Brian Hong on Violinist.com

Concepts and Analogies: Make your practicing easier and more fun!

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:18:07 GMT

The credit for this blog goes to my amazing violin teacher here in VA, who taught me all these things and completely changed my stance as a musician, and therefore I am so indebted to her for that.

*******************

I am sure this has happened at least once to all of you: Everything in your practicing is going so well, you & rsquo;re improving, you & rsquo;re playing in tune. & nbsp;Then all of a sudden, one day, something doesn & rsquo;t go right. & nbsp;Then another thing, then another. & nbsp; You & rsquo;re not playing musically, you & rsquo;re having problems with technique, and your body is tensing up as a result. & nbsp; And then, in order to combat this sudden musical & ldquo;fever & rdquo;, if you will, you start doing every single complicated kind of practice you can think of, thinking that in time everything will get better. & nbsp; But it doesn & rsquo;t.

Has this happened to you? & nbsp; I know it definitely has for me. & nbsp; But what can we do to fix it?

I believe that we as musicians sometimes forget the easy, analogy-ridden way we used to be taught when we were beginners, before we knew all about tone, musicality, and technique. & nbsp;Instead, we start to find every single possible way to practice a difficult section of a piece: breaking it up, playing it slowly, doing exercises, all in order to make the phrasing flow easier and make it be technically smoother. & nbsp; This is all well and good, and much of the time, it works. & nbsp;However, when everything doesn & rsquo;t go as planned, we start questioning ourselves and we wonder, deep inside (don & rsquo;t deny it, we know we do), whether what we & rsquo;re trying to fix will ever get fixed, whether we & rsquo;re cut out for violin playing, etc. etc. & nbsp;

But why put yourself in these blue funks? & nbsp;Sometimes complicated thinking makes things & hellip;.well & hellip;.complicated. & nbsp;Let & rsquo;s make things simple-grab a glass of prune juice and let & rsquo;s go!

I think that one thing that could truly make life easier and more fun while practicing is that old idea of concepts and analogies. & nbsp;These were things that were used on us when we were little kids ( & ldquo;Make sure your left thumb makes a mouse hole & rdquo;, for example). & nbsp;Why not go back to those days and apply them again? & nbsp;It can really make for a wonderfully efficient, entertaining, and ultimately rewarding practice session. & nbsp;I can share a few of those concepts here and I & rsquo;m looking forward to hearing some of yours!

There are those passages in which the technique is so difficult or awkward that it makes the musical line very chopped up and hard to stitch together seamlessly. & nbsp;For me, practicing them slowly does not really help; in fact, it just makes it harder to play musically since everything seems heavier. & nbsp;However, there is a sort of & ldquo;quick fix & rdquo; of sorts. & nbsp;Imagine a thin, unwavering laser beam that shoots out from your fingerboard through the tip of your scroll and out into infinity. & nbsp;Then play the passage just a BIT undertempo, but make every single note travel along that laser beam, shooting them out into infinity along the laser. & nbsp;Do not let the notes waver, fall off the laser, or bounce too high. & nbsp;Just let them travel smoothly. & nbsp; If done correctly, this will make your musical line so much more intact and smooth, not to mention it & rsquo;s a lot of fun! & nbsp; Also, since you will most likely be concentrated on making the laser not waver, your violin will most likely stay still and straight-another bonus of practicing this way.

We also have those times when our sound becomes forced, pinched, and too thin. & nbsp; That is something we never want. & nbsp; Another simple concept which could greatly affect that is simple: imagine that, whenever and whatever you play, you make sure that you play so that you make the bottom of your instrument resonate. & nbsp;Sure, we can all scrape the top of the strings and press in to make the sound bigger, but simply trying not to play the top of the instrument, yet playing to the very bottom plate makes a huge difference in tone. & nbsp;

And, finally, I know that we all at some point develop tension in our left arms. & nbsp;We end up grasping the violin too tightly and our vibrato, intonation, and muscles suffer. & nbsp;My teacher told me to imagine one of those old fashioned, two side balance scales. & nbsp; One side is the part of the violin that tucks into your chin, the other side is the scroll and where you hold the violin with your hand. & nbsp;First of all she said to straighten out my neck bones so that they sit comfortably on top of my spine. & nbsp;Then she told me to let my left arm & ldquo;hang & rdquo; on the scroll end, so that I & rsquo;m not holding up the violin in any way. & nbsp; And since that side of the scale would hang & ldquo;down & rdquo;, the other side would go up, into your chin. & nbsp;The violin would almost feel like its drooping down, but if you look in the mirror, it actually shouldn & rsquo;t be noticeable. & nbsp;What will be noticeable is the huge relief of the tension in your arm, since the violin will be held up, but without any effort on your arm & rsquo;s part. & nbsp;This was hugely helpful to me, and something I am working on at the moment.

I am not saying these concepts should go in place of your complicated practice; this is just a fun, friendly way to vary your work, put your spirits up, and to make things easier for you so you can do much less of the tiring, intensive stuff. & nbsp;It & rsquo;s surprising how much of playing the violin comes from the state of your mind, not the muscle memory. & nbsp; & nbsp;

I would also like to bring up a point that the great violin pedagogue Drew Lecher made in a blog of his here on Violinist.com. & nbsp;Mr. Lecher basically wrote, & ldquo;The violin is a piece of cake! & nbsp;Have fun with it and play your heart out! & rdquo; & nbsp; Yes, we should do intensive studies to keep up our technique or to improve it, but the majority of the reasons why we play music are for the fun and joy of it, and these little exercises could drastically affect your practice for the better. & nbsp;

Or you could just go and eat some prunes.

Brian

& nbsp;

Playing pieces before you are ready for them; an ever increasing problem in today's music world.

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 03:42:30 GMT

�A little over a year ago, a very young girl, still in her single digits, played a Paganini caprice at a festival I was attending. It was in a masterclass for a famed violinist. To be honest, from my point of view, the performance was absolutely horrendous; it was completely out of tune, forced, with no musical content in it whatsoever. However, to my absolute dismay, the instructor praised her endlessly about how much of a genius she was and how she was incredibly gifted. Yes, the girl was, and still is, incredibly gifted. However, she was not technically or musically ready for that piece or any other piece she was playing at the time; all of them surpassed her skill level.

To me, this is a huge issue in the modern world of violin playing. Too many venues I go to offer me a recital, masterclass, or, God forbid, a competition in which someone is playing a major piece of the violin repertoire, ranging from Ravel�s Tzigane to the Beethoven Concerto, far before they are ready for it. It is true that there is a huge amount of incredibly gifted players in the world, but not all of them are a Sarah Chang or a Yehudi Menuhin. I posted this opinion on my Facebook page, and many of my friends agreed and commented. One of them made a simple yet thought-provoking statement. �I always see people who play Mendelssohn before Mozart or Bach or Bruch or any fine pre-requisite concerti.� This is true. People skip to the more famous, more commercial pieces that are likely to impress, not realizing that, in this particular situation, that Mozart or Bach is just as, if not more difficult than the Mendelssohn.

I believe that the main reason people play these pieces and think that they can get away with it is because in their heads they think that, �Oh, it�s [insert famous piece here], so I can play it uncleanly and get away with it as long as I play with passion�. And that, my fellow colleagues, is the crucial issue. No, you cannot get away with playing it uncleanly, even if it is a very musical performance. Yes, the music in some ways matters more than the technique, but there needs to be a certain technical standard which must be set in order to let the musicality shine. This doesn�t mean that the performance has to be perfect, though. Only a certain number of students, or professionals, for that matter, give technically �perfect� performances. I just mean that the piece cannot be beyond comprehension, that it must sound inspired and technically sufficient in order to be a convincing performance.

If there is one thing I learned this summer, it is the benefits of waiting to play a difficult piece until you are ready for it. My teacher at the summer festival I went to had a discussion with me about this. I told him the story of the little girl and the Paganini caprice, and he looked at me and said coolly, �I would have given her the first Rode caprice and asked her to play the introduction�. That quote had a profound effect on me. The Rode caprices are underplayed today; too much so. The teacher explained that the reason that so many kids play Paganini early and skip Rode is because of the fact that most music schools require a Paganini to be played in their auditions. This bestows a false sense of impatience in teachers and parents alike. I always ask the question: Does this help students? It has come to the point that people find Paganini caprices to be a whole set of pieces full of technical difficulty. They feel that if they get the technique, that�s all they need, they don�t need to play musically. Oppositely, there are kids who play it almost too musically and let the technique slide.�

That, friends, is where Rode is invaluable. In Rode, everything is obvious. If you make a mistake or play out of tune, it�s noticed. Plus, every single caprice has a huge musical statement to make; they are works of art that are meant to be played beautifully. To prove my point, listen to Oscar Shumsky�s recording of all the caprices. It is absolutely breathtaking, and in more than one instance I found myself with tears in my eyes. In my own humble opinion, I feel that Rode is actually harder than Paganini in many aspects. While, technically, it may not be as �flashy� as the up/down-bow staccato, left hand pizzicato, and harmonic-riddled Paganini caprices, musically, they make more of a statement, and it is a great way to work with a student on finding their musical identity while still focusing on basic fundamentals like intonation, correct and expressive bowing, and varying vibrato. They can get that with Paganini, but if they are not ready, they will most likely be overwhelmed with the technique.

The music world has changed drastically. Gone are the days of Auer and Galamian, who would rather impress upon students the genius of Bach and the fundamentals of technique found in exercises and etudes like Rode. Still, today, there are still a great amount of teachers who don�t give pieces to students until they can feel that they can play it convincingly and with good technique. I have been lucky to study under people like that; the pieces I play always challenge me in different ways, but they are not completely beyond my musical and technical ability. I am not saying that I don�t have much to learn, though. Quite the contrary. However, I have never been pressured to learn all the flashiest and biggest pieces known to the repertoire before I have covered basic pieces, and I feel that I have grown immensely from that. I think that the music world could be much cleaner, more friendly, and with more healthy competition if some teachers toned down their aspirations for their students and helped develop their technique and musicality instead of pushing it upon them. In that same vein, gifted violin students would become more than overrated so-called �prodigies��.they would become artists.

But what do I know? I�m just a kid.

The Music Academy of the West: Recollections and Memories

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:04:50 GMT

�� I got back from the Music Academy of the West about two weeks ago. �This was possibly the most inspiring and beneficial two months I�ve ever had in my musical life. �It wasn�t a miracle festival; I didn�t become some flawless player who can perform with complete confidence, but I gained a lifetime�s worth of necessary skills and ways of thinking that will benefit me for the rest of my years.

��

�� The Music Academy is held in the beautiful area of Santa Barbara, California, on a campus called Miraflores, exclusively dedicated to the Academy. �The people who lived in the dorm (everyone except me, as I am too young) lived in a boarding school called the Cate School, which is about 20 minutes from Miraflores. �The Cate School is in the nearby city of Carpenteria, on the top of a beautiful mountain. �Hard to think that the beach is only a few minutes away! �There were two charter buses which provided transportation between the Cate School, Miraflores, and the various concert venues in town.

��

�� The Academy has some of the most dedicated and experienced faculty and staff in the country as far as summer festivals are concerned. �I was very lucky to be accepted into the studio of Professor Zvi Zeitlin, who teaches at the Eastman School. �Mr. Zeitlin�s teaching encourages one to think for himself, to try to take his instruction and extract the musical meaning from deep within it. �This is something I am not very good at; I was very challenged throughout the summer to understand his instruction fully. �However, that is not his problem, it is mine. Mr. Zeitlin is a knowledgeable, tactful, and effective teacher. �Even though he can be a bit sharp and gruff, he is a very caring person and only becomes more intense because he cares about each and every student he works with and wants them to reach their full potential. �One of his former students, Jeff Thayer, concertmaster of the San Diego Symphony, is the Orchestral Studies teacher at the Academy and was our guest concertmaster for our Festival Orchestra. �Mr. Thayer�s playing reflects everything Mr. Zeitlin values in a player: focus and depth of sound (his sound is like molten fire), a love and thoughtfulness about every single note in the piece regardless of value or pitch, but most importantly, an expressive individuality that belongs to the player and the player only. �That, I believe, is Mr. Zeitlin�s overall goal for a student; to create a musical and precise violinist, yes, but more importantly, to bring out the individual musician in each and every one of us, our own personal sense of style and interpretation.

��

�� Besides lessons, another highlight of the festival was the orchestra. �The Music Academy Festival Orchestra was split into many separate groups during certain sections of the summer, such as a chamber orchestra and an opera orchestra (which performed the opera Mignon). �However, we always got back together and re-collaborated as a full symphony orchestra (about three times throughout the summer). �We were honored to be visited by such distinguished conductors as Larry Rachleff, Peter Oundjian, Nicholas McGegan, and Leonard Slatkin, each of whom brought a different set of skills and ideas to the repertoire we were working on, which included Ravel�s Second Daphnis et Chloe Suite, Shostakovich�s Symphony No. 5, Mahler�s Symphony No. 7, Britten�s Sinfonia di Requiem, and Tchaikovsky�s Symphony No. 4. �Under Maestro McGegan, we played such gems like Ramaeu�s Nais suite, Purcell�s Abdelazer, and a few suites from Handel�s Watermusik. �A select group of students also performed Bach�s Third Brandenburg concerto with the Maestro.

��

�� Like most great music festivals, the Music Academy incorporates a HUGE amount of chamber music into its curriculum. �At the beginning of the summer, we were all grouped into various ensembles, which ranged from string quartets, to piano quintets, to groups with woodwinds and cellos. �Every single student at the festival is very talented and can handle their instrument with supreme skill, so naturally these ensembles blossomed quite early underneath the tutelage of such distinguished coaches as Peter Salaaf, Nico Abondolo, Zvi Zeitlin, and many others. �This doesn�t mean that the groups didn�t have problems, though. �In fact, there were several cases throughout the summer in which a chamber ensemble had a huge personal issue and made a scene. �More often than not, though, the people settled down and reformed to be able to perform very well at the culminating event for chamber groups at the end of the summer, a very long all-day Chamber Marathon that extended from 10 AM to 5 PM. � The level of every chamber group was very high, and it had reached the point that we were not necessarily worried about the intonation, ensemble, and togetherness as much as the woven phrases, the meaning of each piece, and the harmonies (well, I think the group that played Bartok�s Second Quartet was probably worrying about both aspects, but they pulled their quartet off better than most other groups).

��

�� Throughout the summer, there were many solo opportunities that presented themselves. �We had our usual weekly masterclasses, not all of which we participated in, though. �However, every Friday evening, there were concerts in the Music Academy�s beautiful, grandiose Hahn Hall, dubbed our weekly Picnic Concerts. �They were packed to the brim with performers; sometimes the concerts went as long as three hours, until about 10-10:30 PM. �However, that didn�t stop countless people from Santa Barbara from coming to these recitals. �Hahn Hall was overflowing with audience members at every Picnic Concert. �We also had concerts at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, every Thursday. �Here, the performers got paid to play! �Naturally, many of the Fellows (Music Academy students) signed up for these events. �What astounded me about the Academy was the fact that, besides it being incredibly well organized, it stressed independence in every student. �In order to perform in any of these solo or chamber opportunities, we had to sign forms and put ourselves up for them; we weren't automatically placed. �We were also not forced to practice, to rehearse, or to perform, but the staff expected us to have the motivation and the confidence to be able to work by and for ourselves. �I am sure that many people would find that as an aspect unique to this camp.

��

�� One program of the Music Academy of the West that completely sets it apart from other festivals is its Compeer Program. �A Compeer is an adult from the Santa Barbara area who was selected to pair up with one of the Fellows. �They did many activities with the students, ranging from taking them out to dinner, whale watching, or just having fun. �This program was, in my eyes, meant to decrease the vast amount of stress the Fellows had dumped on their shoulders during the summer, and to provide them with joyful memories full of things other than music. �The Compeer Program is a wonderful program that really raises the already high standard that the Music Academy set for itself.

��

�� To me, the most important aspect of a summer music festival is the atmosphere and the students. �Sure, we can argue that the teachers and the level of playing are just as important. �Still, you went to a festival to study with a top class teacher, and all the students were unfriendly, arrogant, and unkind, it wouldn�t be a good experience, and quite frankly, you wouldn�t learn as much. �Well, at least I wouldn�t. �The social aspect of the Academy is what made it special for me; every single student there is a nice, caring, and appreciative person who could very well be a lifelong friend. �I am, I readily admit, a naturally talkative, insensitive, and rather annoying person. However, most of the Fellows treated me as an equal. �They tolerated my antics, and even included me in many of their activities, such as their daily walks to the nearby Coffee Bean and the beach. �One of them even worked with me for countless hours on my technique and musical ideas, patiently helping me clean up passages and make my musical templates even more convincing. �I believe that he is a very talented teacher and could very well be on the level of Mr. Zeitlin someday. �Although I tried to express my heartfelt gratitude and thanks to the Fellows at the end of the summer, I still don�t think they could fathom the happiness and joy they have given me. �As I write this, I still extend a profound thank-you to each and every single one of them.

��

�� I may thank the students, but there are countless people that all of the Fellows need to thank for this incredible experience that is the Music Academy of the West. �For starters, there are the teachers and the coaches, who have given countless hours, extreme patience, and huge amounts of musical wisdom. �However, we must also thank the people behind the scenes-they are just as important. �Our wonderful office staff, who have put in the painstaking work to arrange all the concerts, gatherings, parties, and rides into town, deserve our undivided applause. �The one group of people, though, whom I think were taken for granted, were the facility workers. �When I arrived at Miraflores every morning at 8 for an hour of practice before orchestra rehearsal, I always saw countless people watering the lawns, cleaning rooms, stacking chairs, and getting the campus ready for use. �There were also the cooks at the Cate School who provided food, the workers who handed out/sold tickets at the Box Office, and the janitors. �These are people who usually get glossed over by the Fellows, so I wanted to personally thank them here for all their efforts in helping to make such a spectacular festival possible.

��

�� As the summer draws to a close, I find myself looking back and reliving the wonderful memories that I have accumulated throughout my stay. �There are joyful moments, hard times, and many amusing instances of drama. �I had such a fantastic time, and I will definitely be applying next year. �I look forward to seeing old friends again, and making new ones in the years to come.

�

The Music Academy of the West: Week One

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:24:44 GMT

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; I just experienced an incredible week. & nbsp; I came here, to the gorgeous area of Santa Barbara, California, to attend and study at the prestigious Music Academy of the West. & nbsp; I had no idea what to expect, other than the fact that I am the youngest here. & nbsp; Many months ago, I met my teacher here, Zvi Zeitlin, at a seminar and he called in and got me past the minimum age (16) requirement for this camp so I could audition. & nbsp; I was actually quite intimidated because from what I had heard, this festival was made up mainly of college and graduate school students. & nbsp; However, after this first week, I can say that this is one of the most incredible and amazing experiences in my life.
& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; Even though I got past the age requirement, there were still a few hitches. & nbsp; The place that all the students were staying, a beautiful boarding school on top of a mountain called the Cate School, could not let me stay because of my age, what with all the insurance regulations. & nbsp; Because of that, my mom had to accompany me (her & ldquo;forced vacation & rdquo;, she says with a laugh) and we had to find our own housing. & nbsp; Luckily, we found a nice little cottage right next to the Music Academy, right behind a nice home where our host family lives. & nbsp; We also lucked out with the host family; they are a very musical and supportive group of people and they try to do everything for our comfort, so we have them to thank for a lot of things.
& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;The festival officially started last Sunday, (June 21) with a placement audition for our orchestra seating and chamber group placements. & nbsp; We had an excerpt from the first page of Shostakovich & rsquo;s Symphony No. 5 to play, plus a piece of our choice (in my case, the first movement of the Dvorak Violin Concerto). & nbsp; When my turn went up, I felt like I was prepared, but nevertheless I was nervous. & nbsp; The judging panel was (I believe) made up of the violin faculty, as this was the violin audition: Zvi Zeitlin (my teacher), Kathleen Winkler, Peter Salaaf, and Jeff Thayer (the concertmaster of the San Diego Symphony and our guest concertmaster for the Festival). & nbsp; I saw others, but I did not recognize them. & nbsp; As this was my first playing at the Academy, I felt like I had to represent myself well. & nbsp; I had a few bow jitters, but everything went altogether smoothly, and I knew that wherever I got placed, I deserved.
& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;I ran to check my orchestra seating the next morning before our first rehearsal. & nbsp; I was in the first violins, fifth stand, inside, out of seven stands. & nbsp; Considering how nervous I was, I was very very happy with the result.
& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; Upon entering our rehearsal space, an auditorium called Hahn Hall inside the Music Academy, I was awed. & nbsp; It is a small but beautiful space with a very live sound. & nbsp; Everyone was already onstage warming up, so I tuned my violin and went onstage. & nbsp; I felt very uncomfortable because I didn & rsquo;t know anyone and I felt like I didn & rsquo;t belong. & nbsp; All awkwardness was forgotten, however, when the rehearsal started. & nbsp; We were playing Shostakovich & rsquo;s Symphony No. 5, and Ravel & rsquo;s Daphnis and Chloe, Suite 2. & nbsp; Our conductor for this first week, Larry Rachleff, was magnificent. & nbsp; He is an incredibly consummate musician, and has a very amusing dry sense of humor. & nbsp; Our rehearsals were very intense, because we had to learn and phrase both of these incredibly difficult pieces in about five days, with a dress rehearsal and concert on the sixth (Saturday). & nbsp; The players in the orchestra were very well prepared-most are over 20 years old, and have been in conservatories for many years. & nbsp; They were also very sensitive, following every slight tempo change and rubato from the conductor with perfect timing and precision (me excluded). & nbsp; I could tell that this would be an amazing orchestra.
& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;We also had a masterclass that first day to attend, with Professor Zeitlin teaching. & nbsp; I sat and watched the whole thing and was very impressed. & nbsp; There was a very well controlled first and second movement of the Bruch Scottish Fantasy played by Brendan Speltz, a passionate performance of the first movement of the Sibelius concerto by Aaron Yarmel, an incredibly soulful and fiery Fantasie Brilliante on Themes from Gounod & rsquo;s Faust by Wieniawski played by the incredibly talented Shachar Pooyae attending from Israel, and quite possibly one of the best performances I & rsquo;ve ever heard of the first and second movement of the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1 by 18 year old Curtis student and violin genius Zenas Hsu. & nbsp; Mr. Zeitlin was very clear in his teaching, giving the bare bones of the technique to the students, making it much easier for them to execute their notes and musical ideas. & nbsp; I enjoyed it very much, but I was also intimidated because of the incredibly high level of the students.
& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;On Wednesday, I had my first lesson with Mr. Zeitlin on the Dvorak Violin Concerto, first movement. & nbsp; He seemed to be in a very good mood, and I went through the first page without much blockage. & nbsp; However, once he got into it in the middle of the second page, he tore apart my bowings, fingerings, phrasing, and intonation. & nbsp; He also started to do immense work on my bow arm. & nbsp; I was only using the side of my bow hair, and above the lower middle of the bow, he was adamant about using all of the hair to get all the sound I could possible get. & nbsp; He was also very persistent about not using the terms, & ldquo;up & rdquo; and & ldquo;down & rdquo; bow, but rather using the French terms, & ldquo;push & rdquo; and & ldquo;pull & rdquo;, respectively, to help with my mental image of tone. & nbsp; I was getting very overwhelmed in that lesson; when I did not understand and play something Mr. Zeitlin told me perfectly the first time, he got a bit impatient and annoyed. & nbsp; However, it & rsquo;s not his fault; I just don & rsquo;t think I & rsquo;m an intelligent a violin player and I really don & rsquo;t take instructions well. & nbsp; After the lesson, he told me to come back the next evening after dinner. & nbsp; Was I to take that as a compliment because he wanted to work with me more, or rather as a death wish because he wanted to bring me as far from the & ldquo;hopelessness & rdquo; realm as possible?
& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;Our second lesson was far more intense. & nbsp; I could not play more than one measure before he would stop and tear me apart. & nbsp; In general, Mr. Zeitlin wanted me to play much louder; I had way too much fluff in my sound and he wanted much more core. & nbsp; He was getting very worked up because I was having lots of trouble putting together everything on the spot: completely new fingerings and bowings, playing with all the bow hair, pulling and pushing the stick instead of pressing to open up the sound, playing in tune, and also incorporating his own musical ideas. & nbsp; He has a very objective viewpoint in fingerings and bowings, mainly sticking religiously to whatever the composer had in mind, which in my opinion is why his students all play with incredible intelligence and nobleness. & nbsp; Apparently I was not doing anything Dvorak wanted, which is a very bad thing indeed. & nbsp; Many of his choices in fingerings and bowings were and still are very uncomfortable for me, but he would not let me do anything different. & nbsp; Through practice, though, the musical side of the piece benefited tremendously from his teaching. & nbsp; He does yell very much though. & nbsp; By the middle of the lesson he was fuming and screaming so loudly the room literally shook. & nbsp; However, I just smiled, agreed with everything that he said, and asked many questions. & nbsp; I also made myself believe that the reason he yelled was because he saw potential in me and wanted me to get better, which helped a lot. & nbsp; By having a good attitude, I learned so much from those first lessons and I improved a lot over the next few days. & nbsp; While Mr. Zeitlin may be very intimidating, he is also one of the most phenomenal teachers I have ever had and I am very fond of him and hope to learn much more.
& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;Throughout the week, we had chamber rehearsals (my quartet is playing Mendelssohn & rsquo;s second quartet in A minor, op. 13), chamber coachings (our coach is the famous and wonderful Peter Salaaf from the Cleveland Quartet), orchestra rehearsals, and of course lots of practice. Everything in week one culminated last night, Saturday, June 27, with our orchestra concert. & nbsp; We had rehearsed long and hard for this night, and we knew it was going to be great. & nbsp; We were performing in a venue called the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara, which is larger than Hahn Hall and much more acoustically refined. & nbsp; The performance was spectacular; everyone in the orchestra is a fantastic musician and they all responded to Maestro Rachleff & rsquo;s thoughtful, passionate, and fiery conducting with vigour, but still managed to keep the play-throughs of the Shostakovich and Ravel refined and heartfelt. & nbsp; This orchestra is the best I have ever played in and is far better than even some professional orchestras I have heard. & nbsp; After the grandiose ending of the Shostakovich, which ended the program, the crowd leapt to their feet and erupted into some of the biggest applause I had ever heard. & nbsp; A fitting end to the week.
& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;I am looking forward very much to the next seven weeks here at the Academy. & nbsp; So far it has been very rewarding, and I can already feel my overall violin playing responding to the spectacular teaching I have received. & nbsp; My bow arm already feels much smoother and efficient and I am very happy with the results; I tell my mother every day about what a better musician I will be when I leave this festival. & nbsp; I will be so much better as a player, which is what I need because my level for my age is still too low to be successful when I grow up, but I also feel like I will be a much more mature person. & nbsp; I extend a profound thank you to the people behind the scenes and to Mr. Zeitlin for giving me the opportunity to come to this camp as an underage attendee.
& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;Look for a new blog every week about this camp, if not, I will blog as much as I can. & nbsp; I may be too tired!

& nbsp; & nbsp; Cheers,

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;Brian

& nbsp;

The Hampden-Sydney Music Festival: A Weekend of Concerts and Friendships

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:53:16 GMT

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; I just spent one of the most amazing weekends of my life at one of the greatest, most intimate music festivals I have ever been to. & nbsp; Located near the homey, country-like region of Farmville, Virginia, the Hampden-Sydney Music Festival directed by Maestro Ethan Sloane is a fine blend of socializing and absolutely fabulous chamber music.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;This is not a festival where student & rsquo;s are particularly involved, (although I think that would make it even bigger and more popular); this is a festival where anyone can come and spend a weekend watching rehearsals of some of the greatest musicians alive, socializing on the beautiful campus of Hampden-Sydney College, and watching world class performances that will inspire you to no end.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;I was originally coming to this festival to have lessons with one of my teachers, Shmuel Ashkenasi, who is in my opinion one of the finest violinists and teachers alive today. & nbsp; I planned to be inconspicuous, practice during the day, have a lesson or two, then go home, but that was impossible, as there was so much to do and enjoy.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;The day I got there, I checked into my hotel room and talked (through Facebook) to one of my teachers who was participating in the festival, Michael Klotz. & nbsp; Mike is an especially gifted musical violist and a precious member of the internationally-acclaimed Amernet String Quartet, which resides at Florida International University. & nbsp; He is also an incredibly generous person. & nbsp; Another teacher of mine, the violinist Misha Vitenson, first violinist of the Amernet Quartet and one of the most passionate and fiery violinists I know was also participating in the festival, and I looked forward to seeing him and Michael very much.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;Michael invited me to dinner at the Hampden-Sydney cafeteria with him and the rest of the artists, and of course I had to accept. & nbsp; While I was there, I saw Professor Ashkenasi again which was a great honor. & nbsp; I was also introduced to several other world class musicians, the pianist Elizaveta Kopelman, and the cellist Marc Johnson of the former Vermeer Quartet (Professor Ashkenasi was also a part of that group). & nbsp; I spent over an hour sitting with them and conversing, soaking in as much of the great musicianship as possible. & nbsp; Michael Klotz and Professor Ashkenasi said that I was welcome to watch the rehearsals the next day, so I eagerly accepted.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;The next morning, I was at the Crawley Forum of Hampden-Sydney College bright and early, as that is the place where the groups were rehearsing and performing. & nbsp; It is large, yet very intimate, and has some gorgeous acoustics that compliment chamber music spectacularly. & nbsp; I walked in that morning to catch Professor Ashkenasi, Professor Johnson, and Professor James Kidd, piano professor at the college, rehearsing Mendelssohn & rsquo;s Piano Trio in D Minor. & nbsp; It was absolutely magical- the sounds of their instruments blended together perfectly, creating a seamless musical phrase that blossomed into the hall. & nbsp; As the piece came to an end, I was disappointed because I wanted it to continue forever. & nbsp; However, the fun wasn & rsquo;t over yet.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;The stage was reset for the next rehearsal to take place-Ernst von Dohn & aacute;nyi & rsquo;s Piano Quintet No. 1 in C Minor. & nbsp; I was not familiar with the piece, and I looked forward to it eagerly as the players mounted the stage: Shmuel Ashenasi and Misha Vitenson playing first and second violin, respectively, Marc Johnson on cello, Michael Klotz on viola, and Elizaveta Kopelman on piano. & nbsp; Their rehearsal took a little longer, because there were more ensemble issues to sort out, but the piece itself was absolutely gorgeous. & nbsp; The way each player played his/her part, and worked to blend it into a seamless sound was magical. & nbsp; The highlight of the group for me was Professor Ashkenasi; his sound was possibly the most gorgeous sound I had ever heard out of a violin. & nbsp; His musicianship and technique cannot possible be matched by any living violinist of today-he is utterly unique and bewitching. & nbsp; I knew that the concert that night would be absolutely brilliant.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;Later that evening, I was back at the Crawley Forum after a day of practicing and hanging out with the musicians to watch the concert. & nbsp; I got a wonderful seat, second row in the center, so I could see every single musician and how they played. & nbsp; I sat and fidgeted & hellip;not being able to wait for the concert to start. & nbsp; I was rewarded about 30 minutes later with the lights dimming, and two people introducing the music festival and asking all attendees to turn off their cell phones. & nbsp; Finally, Mr. Ashkenasi, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Kidd walked onstage to start off the program with the Mendelssohn trio. & nbsp; I could sense the excitement from the audience, even before the playing started. & nbsp; And were we rewarded! & nbsp; From Mr. Johnson & rsquo;s first notes carrying the gorgeous theme, we were hooked. & nbsp; The three masters took us on an emotional musical journey that brought out the young Mendelsson & rsquo;s genius and dark musical ideas. & nbsp; Even the light, seemingly happy parts seemed to have an underlying anguish to them, not overdone, but just barely there, as if to tell us that he was not who he looked like on the outside. & nbsp; Only musicians of this caliber could do this fine a job.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;The next piece was a piece I was not familiar with: M & auml;rchenerz & auml;hlungen, ( & ldquo;Fairy Tales & rdquo;), by Robert Schumann, scored for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano. & nbsp; The players were Michael Klotz on viola, Ethan Sloane on clarinet, and Elizaveta Kopelman on piano. & nbsp; Maestro Sloan is the Artistic Director of the Festival, and is a very fine musician. & nbsp; He is a very warm-hearted man whom I immediately liked, and his demeanor matched his playing-a warm gorgeous sound from his clarinet that just cut right through the room to the listeners in the back. & nbsp; The trio was perfectly timed, and all three musicians were playing in a perfectly refined style that fit Schumann & rsquo;s ideas wonderfully.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;After that performance was the finale-the great Dohn & aacute;nyi quintet. & nbsp; I could barely contain my excitement as Ms. Kopelman, Mr. Ashkenasi, Mr. Vitenson, Mr. Klotz, and Mr. Johnson briskly stepped onto the stage and prepared to perform. & nbsp; As the first notes from the piano, followed by the pizzicato from the strings, everyone, including me, was immediately mesmerized from the beauty of the sound of the five musicians working together. & nbsp; As the piece progressed, I had to consciously close my mouth due to my awe for these people. & nbsp; They were truly masters of their instruments. & nbsp; Mr. Ashkenasi sat back in his chair, and didn & rsquo;t move much, although he was perfectly fluid. & nbsp; The sound from his violin was gorgeous, and his musical ideas were perfectly formed, yet not overstated. & nbsp; For him, a perfect motto would be, & ldquo;Let the music speak for itself & rdquo;. & nbsp; On the other hand, Misha Vitenson, second violin, played the violin as if he was the devil himself. & nbsp; His sound was molten lava spurting from his instrument. & nbsp; He is an incredible consummate chamber musician, and he has the ability, along with his absolutely spectacular technique, to fit in with any musician he plays with spectacularly. & nbsp; Michael Klotz shone in this performance as well despite his somewhat understated viola part; he still brought it to its maximum emotional level and presented it with dazzling clarity. & nbsp; Mr. Johnson is also a very consummate musician-his sound, musicality, and technique just soars to the back of the hall effortlessly. & nbsp; However, the one instrument that was necessary to hold this piece together, the piano, was played brilliantly by Elizaveta Kopelman. & nbsp; When she accompanied, she was still audible, and the sound was still full, but she blended into the back of the wall of sound very well, but when she had a solo, she let rip with the piano and she was the star.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;As soon as the piece finished with a flourish, the entire audience (several hundred people) jumped to their feet cheering, prompting the quintet to come back onstage three times. & nbsp; It was a memorable night-and watching Mr. Ashkenasi play made me more intimidated to have my lesson with him the next day, playing the first movement of the Dvorak Concerto. & nbsp;
The next morning, my last day at the Festival, I decided to skip the morning rehearsals to practice, but the only available room was a conference room in the Forum that was right above where the musicians were rehearsing. & nbsp; Needless to say, I was kicked out immediately because either I was too loud and the sound was leaking, or my playing was hurting their ears. & nbsp; Because of the musicians of that incredibly high caliber rehearsing right below me, it was probably the latter. & nbsp; However, my slight embarrassment was quelled as I watched the rehearsals. & nbsp; That night & rsquo;s concert consisted of a clarinet quartet in E-flat major by Bernhard Henrik Crusell, with Misha Vitenson playing violin, Mr. Sloan playing clarinet, Mr. Klotz playing viola, and Mr. Johnson playing cello. & nbsp; The next piece was the famed Viola Sonata by Dmitri Shostakovich, with Mr. Klotz on viola and Professor Kidd on Piano. & nbsp; Finally, the last selection, and arguably the most exciting, was the Piano Quintet in A Major by Antonin Dvorak, played by the same stellar quintet as the last night. & nbsp; I only caught snippets of the rehearsal, but from what I could tell, it was pretty darn good.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;After lunch, Mr. Ashkenasi escorted me to his campus apartment loaned to him by the College. & nbsp; It was very nice; two stories, although it was very small. & nbsp; I was shaking because I was so nervous, although there was nothing to be nervous about, as Mr. Ashkenasi is one of the nicest men I have ever known. & nbsp; He was very matter of fact, sitting down in a chair and motioning for me to play as if he was only asking me to hand him something. & nbsp; I only got through the first two phrases before he stopped me and started working with me. & nbsp; He pointed out several bowing problems that I had, and gave me many fingering suggestions. & nbsp; His style of teaching is very straightforward, yet in no way blunt or harsh. & nbsp; He once told me that there is no reason that a teacher should be mean to or humiliate a student-and I agree. & nbsp; He also said that fear brings strong results, but & ldquo;for what? & nbsp; Who cares if you play the violin well as much as how you develop as a person? & rdquo; & nbsp; He is full of wisdom. & nbsp; Our entire lesson was jam-packed with musical ideas, suggestions, and technique tips. & nbsp; Mr. Ashkenasi is huge on expressive intonation-and he pointed out that I was out of tune in literally every bar; not saying it in a mean way but in a very caring and friendly way. & nbsp; I learned much about the correlation of notes to open strings, of notes in relation to chords, and many other intonation devices. & nbsp; In short, I believe that his point was that it & rsquo;s not what we hear under our ear that & rsquo;s important, but predicting and conforming our intonation to what goes out into the hall takes far more precedence. & nbsp; I came out of the lesson mentally dead, but at the same time motivated and refreshed. I couldn & rsquo;t wait for the concert that night.
& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;That night, the concert was as stellar as the night before, if not more. & nbsp; Everything I mentioned about the last concert pertained to this concert-if not more. & nbsp; The Crusell Quartet was beautiful. & nbsp; Everyone played together perfectly, beautifully, and intelligently. & nbsp; The star of the quartet was definitely Mr. Sloan. & nbsp; His motto could also be to let the music speak for itself; he doesn & rsquo;t move much, but if one closed his/her eyes and listened, they heard nothing but passion and phrasing.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;The Shostakovich Sonata was mesmerizing. & nbsp; It is not a piece that is not meant to be enjoyed-it is meant to linger on the heart. & nbsp; Michael Klotz did the piece justice; this was Shostakovich & rsquo;s last piece he ever composed, and all of the composer & rsquo;s sorrows, pains, and struggles were poured into every note. & nbsp; Mr. Klotz poured his soul into the sonata just like Shostakovich, so much so that when he finished the last haunting note, several audience members were gasping, and the meek clapping that started at first grew into a thunderous applause that shook the rafters. & nbsp; I was the one clapping the most-never had I been moved this much by a performance.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;I did not know how any performance could emotionally top that sonata, but I was soon to be surprised with the Dvorak. & nbsp; The audience remembered the exciting quintet from the previous night, and they clapped enthusiastically as the performers mounted the stage. & nbsp; Again, the first notes that were played immediately took the attention of every single person in the room, and we were mesmerized. & nbsp; The performance itself was one that kept everyone on the edge of their seat. The same qualities in each performer from the night before prevailed, but to a seemingly greater extent. & nbsp; Needless to say, this was the greatest interpretation of the famed Dvorak A Major Piano Quintet I had ever heard. & nbsp; Now, I may seem like I am gushing about everyone, but every word I speak is absolutely true. & nbsp; After the concert (around 10:30 PM), I had to leave to get home as I had a rehearsal the next morning, but I stuck around to say goodbye to all the musicians who had given me such an amazing time that weekend, welcoming me to their wonderful festival with open arms and inviting me to spent time with them. & nbsp; Mr. Sloan and Mr. Kidd both host such a wonderful gathering, and kudos to them, both for their musicianship and directorship. & nbsp; Finally, I said a warm goodbye to Mr. Ashkenasi, who had so generously given up over an hour of his busy schedule to teach me (a violinist who is really nothing special and lacks many things, musically and technically). & nbsp; And as we left, he told me, & ldquo;You have a wonderful path between your brain and your heart in your playing, and you have the potential to be very good & rdquo;. & nbsp; That was the nicest compliment I had ever received, especially coming from a god of violin who rarely gave compliments. & nbsp; I was touched. & nbsp; A few minutes later, I was in our car, heading home, smiling to myself and thinking, & ldquo;What a great time & rdquo;.

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;I really think that anyone on the East Coast and beyond should consider attending this festival, held in the late spring. & nbsp; It is such fun to come and spend time with these musicians and learn from them, and to converse with them. & nbsp; I felt like I learned so much here, even if it wasn & rsquo;t a student oriented festival. & nbsp; I would love to come back as a member and music lover sometime to support it.

Do you still 'hear' music after you fall asleep?

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 05:49:58 GMT

A question has plagued me for many years, and I am sure it has affected you as well: do you still & ldquo;hear & rdquo; music after you fall asleep? I believe that I have solved that question, unintentionally.

Last night, as I went to bed, I decided to go drift off with some music. After pulling the covers over me, I grabbed my iPod and set it to an album called Score, which is a live performance recording of the progressive metal band Dream Theater in Radio City Music Hall (if you don & rsquo;t know them, check them out. They are amazing). The iPod was set to album repeat, and I dozed off as the album went to its third track.

Throughout the night, I, as usual, went through several reoccurring dreams that I experience every night: a pink washing machine clanking around, a girl that I really like (not telling her name) coming to my house to visit me, me finding out that I & rsquo;ve suddenly lost 50 pounds. Then, all of a sudden, the haze of my sleep suddenly cleared out and I found myself in a small room, and there was a young man on the ground, and standing over him was a tall woman and (I & rsquo;m guessing), her teenage son. I looked around and heard music coming from somewhere, but I didn & rsquo;t know where as this was a closed room, with no windows, doors, or openings of any kind. All people who experience dreams where things don & rsquo;t make sense know that it doesn & rsquo;t seem weird while experiencing the dream, so I took no heed and just focused on the scene unfolding before me.

I suddenly recognized the music that was playing. It was the 25 minute epic by Dream Theater, Octavarium, as performed on the Score CD. I had no idea why that music was playing at that particular moment. All of a sudden, the music reached it & rsquo;s climax point where the singer, James LaBrie, along with drummer Mike Portnoy start screaming lyrics, and the tall woman and her son started screaming along, accenting every syllable with a kick at the man on the ground. They were screaming & ldquo;Trapped inside this octavarium! Trapped inside this octavarium! Trapped inside this octavarium! & rdquo; All the while, they tortured the poor man on the ground. Why this image was in my head I don & rsquo;t know-Dream Theater is not a band about pain and death.

Finally, they reached the biggest point of the song, and screamed it even louder, & ldquo;TRAPPED INSIDE THIS OCTACARIUMMMMM! & rdquo; As they screamed it, along with James LaBrie and Mike Portnoy, who suddenly came into the room behind me, we all lifted off the ground and flew into black space.

Suddenly, I woke up, and it was 3 in the morning, with the music still playing in my ears. With the effects of the dream I had had still fogging over me, I concentrated on the music playing through my headphones to clear my brain. Sure enough, it was Octavarium, and it was at the point right after the climax, where Juilliard-trained keyboardist Jordan Rudess went into a synthesizer arpeggiated solo. It made the dream rush back at me, and I realized that I was listening to music while I was still deep in my REM sleep, and the music had been incorporated into my dream, along with a violent image that otherwise would not have been in my head.

This was a very shocking experience, and one of the clearest and most vivid dreams I have had. I knew I needed to write this before it cleared my head, and I am sharing it with you. I think I have solved the issue that music is still recognized and played in your brain, even if you are in a deep slumber. I even think that music makes your dream even more articulate; in other words, it enhances the clarity of your dream. This is a really cool subject and I hope it happens again so I can explore it further.

*Yawn* I think I & rsquo;ll go to bed now & hellip;..and I & rsquo;ll listen to Shlomo Mintz tonight. I wonder what image that will give me ;)

-Brian

Keep checking your mailboxes

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:39:05 GMT

Everyone hold your breath! & nbsp; We are getting into the season for college acceptance (or, God forbid, rejection) letters, and something even more important: summer festival acceptance letters! Eagerly pry open your mailboxes every day as I have been doing! & nbsp;
This year I applied to two camps-Bowdoin, and one of the most prestigious chamber music camps in America, The Music Academy of the West. & nbsp; I really wanted to go to the Music Academy (Held in Santa Barbara, California), because of the chance to work with the 86 year old master violinist and pedagogue, Zvi Zeitlin. & nbsp; I had just met him this past December and January at a seminar in Florida, and was able to play for him and play quartets with him. He is definitely one of the best teachers in the world-he shaped my playing to a much higher level within a week. & nbsp;
The reason I applied to Bowdoin was to either work with one of my current teachers, Shmuel Ashkenasi, or to work with Sergiu Schwartz, another fantastic teacher. & nbsp; However, I found out on the website for Bowdoin that Professor Ashkenasi was not going to be attending, but I still waited for the letter.
One night, my mom got a call from my teacher. & nbsp; She had just been on the phone for several hours with Sergiu Schwartz, who called her about me attending Bowdoin. & nbsp; He wanted to give me a scholarship and wanted to work with me! & nbsp; I was, of course, naturally excited, but we had to think it over. & nbsp; If I went to Bowdoin, I would have to give up my application to the Music Academy. & nbsp; After much discussion with several of my teachers, my mom, and my dad, we finally decided that we had to wait, because we had still not heard from the Music Academy and could not make a solid decision until we knew what was happening. & nbsp; Mr. Schwartz understood and said, even though he couldn & rsquo;t give me a scholarship anymore, that I could always come to study with him. & nbsp; Whew! & nbsp; One summer application out of the way-and it turned out well!
Only a few days later, after another uneventful trip to the mailbox, my mom got on the computer to check her email and suddenly exclaimed that I was accepted to the Music Academy. & nbsp; I was pleasantly surprised; Mr. Zeitlin had invited me to come in Florida, but I was a year under the minimum age requirement. & nbsp; However, I still had to think. & nbsp; If I went to the Music Academy, I would be among many college kids, and some much older pre-professional players. & nbsp; It would be a major challenge to try to match up to their playing in chamber music, because in reality, I & rsquo;m not that fantastic a player. & nbsp; Bowdoin would have fit my age group and level much better. & nbsp; However, I could not pass up a chance to work with Zvi Zeitlin for a whole summer (June thru August). & nbsp; It was decided-I was to go to Santa Barbara this summer for 8 weeks.
Since I am under the age requirement, my mom will have to accompany me and we will have to rent a house or condo this summer. & nbsp; That will be no problem, however, (or minimal problems-my brother is heading off to college next year), as the Music Academy is well funded and offers full scholarships to all of their alumni. & nbsp; I must say, I am incredibly excited to be attending this wonderful music festival this summer! & nbsp; I will most likely be the player there with the most to learn, but it will be a fantastic experience!
So everyone, keep checking your mailboxes and emails! & nbsp; Good luck on all your camps, and to all your seniors, your colleges!

The Art of Shifting: Tips and Tricks from a Student's Perspective

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 02:44:19 GMT

I had recently seen, and commented on, a post about �fluid shifting� and accuracy in shifts, and I was inspired to blog about it. It is a very fascinating topic with many different insights and views. Is there a �right� way to shift? I really don�t know. I do, however, know some processes, which, over a period of time, work very well.

First, a small but entertaining anecdote. About three weeks ago, my parents and I made the long drive up from our home in Northern Virginia up to Philadelphia to have a lesson with a Philadelphia Orchestra violinist I had been studying with for a while. I was to go and play the first movement of the Saint-Sa�ns concerto, and the Schoenberg Phantasy. I thought I had prepared quite well, and I was quite confident as I walked to her front door. A bit too overconfident, if I knew what was to come��.

After saying hello and unpacking my violin and music, I lifted my violin to play. Right after my bow hit the strings for the Saint-Sa�ns, something went wrong. The first shift went completely flat. I fixed it and went on, but something was wrong. Every shift that came up was either hit horribly flat or horribly sharp. When I reached the end of the page, I put down my violin and looked sheepishly at my teacher. She looked at me, smiled, and said ever so sweetly, �Would you like to try that again?� Ouch.

That lesson, we went over my entire shifting technique, which, for all these years, I was doing all wrong. No matter how much work I did, the reason I could never play anything in tune when under pressure was because of the way I was shifting! However, this was not any fault of my teacher's. If anything, it was all myself. My wonderful teacher here in Virginia, whom I learn so much from, had told me many times to fix my shifting, but I was too just lazy to do it. I should have listened to her sound advice. However,I now know exactly what I was doing wrong, and what to do to fix it. And, more importantly, I now know how to make shifts accurate in tempo. And that, my fellow student violinists, is what I will be attempting to share with you.

_____________________________________________________________

Shifting is not in the hand, as many of us violinists believe. This was the policy I went by for about 8 years, ever since I learned how to shift. Shifting comes from the arm, and the arm only, about 90% of the time. The shape of the hand, and, more importantly, the fingers, should stay perfectly still when shifting. This means everything must stay constant-the arching of the finger, the angle of the fingernail to the fingerboard, and the shape of the wrist. This does not mean, however, that the hand must be stiff. Quite the contrary, actually. The hand must be very fluid during the shift, but the movement in the slide, as I stated before in the paragraph, must come mostly from the arm. That said, how do you practice this? The process is beautifully simple, but deathly boring and incredibly long.

Put your violin and bow up, and stand in front of a mirror. Practice the shift very slowly with a relaxed hand (let it, for the time being, be a shift on the A string with the first finger from the first position, B, to the third position, D). Now, first look at your hand. Is the shape of the finger staying exactly the same during the shift? Notice the contact of the fingertip to the fingerboard to the first knuckle. While moving on the fingerboard, this section of the finger may not drag back whatsoever. If the hand is moving back, while the shifting finger is �lagging� behind, then you are practicing the shift wrong. The reason why this is wrong is because if the hand shape doesn�t stay constant, the shift will be marginally different, or inconsistent, every time you practice it. And if you practice intonation with an inconsistent finger shape, you will be getting absolutely no work done. Then, secondly, look at the overall shape of the back of your hand in the mirror. Work on keeping the shape of the back of the hand the same as well, so you are 100% the shift is coming from the arm. Also, make sure the thumb is travelling with the hand, not lagging behind. A thumb dragging on the neck, like a finger dragging on the fingerboard, will make the shift inconsistent too. Then you might as well just not practice.

Okay�.take a deep breath. Did you get that down? Can you make the shift (in tune?) very slowly with a relaxed but consistent finger shape? Great! On to step two! Now, we must speed up the shift. This is the crucial step to getting the selected shift in the piece in tune, and in time. So, let�s work the same shift we did in the first exercise (B to D) with a metronome. However, we will not be speeding up the metronome�s beats, instead, we will be speeding up the shift to the metronome. Set the metronome to, you guessed it, quarter note=60! Now, let�s start slowly. Start by shifting up in one bow, slurring the two notes, spending one quarter note on each note. Then, without stopping, change the bow and shift down on quarter notes again in one bow. You should be going up and coming down in a total of four beats, two bows, and in a note pattern of B-D,D-B. Ponder this for a moment; it may be hard to understand. Repeat this exercise 10 times, consecutively in tune, with the consistent hand shape. Once you�ve done that, you can go to the next step, shifting up with 3 eighth notes to the B and 1 eighth note to the D, and the same way coming down. Notice we speeded up the shift by cutting the time we had to shift in half. Repeat this another 10 times consecutively in tune, with the same consistent hand shape. After this, subdivide the quarter notes into sixteenth notes, and shift up with 7 sixteenth beats on the B, and one sixteenth note on the D, doing the same thing in the next bow coming down. Do this 10 times. We have cut the timing of the shift in half again! Now you are shifting about 8X (forgive me if this is wrong-too lazy to do the math) faster than you did when you first started with the metronome! Congratulations! Now we can go to the last step. Do the same thing you just did, but lift the bow during the last sixteenth beat. When you lift the bow, do the shift in that small space. You should be able to get that in tune, even though you are not hearing the slide of your finger. Once you get that perfectly ten times, you have finished practicing the shift! It should be able to be perfectly in tune every time you play it now. Shake yourself out�.you did it!

You now need to go through every single shift in your piece like this (yeah�.depression kicks in now). You might wonder what to do when a shift isn�t just on one finger. Lots of slides start on one finger and end on another. With this, you use the idea of �hovering�. Practice the shift the same way, but when you get into the position where you need to stop, ping the second finger down. It should hover close to the fingerboard so it can go down accurately as soon as you slide into position.

_____________________________________________________________

So that�s it! It�s actually a very simple concept that you will get the hang of very quickly. Yes, it will take a long time, but it will be worth it. I know that it definitely worked for me; two weeks later, I walked into a lesson with a different teacher, and played the first page of the Saint-Sa�ns almost note perfect!

So I hope you have not died from boredom while reading this, and I hope that you students will try this method. I know that there are other ways of shifting out there, but this is the process that has really helped me grow as a musician, in a technical perspective. I will leave you to ponder this huge fountain of knowledge that I condensed into three pages, and I welcome criticism for my writing, my views on technique, and, overall, my musical ideas. After all, I am only 14! & #61514;

Cheers,
Brian

Narrow-Mindedness in Music: A Personal Story

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:53:43 GMT

This will not be an entry about the violin, nor will it be about any classical ensembles, performers, or camps. Instead, this piece of writing will be about a different kind of music that I discovered, a type of music that has broadened my musical range and knowledge tenfold.

I must admit, I was quite narrow-minded about what music I listened to for the last several years. I thought, "Classical musicians must listen to classical music," and I idiotically never gave other types of music a chance. I realized my mistake this past summer, and I started listening to different kinds of music. It started at my first camp, Interharmony, when I downloaded the song "Viva la Vida" by the band Coldplay into my Ipod. I remember the lyrics (referring to the fall of Napoleon) being very insightful and lyrical. However, this was not the true time in which I began to seriously listen to and understand popular music, if that makes sense. Just before that day, I had fallen in love with a genre of music.

At the end of the last school year, a good friend of mine who was my stand partner in school orchestra, Paul, told me about a band called Symphony X. He said it was Prog (Progressive) Metal, which is a style of metal which is more lyrical than "scream-o". Of course, I shunned it at first, being the narrow-minded being I was, but then curiosity got the better of me, and I went to Youtube. I found selections from their new album, Paradise Lost, and I was blown away. Not only are the musicians amazing (Michael Romeo is probably the best guitarist in the world, and Russell Allen has the most powerful and beautiful voice, not to mention the brilliance of their bassist, keyboard player, and drummer ), but I realized what skill, thought, and musicianship one needs to play this type of music. I had always wondered why kid bands couldn't do this stuff, because my mind always went, "It's METAL, for heaven's sake! It's easy to play along to!" Boy was I wrong. There are many tempo changes, different key signatures, rhythms that even Schoenberg would have trouble figuring out, and different time signatures. I know some great musicians who wouldn't be able to keep up with Symphony X's music had they listened to it.

I also listened to other metal bands (Dream Theater, Megadeth, etc.), and I completely fell in love with the entire literature. It is a very deep and insightful sort of music and can be very touching. It is purely for this reason that I had a sudden urge to take up the guitar and take singing lessons. Michael Romeo, guitar, and Russell Allen, vocals (Symphony X), and John Petrucci, guitar (Dream Theatre), have been a great inspiration to me and have changed the way I view music. I realized that I cannot look down upon them and say, "You may be popular musicians, but we are the REAL musicians." I feel quite ashamed that that was the way I used to think. I cannot even begin to realize what a self-serving, conceited brat I had been to not even give these great artists a chance. Not only are they as respectful as, let's say, Itzhak Perlman or Maxim Vengerov, but in a way, they musically surpass them with their knowledge and ability to adapt to different tempos, feels, and rhythms in a matter of seconds.

Now I feel like I am a different person. Not only do I now listen to different kinds of music and love it, but now I am beginning to scratch the surface of what "pop" music really is, and I am beginning to realize how talented, intelligent, and dedicated people have to be to be able to survive performing this artistry.

I will now leave you with Symphony X's 25 minute masterpiece, the Odyssey. Because it is on Youtube, it has been divided into three parts. This is a song that depicts the journey of Odysseus to Troy and back to Ithaca with amazing clarity. Symphony X employs the use of a full orchestra in this piece, which creates a new form of music similar to Prog Metal, called Neoclassical. Neoclassical music draws upon classical music as its inspiration. I find the ending of the Odyssey to be especially touching, in a bold sense, which you will hear. I leave it up to you to judge this band, and also to judge this wonderful style of music which I was proud to come across this summer, Progressive Metal.

The Odyssey:

Part 1

Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OZ2dJbHQFA

Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAo8BBrU9Ps & feature=related

Best wishes to all of you on Violinist.com,

Brian Hong

Preludio-Three Weeks of Stress, Fun, and Friendship

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:46:37 GMT

Wow��seven weeks at three different camps; I am now done with my camps for this summer. This has been one of the most beneficial three months of my life�.musically and personally. Not only am I a much more stable and musical violinist, I feel as if I have finished up the summer as being a better person, which is a great feeling.

About three weeks ago, I finished a camp called Preludio which took place at Ithaca College in the beautiful mountains of Ithaca, New York. It was great, because it had top notch teachers and really nice people. One of the great things about camp was the fact that there were only 11 kids.
Every year Thomas and Allegra Wermuth, the two teachers there, select 11-13 students to join their camp and to come and have an intense three week personal session with them to improve their technique, musicality, and musicianship.

Tom and Allegra are great. They are by far two of the best teachers I have ever known, and they are also such great people. Tom, whom I had the honor of studying with for the duration of Preludio, is a Juilliard trained violinist and a nationally recognized teacher who resides in Chicago, where he has his own teaching studio. (Funny little side anecdote-my own private teacher studied with the same teacher as he did when they were kids in Kentucky!) Tom is such a great guy-he is hilarious, and his teaching is very direct, although he is kind. He makes you really think about the piece you are playing and what you want to do musically with it. At the same time, he slowly chips away at your technique, making you incorporate it into the music without you knowing it. He�s that good. His daughter, Allegra, is a fine violinist who resides in Colorado, where she plays in the Colorado Symphony as assistant principal second violin. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to study with her at this camp, but I do know that she is quite picky about your intonation. All of her students said that they always left her lessons feeling like a much finer violinist.

The repertoire required for Preludio was vast: we had to prepare 5 group pieces (most of them arranged by Tom for a two violin group and piano, with two of them having solo violin), an assigned Kreisler piece (I got Praeludium and Allegro-yay!), two Paganini caprices (I got 14 and 17), a full scale system in one key which included three octave scales, arpeggios, thirds, sixths, octaves, and harmonics (I got Bb), and we had to bring a prepared solo piece (I brought the first movement of the Barber concerto). To prepare all of this, we needed all the practice time possible to ourselves. You would think that there was assigned practice time for us, but, surprisingly, there wasn�t. All of our practice time was voluntary; we weren�t required to practice, but most of the kids were so disciplined that they couldn�t go a day without practicing (they would feel too guilty). 4-5 hours a day was the minimum for us, but we would usually go on beyond 6. I believe there was a day when a couple of us went up to 8-9 hours of practice��all voluntary.

However, we campers didn�t spend the ENTIRE day locked up in our practice rooms. We had to wake up early in the morning, about 6:30 AM, to get ready and be at breakfast by 7 AM. Then we had group class directed by Tom at a small place called the Chapel at 8 AM, followed by practice, coachings with our accompanist (a fine pianist named Melissa Zindel), or lessons with Tom and Allegra. All of our classes took place at the chapel-it was a small church-like dome with beautiful, somewhat forgiving acoustics and a nice little grand piano. At noon, we would have lunch, followed by technique class at 1:30 with Allegra. During these classes, we would either work through scales, work on bowing technique in the Sevcik exercises book (groan), or play our Paganini caprices for Allegra. Those days were nerve-wracking; she would sit in front of you with the rest of camp watching you struggle through your chosen caprice, and she would take notes on a notepad on what you needed to improve on. Nonetheless, we all learned very much from these sessions. Then, at 2:30, Tom would arrive and we would have performance class. Melissa, the accompanist, would arrive and sit at the piano, and Tom and Allegra would call up two or three people to come up and play their solo for them. Then they would spend 10-15 minutes critiquing you on technique, musicianship, and musicality. To put it simply, these were essentially masterclasses. After that we had the rest of the day to relax and practice.

Some of the students were selected to play on solo recitals. On the second week of camp, a whole horde of Suzuki campers arrived and they held daily recitals in a small recital hall called Hockett. If you showed improvement, and if you played your piece well in performance class, you would be chosen to be put on one of the recitals. I was lucky enough to be put on the first recital with my Barber, which went really well. Sure, some notes were out of tune (okay I give-many of my ascending lines were quite flat, and my first loud run all the way up the E string to the top E was completely off), but it was an overall convincing and creditable performance. Several others were put on recitals throughout the three weeks, but one person who stuck out at me was 17 year old Forrest McKinney. He is a really huge dude, a Jolly Green Giant, as Tom called him, and he was playing the first movement of Lalo�s Symphonie Espagnole. During his first performance class, he was quite energetic, but his movements and musicality were far better than his interpretation of the piece. However, after some critique and lessons, his Lalo became much better. Later, at his recital, he played with such an intensity that I was literally blown out of my seat, plus he hit most, if not all of the notes! This is just one instance of Tom and Allegra�s magic.

We had many other performances as well. One night was dedicated to our Kreisler pieces. That concert was epic, in a good way. Everyone played up to their full potential, except for me (but then, I am the harshest critic of my own performances). Four performances were really fabulous, however. Forrest played La Gitana, and it was absolutely stunning, technically perfect, and intense. Another great interpretation on the concert was Liebesleid, performed by a really cool kid named Will Reynolds-Ejzak. I really felt the music, and his tone was very refined. A girl called Emily Mather played the Danse Espagnole (truth be told, that might not be her piece, I forgot what it was called). It was the hardest piece on the program-and she pulled it off very well. However, the best performance of the night was a piece called Midnight Bells played by Kiyoshi Hayashi. Kiyoshi, my roommate, is a tiny kid. However, everyone is always blown out of their seats when he starts playing. His tone is the definition of sweet, his technique is flawless, and he is also really intense onstage. His vibrato is to die for as well. Because of this, his rendition of his piece was too beautiful for words-I was literally crying. What depressed me was the fact that I had to go right after him to finish up the concert, and there was no way I could match his skills. However, I did my best (which still wasn�t good enough; I was really out of tune,) and a video of it, along with many others� performances, was put on Youtube (search for drumstx2010�s channel).

Another concert that we played was our group concert. On this, we played all of our group pieces. We played two Kreisler pieces in a group, his Slavonic Dance, and Liebesfreud. We also did arrangements of some great pieces arranged by Tom: Jealousy, by J; Gade, the theme from the movie Sabrina, which featured Allegra as soloist (it was absolutely stunning), and Mi Mancherei. This is a song that was sung by Josh Groban, and it has a huge violin solo in it, which was recorded with Joshua Bell (mock me all you want-he is one of my favorite violinists of all time). Tom and his colleague from Chicago arranged it for a group of two violin sections, piano, and violin solo. One of our campers, Emily Mather, played the solo part. And, I have to say, it was fantastic! Her playing was so soulful, her tone was gorgeous, and it was perfectly played. Kiyoshi and I also played solos on the program, me doing my Barber concerto again, and he playing Saint-Sa�ns� Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso. Again, his playing was electrifying and perfect. I was at a loss for words.

You would think that with all of these performances done already, we would be done, but no! We still had two more to go! One was our scale system, performed for Allegra during technique class. We went up one at a time and played it through, with her issuing instructions at us on how to pace the scales and arpeggios (in 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, etc.). However, our most important concert at camp was our Paganini concert. Since there were only 11 of us, not all of the caprices could be played, but that didn�t stop the concert from going on. This was quite stressful-these caprices were the pieces that we had worked the hardest on during this camp. And everyone did very well, I thought. However, I was not very happy with how I did. Several chords in my number 14 were quite out of tune, and in number 17, I was surprised because my pinky refused to go down in some of the runs. That screwed me up a bit, but I feel like I made up for it somewhat in my fingered octaves. They weren�t perfect, but they were best I�d ever played them.

That was on the second to last night of camp-but I left the next day, one day early. Unfortunately, many of us left one day early to get home. However Tom and Allegra wouldn�t let us go that easily; we still had one more class to do. We all assembled in the Chapel, and one by one, Tom and Allegra called us up and interviewed us about what we�ve learned, how we�ve benefited, etc. During this session, Allegra and many of the students cried, because no one really wanted to leave camp, even though it had been three weeks of grueling work and stress. All of us had gained a certain�connection and personal friendship with one another and it would be hard for us to leave each other. In addition to our interview, we were allowed to play a piece, if we wanted to. I was the only one to do so, however, but I chose a piece specifically for the occasion: Biber�s Passacaglia in G minor, his Guardian Angel Sonata. I tuned my violin down and played my heart out in a full baroque performance of this piece, knowing that this gorgeous composition was the perfect fit for this last meeting. I have to say, it was one of the best performances I had ever done, because I immersed myself into the music, pouring all of my feelings for everyone in the camp and all of my experiences into the chords. After the meeting, we all exchanged gifts and made one last goodbye to our teachers.

I spent the rest of the day packing; my parents came to pick me up around noon. We got everything together and said one last goodbye to everyone. It was a very sad day. As I pulled out of the parking lot, I felt a tug at my heart, because I knew that I was going to miss every one of these people. When I reached home, I felt compelled to practice more, but it was hard to do so, because I was used to practicing in my practice room with all of my friends practicing in their rooms around me. However, as the days turned into weeks, I knew that I had grown very much as a musician and as a person. A summer well spent!