September 2005

September 13, 2005 07:29

It has been a while since my last entry. Musically it has been a very relaxed summer, I have been studying some scores and listening to a lot of music. I started working on some recital programs for the coming year.
However I feel that this summer I might have grown more than when I would have had violin lessons everyday with the biggest teachers on earth. I met a woman, not a musician, who has thaught me so incredibly much. In fact, I met several people, whom really helped me in looking towards myself with a critical, but non-judging eye.
Something which Mr. Perlman talked about with me in a lesson this past february. In my practicing I can be very accurate in my criticisme, but in a very judging way. That does not help the process of really growing a lot. It makes things better for the moment, but it does not help towards personal growth. How often do we find ourselves in a practice room, stamping our feet because those arpeggios in F# are out of tune!
Another thing she talked about was "Energy". She does Reiki and told me about her experiences with this. How her hands get warm and she really feels an energy flowing through her. That reminded me a lot of lessons with Mr. Weilerstein. Often when I would have a technical problem, it was not because I was not able to play it, but somewhere in my body the flow of energy was blocked. When I practice I often ask myself to feel that energy flowing. I always made jokes about his comment of "feeling the vibrato in your back", but in your next practice session, try it. The movements we make are often somewhat robotic. However if you let the energy flow, passages will come much more naturally. Try playing a scale in 4 octaves, quickly: the first time you probably will get stuck on some shift. Naturally, you will start repeating that shift over and over again. But instead of doing that, feel the scale in your whole body, make the shifts not from your elbow or shoulder, but from your stomach, while you feel your feet firmly planted in the ground and your knees functioning as big springs, that when somebody would try to throw you over, it would be impossible, not because you are stiff, but because your flexibility.

Every single time I am amazed about the life lessons I have gotten from my violin teachers, throughout my life. This is my first season without a violin teacher, but life is giving me many teachers, like the woman I have described before. Now that I am learning them in daily life, I am starting to understand them better in music making. And once again it is also clear to me that making music is not something you do, it is something you live. Because music is about life!

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September 2005

September 13, 2005 07:29

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