How To Put Your Fingerings To The Test
Take just about any passage of music in the violin repertoire and gather five players around, chances are you'll see 5 different fingerings being used.
However, this may not be the case if those 5 players came from the studio of one teacher.
Now, I consider that I have had four main teachers in my life.
What is interesting, as I look back, is that two of them tended to have specific fingerings for any given passage, and sought to adjust my technique to accommodate them.
The other two took a very different tack.
In high school I studied with a very gifted Italian violinist by the name of Guido Mansuino. His theory was, if you couldn't play a passage with a given fingering after 3 honest attempts, it was time to find a new one.
Milstein was much the same way.
In the interim, however, I spent three years with Eudice Shapiro at the USC School of Music. Now Shapiro was a truly extraordinary violinist, one of the finest of the 20th century, in fact. Yet I would still place her firmly in the school of 'adaptive technique', where fingerings were concerned.
And I must admit to having chaffed at the bit on this point whilst under her guidance.
It was only when I arrived at Milstein's door that I again began to feel the thrill of musical exploration - of personal innovation.
As it happens, fingerings were a big part of this agenda.
He himself was constantly looking for new and innovative ways of doing things; often playing different fingerings in successive performances - he was unrivaled in his ability to do this.
In short order I found myself investigating three or more ways of fingering a passage before coming to one that allowed for the right musical impact as well as a fluid, facile execution for my hand.
This process fired my imagination to do so.
Admittedly, there are times when your fingering options are limited - you really must rely solely on technique to get the job done.
Yet that's truly more rare than many violinists realize.
So if you run into a problem playing a passage, stand back and take a fresh look at those fingerings. Chances are, with a little investment of time, you'll surprise and delight yourself with a much more effective way of getting the job done.
You will actually be SAVING time and effort in the bargain. - 18758
However, this may not be the case if those 5 players came from the studio of one teacher.
Now, I consider that I have had four main teachers in my life.
What is interesting, as I look back, is that two of them tended to have specific fingerings for any given passage, and sought to adjust my technique to accommodate them.
The other two took a very different tack.
In high school I studied with a very gifted Italian violinist by the name of Guido Mansuino. His theory was, if you couldn't play a passage with a given fingering after 3 honest attempts, it was time to find a new one.
Milstein was much the same way.
In the interim, however, I spent three years with Eudice Shapiro at the USC School of Music. Now Shapiro was a truly extraordinary violinist, one of the finest of the 20th century, in fact. Yet I would still place her firmly in the school of 'adaptive technique', where fingerings were concerned.
And I must admit to having chaffed at the bit on this point whilst under her guidance.
It was only when I arrived at Milstein's door that I again began to feel the thrill of musical exploration - of personal innovation.
As it happens, fingerings were a big part of this agenda.
He himself was constantly looking for new and innovative ways of doing things; often playing different fingerings in successive performances - he was unrivaled in his ability to do this.
In short order I found myself investigating three or more ways of fingering a passage before coming to one that allowed for the right musical impact as well as a fluid, facile execution for my hand.
This process fired my imagination to do so.
Admittedly, there are times when your fingering options are limited - you really must rely solely on technique to get the job done.
Yet that's truly more rare than many violinists realize.
So if you run into a problem playing a passage, stand back and take a fresh look at those fingerings. Chances are, with a little investment of time, you'll surprise and delight yourself with a much more effective way of getting the job done.
You will actually be SAVING time and effort in the bargain. - 18758
About the Author:
Clayton Haslop is Concertmaster (leader) on hundreds of movie soundtracks, including The Matrix movies, Titanic, Avatar, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Star Trek, Up, Jurassic Park, Apollo- and The Perfect Storm. Haslop creates bestselling Instructional DVD courses used by beginning to professional violinists worldwide.
posted by X - Men at
4:26 AM
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