’re feeling. Instead, go further by looking forward and getting inside these symptoms. Act as a neutral outside observer as the internal/external storm comes and goes. Watch it pass; it always does.

Here’s your transformation: The violin teaches you to release the fear and ignore the transient voices that hold you back. It is a shining, positive force for every part of your personal growth.

Categories
Transformation through the Violin

Are You Listening to Your Violin Teacher?

During your lessons (or practice) are you listening to your violin teacher? Are you on constant autopilot or are you truly, fully present in the moment?

In today’s over scheduled world, we frequently divide our attention between non-stop internal dialog and a slew of external distractions such as cellphones and e-mail. We’re walking around in a semi-zombie autopilot state.

Are you paying for a teacher’s time, and then proceeding about your week ignoring what what was offered to you on a silver platter? Just one tiny nugget from a perceptive teacher can save you months, even years of frustration.

Here’s your transformation: 

Train yourself to be present and attentive during your violin lessons and/or practice time and let that skill of mindfulness effortlessly take hold across other parts of your life.

Categories
Practical Violin

Don’t scrimp on your violin bow

Most new violinists excited about beginning their study of the instrument spend the lion’s share of their budget on the violin and perhaps private or group lessons. But newbies hardly ever think about the importance of the bow.

Don’t scrimp on your violin bow! It’s equally, if not more, important than the violin itself. The bow is your direct tactile connection to your tone. It needs to be comfortable in your hand, with proper balance, arch and tension.

You’ll eventually become accustomed to the tone of a mediocre violin, as long as it’s properly set up. But a cheap “kit” bow can easily stop you in your tracks.

 

Categories
Practice Problems Practicing the Violin

Stage Fright

If you’re plagued by stage fright consider this: the performance isn’t about you; you only think it is.

When you realize that instead, it’s about the music, the composer and continual process of mastering your instrument, your thoughts will gravitate away from your insecurities and ego. And toward being prepared more deeply, far more deeply.

Are you afraid of the stage? Or are you afraid of really doing the work?

Categories
Violin Lessons for Kids

Steal My Violin Routines

You can steal my practice routines. Or anyone else’s. There’s no shortage of great ideas that work.

My bowings and fingerings are up for grabs too. Just find the ones that work best for you. There are only so many possible solutions, and most have already been “discovered” by others who have already travelled a similar path.

When it comes to the things that make your music and performances unique, it is futile to try and steal that. There is only one Heifetz, Perlman, Hilary Hahn, Darol Anger and Stephane Grapelli. And only one you.

Be authentic. You can riff on the work of others, but in the end people want to enjoy your uniqueness and your gift.