Galamian's 'Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching'

August 19, 2013 at 11:45 AM · I wonder how they got the copyright; unlike the Doring Guadagnini book you also posted about, it's not "old", and Dover rarely prints books while still in copyright. Great information, since my 1972 copy went walkabout years ago. Thanks.

August 19, 2013 at 08:48 PM · We can so thankfull that three great teachers have left such comprehensive, practical treatises, and seem to have thought of every thing: Karl Flesch, Ivan Galamian, and now Simon Fischer.

Even the differences (e.g. bowhold, fingerings) are instructive.

August 19, 2013 at 11:01 PM · I've just ordered my copy from Amazon(UK). It should arrive by Thursday.

August 21, 2013 at 05:43 PM · It is gratifying to report that my copy of Galamian arrived from Amazon (UK) this morning (Wednesday) less than 48 hours after placing the order by email.

March 23, 2014 at 12:59 AM · Hi.

Can anyone give me a review of this book...?

I'm a beginner, looking for more of a...'philosophy of violin' book, rather than one concerned solely with notes, exercises, and music; would this be suitable?

March 23, 2014 at 01:47 AM · Graham: yes!

March 23, 2014 at 06:33 PM · I'm wondering whether the paperback edition will, like the Flesch scales, split and fall apart. In that case, I'd spend the extra $$ and get the hardcover.

March 23, 2014 at 11:13 PM · Greetings,

Graham, Galamian's book is rightly considered one of the classic works of violin history. Although it would be an exaggeration to say that his ideas are completely original he was the first person to systematically address the idea that the purpose of practice is strengthening the connection between mind and fingers by presenting the mind with ever increasing difficulty of puzzles. The complexity is varied by combining different bowings and rhythms. The book also provides an excellent overview the fundamental aspects of violin playing in a clear comprehensible manner.

Nonetheless, there is not really a great deal about the kind of issues you appear to be interested in. So my gut feeling is you would get a great deal more from Simon Fischer's The Violin Lesson. This book includes the essential aspects of Galamians teaching and explores issues of tension, expressiveness, practicing etc while supplying a wealth of exercises and resources to explore all these areas. With all due respect to Galamian's genius I would go with Simon' work without hesitation. The scale manual is also much deeper than the usual work and covers Galamians ideas very comprehensively.

Cheers,

Buri

PS The Violin Lesson is a lot more fun to read.......

March 24, 2014 at 12:19 AM · Thanks for the feedback, guys. :)

March 24, 2014 at 02:05 AM · I've bought and read the paperback version, and no, it has not fallen apart yet.

This is an interesting (not really... his writing style is sure to make any reader fall asleep) book discussing HIS opinions on aspects of violin techniques, playing, and teaching. Some of his contents are really helpful, such as his idea on correlation (the connection between mind and muscle), performance consideration (acoustics, tuning, etc), and more.

However, some are debatable, such as the finger vibrato and the positions of the arms for different techniques.

Personally, I would read the Simon Fischer book since it is a lot more helpful and detailed.

March 25, 2014 at 02:04 AM · When Galamian was asked that question, he responded "some Russian, some French - and a lot of ME!" He really made his own synthesis - as others with more than one influence have also done, each in their own way. Love, hate him, or feel indifferent to him - and he WAS controversial - he was such a major influence that he is really his own school.

The book - I've had the hardcover edition for many years (and glad to know that it goes for so much!) is very cut-and-dried. To flesh out the Galamian story, those interested might want to also read "Miraculous Teacher: Ivan Galamian and the Medowmount experience" by Elizabeth AH Green. I consider it a work of hagiography but interesting none-the-less.

March 26, 2014 at 02:59 AM · There are a couple of Youtubes of him teaching - including a very young and stressed out Joshua Bell!

March 26, 2014 at 10:35 PM · i had the chance of going through the book, but the price always deterred me from buying my own. dover's initiative however, makes it affordable now. i think their example should be followed by most publishing houses.

March 27, 2014 at 02:36 AM ·

Ivan and Joshua

March 27, 2014 at 12:53 PM · Maybe Josh looks back and laughs - or maybe cringes! But yes, a teacher should always confuse a student - it's fun! ;-)

But seriously, almost anything could be done too much or too little. Maybe one new topic could be how much demonstration a teacher should do or not do at the lesson? Perlman believes in hardly demonstrating at all - which must have disappointed some of his students. But he felt that if he demonstrated, it (the interpretation, phrasing, etc.) wouldn't be the student's own anymore; he'd be too influenced by Perlman. However, there's no lack of Perlman recordings. Yet a face-to-face demo is still different and, I feel, can be very helpful - particularly with the technical basics.

I think it depends on the student. Some - and this has been the case with me - are inspired for years to come by a brilliant, beautiful demonstration. Others may indeed get demoralized by too much intensity at close quarters. The great cellist, Piatigorsky, came to realize with one particular student, that the more and better he demonstrated, the worse the student got. So P. purposely started incrementally demonstrating worse and worse - and it worked! The student got less intimidated and played better. He was even overheard to say "Mr. P. is a fine teacher, but he actually doesn't play so well!"

I believe in a middle course when I teach. Demonstrating technical positioning etc. is de rigeur. But musical phrasing too, I feel, can be very helpful to most students, which doesn't mean that I will impose my interpretation on every student - especially a more advanced one who seems capable of some independent ideas. So I don't sit on my hands, nor do I use a lesson as a violin recital on my part, nor to get in any extra practice.

One controversial thing about Galamian is the question of how well he played in his younger days, or ever played. According to some, he began his career as an outstanding violinist, but purposely came to prefer teaching full time. Some also say that even later in life he could demonstrate quite well. But according to many others, he could not. Three of my former teachers studied with G. among many others. One of them, even though he liked him and was very influenced by him, made fun of G.'s playing, even in demonstrating such basics as vibrato. G. would, according to this teacher, say "Eez (is) 3 kinds vibrato: finger, wreest (wrist), and arm" and he would demonstrate each one, badly wobbling the same way for each.

Another point of controversy is that G. was said to have taught the violin, not the student. Everybody would be required to do the same bowings, fingerings etc. which resulted in a sameness of playing. He'd say that once they graduated from him, they'd find their own way. The big talents did. But the more average ones tended to stay with the characteristic G. approach, with its strengths and weaknesses: a big, solid sound, a strong, solid reliable technique - and a characteristic spread of the right-hand fingers known as the "Galamian claw" and a lack of subtlety and flow. I could go on, but my own fingers are getting tired!