Otwell Ideology

Discovery

Throughout my career of playing and performing music, I have always strived to enjoy myself and put forth the best demonstration of what I was capable of producing. In my middle age, I look back on the past and realize how simple and easy performing music was during my early teen (6-8 grade) years. It could have been that I was playing in large ensembles and did not perform as a soloist. It could have been that I was young and unaware of the risks and high stakes of each and every performance. Whatever the case may be, in later years I found myself playing in soloist situations and often times finding myself knotted up with stress and tension to the point that my hands would sweat, my vibrato sounded forced, on one occasion my bow was shaking uncontrollably, and if my intonation missed the mark then I would clench my muscles up into what seemed a ball of steel. These stressful situations triggered my interest in discovering the root cause of what was happening to me and the solution(s) for preventing them and essentially curing them forever. Also note, I am using hyperbole to make a point. I didn't really get my muscles like a ball of steel...

My discovery process consisted of reading everything I could find, practicing quite a bit, and questioning EVERYTHING about my technique and my inner balance (mind, body, and spirit). I also examined my posture, my chin/shoulder rest (or lack thereof), padding, tone quality, pitch accuracy, as well as every other aspect of producing music through a violin and bow. As a side note, I read somewhere that Yehudi Menuhin was not pleased with his technique in early adulthood (?) and he essentially reinvented his technique through much meditation and careful practice. I suppose WHEN this takes place is not so much the importance as much as IF it takes place within each of us. We must ask ourselves, where are we now, where do we want to be, and how to we get there from here? No doubt, quitting will cross the mind of even the most obsessive compulsive over-achievers. This too, shall pass with time. Remember, play carefully and play often. Also note, I did not write "practice." I wrote "play."

The greatest challenge to producing music on a non-fretted string instrument is producing the sounds you desire with the least amount of energy possible. This "least energy" concept also means releasing stress and pressure as much as possible. A bowed instrument is so sensitive to every little nuance that it takes an extremely well trained player to be able to produce sound without forcing sound. The notion of flowing sound is better for the playing to conceptualize during performance rather than sawing on the instrument to make the sound come out. Interestingly, when you have the right pairing of violin, setup, strings, bow, and rosin, you will find that the bow can glide across the strings and you can produce plenty of sound with out trying or forcing the sound out of the instrument. Baroque instruments are a perfect example of how much beautiful sound can resonate inside that little instrument's belly. In essence, any craft involving tools or instruments usually boils down to focused effort without FORCING or RUSHING results.

Skipping through what could be an entire treatise on technique I will cut to the chase and provide a summary of the below chart. This chart is my ideology of excellence and has been built based on endless research, personal experience, and practical knowledge bestowed upon me from my instructors. The bottom (blue) section is the foundation and consists of the practical building blocks which are the daily habitual requirements of excellence. These must be ingrained into us so deeply that it is a part of us to our core. The top (green) section is the real-time section that must take place during the actual performance. Yes, they must also be a part of you, but these really only become imminently importance when your adrenaline is rushing and you are on the stage and either getting ready to play or you are actually playing. When we are at the moment of performance, the adrenaline is typically blasting through your veins and your heart is racing. This is interpreted by many (most) people as "nervousness" and "anxiety". To some degree they are correct. It is our "fight or flight" instinct kicking in and most people out there (non-musicians) do whatever it takes to avoid these types of situations and/or physical conditions. This feeling can also be compared to public speaking and many people are absolutely terrified of public speaking. Anyhow, with the proper preparation and conditioning you can become comfortable in any situation whether it is sitting on the couch, playing for television, or publicly speaking to a large audience.

During my journey of development, I consulted a psychologist to help me explore my personal character traits and emotional state. Interestingly, my commitment and desire to be a better player led me to the road of becoming a better person. In fact, it did not take me long to realize that developing and evolving my emotional security was tons more important than developing my musical technique and capabilities.

Below you may find the condensed version of the Otwell Model.

The Otwell Model

Model Description

Until I can complete this description section I will jot down a few notes for each attribute. These are described in order from the bottom (the foundation) to the top (the pinnacle).

Preparation - Having everything ready prior to the performance. This can be all your equipment, stand, seat, clothes, appearance, where you are going to stand, repertoire, fingerings, bowings, etc... BE PREPARED

Conditioning - Practice regularly. Practice by small passages, sections, movements, with the violin, without the violin (reading only), "Shadow Practice" (ref. Dorothy Delay), Practice the performance (dress up, walk in, play the pieces without stopping, and dismiss yourself afterwards). Nowadays, you can record your audio and/or video and go back and analyze it. I know that Jake E. Lee (ref. Ozzy Osbourne) did this after many of his appearances with Ozzy.

Skill - Basically, if you can't sing, don't sing. If you can't play, don't play. If music is not your thing find something else to do productively (no offense intended). You might be the next President of the United States.

Efficient & Effective Motion - Jasha Heifetz was the poster boy for this. His motions were so E & E that many people commented that he was "cold". He did not implement flamboyant body gestures, bended legs, or flashy bow tricks to draw the audience attention because he didn't need to. Watching him was like watching a surgeon perform surgery. It was not entirely entertaining to watch as much as it was amazing to watch. Scary, sometimes!!! Anyhow, I prefer a little more motion (ref. Kato Havas) with some flexing of the knees and moderate movement of the entire body.

Body posture is of the utmost importance. You should stand erect to the point of balancing all the torso muscles front to back, side to side. Doing this will actually have a positive impact on your mental attitude (a great side effect). As a basic rule, slouching folks are miserable folks incapable of dealing with whatever the world throws at them. On the other hand, upright folks are prepared for this crazy world and all it has to bring to them. Maintaining this balanced posture is not possible 100% of the time. At times, you will need to bend and flex here or there but your goal should be to get back to the balance point as soon as you can. I personally like to lift my Violin off my shoulder/collar bone every now and then and listen to the full resonance of the Violin back. This also releases the upper left torso muscles for a moment and let's them loosen up. This can only be done effectively for fixed-position musical passages. I usually don't play wild cowboy and attempt this in the middle of a shifting passage.

Tempo & Timing - The number one mistake amateurs make is to rush the tempo. I personally hate to rush ANYTHING but unfortunately I have often rushed EVERYTHING in my life at one point or another. Nowadays, I remain extremely conscious of this and focus on the proper tempo. Story time: I recall one performance where a pianist rushed me through a particular section of a piece. It irritated me greatly because during the rushed section I had to shift up to 7th position on the G string and in the moment realized I had never practiced it that fast. The section was not a disaster but sliding into the note is considered taboo and therefore, it violated the etiquette of the passage. I unfortunately felt the selfish desire to retaliate against the accompanist (during the live performance) and in the next section I remembered our practice session where he asked me to give him some time to make it through a little slower. Well... evil me, I pressed through it just as fast as he pressed me in the previous section. At the end, we both violated protocol and the performance was a little lack-luster.

The Timing section of this point is in reference to Ivan Galamian. He discussed musical timing and physical timing. While the concepts seem completely obvious and down-to-earth, unfortunately the complexities of playing the violin can draw you so deep down the rabbit hole (ref. Alice in Wonderland) that you forget to observe the obvious due to your brain being on overload trying to balance all the requirements of playing in time and in tune. Anyhow, the musical timing should be obvious whether you are on overload or not; begin playing the notes in proper time. The physical timing was an epiphany for me in that I realized that it is permissible to rob the end of one note in order to prepare for the beginning of another. Vocalists have to breathe and Violinists have to get their fingers in place and ready for action. This "rob the end of the note" method is particularly permissible in a large performance hall where reverb & echo serves as your ally and actually carries your notes for you even when you have to drop out early.

Trust & Instincts - Through careful preparation (the foundation) we should be prepared to put and find ourselves in situations requiring the memory recall of our diligent preparation. In performing music, we oftentimes find this real-time memory recall to be intimidating and sometimes even scary. Especially when we feel we are discovering what is coming out through the instrument at the same time the audience is making the discovery. We as the performer must think slightly ahead and plan ahead so the moment of sound production is not a surprise to us. We need to be able to strike the proper balance between planning ahead yet remain aware and focused enough to make instant corrections when necessary. This Trust & Instincts section is the counter balance to Awareness & Observation (following sections). This balancing act should float around the 50/50 mark although this is not a hard and fast rule. This is just a guide. Sometimes challenging passages will require all your focus. Other times, you can play through sections almost without paying attention. With string playing, there is ALWAYS something you can be paying attention to - such as note placement, shift preparation, bow speed/pressure/placement, bow direction changes, vibrato & ornamentation, body posture, instrument posture, etc... I say all of that to set the stage for the following remarks. The Trust & Instincts section is our level of comfort with what we currently have stored in our personal library of capabilities. With proper preparation, we can trust that those capabilities are there and are solid. They belong to us, only us, and no one can take them away from us. We do not need to second guess and question ourselves to death with internal dialogue along the lines of "Am I READY to do this?" or "Am I ready hit the upcoming shift to the high note? Am I going to hit or miss it?" The positive (Angel) side of us will tell ourselves, "Yes, I'm ready and have been for the past 3 months." The negative (Devil) side of us will tell ourselves, "You're gonna miss it horribly!" If you notice, I used an exclamation point on the negative statement. Typically, the evils of this world come with an exclamation point at the end while the positive, loving aspects of this world come gently and calmly to us. Therefore, the gist of this section relates to the emotional stability in our id that boils down to "Be kind and good to yourself." If you read this again, you might realize that this statement does not require an exclamation point at the end of the sentence. Interestingly, in most cases the good things in life don't need to be yelled at us in order to understand and appreciate them. Both good and evil are what they are - nothing more, nothing less. By surrounding yourself in a blanket of comfort and acceptance you don't have to force anything through exclamatory statements and inner dialogue. The Trust factor is to believe in yourself, your capabilities, and your preparation (you did prepare properly, correct?). The Instincts factor is to be leveraged in combination with your trust factor and let your mind and body move and flow with what FEELS right at the moment. To me, it feels wrong to play timidly like a turtle in a shell with weak bow motion and iffy left hand position. I prefer, to play in a manner that feels good to me and play as if no one present is bringing criticism to the party. These Trust & Instinct factors are closely related to hand position and "shifting" about the instrument. We must train and prepare our habits and later, trust the instinct of our memory recall. When it comes to performance time, if we leverage our ingrained habits & trusted instincts then we have released the bourdon of trying to calculate and discover all our notes in real-time, on the spot or worst, "in the spot light". The training, trust and instincts are already there. The moment of performance is nothing more than sharing that which you already possess. Think of that performance moment as the moment of sharing your skills with others. I watched a television program regarding the country of Japan and specifically martial arts. In the program, the Sensei told a student that they needed to practice a particular move 10,000 times before they would begin to understand or appreciate how to do the move correctly and effectively. Wow, and we thought practing the Violin was time consuming...

Your mind is the supervisor and your hands are the workers. All instructions (and electrons) coming from your mind should be concise and authoritative instructions with precision being the norm for execution. Each instruction should be very clear and have as much detail as required for that event. Some instructions don't require tons of detail while others do. Let's use an example of eighth notes in first position. Normally, a few eighth notes would not require much detail in the instructions but what if the first position passage follows something up in seventh position on the E string? Those simple first position eighth notes might now be accompanied by simultaneous instructions to also focus the mind on the shoulder or neck muscles long enough to instruct them to relax. Seeing as how the Violin is such a physically and cognitively challenging instrument there are several basic physical and mechical areas that must be addressed while we are in play. Issuance of the "relax instruction" is just as important as "shift up to high E on the E string". This is especially true for neck, shoulder and back muscles. We have to cognitively touch those muscles and issue the instruction to relax much like we would tap someone on the shoulder to get their attention.

During performance, assure yourself that your finger placement and shift accuracy will be dead on. Plan for success and play for success and don't plan for the possibility of failure. Planning on failure produces a tip-toe/timid playing environment which in turn, sets the stage for failure. When you play free and comfortable you are setting the stage with an environment of success. When assured and comfortable, your muscles are loose and warm, your mind is free to wrap around any passage in the music, your head, neck, and arms can freely float about in a smooth conductor-like flow of energy. The goal is for your bow to flow through the notes (almost floating) and your note placement to be accurate and clear.

Focus & Concentration - Music is a real-time art form which portrays the beauty and mystery of this precious and delicate world around us and does so through audible, emotional triggers. I have listened to music that has brought me to tears, made my spine tingle and/or has given me "the chills". In order to effectively transfer this magic musical energy and create the story telling nature of music it requires great Focus & Concentration. Obviously, you cannot be thinking about home repairs and paying of bills while you are attempting to convey a beautiful lyrical line in seventh position through a series of half notes played in Pianissimo (PP). Being able to balance the plan-ahead along with the here-and-now requires Focus & Concentration. The Focus factor can be used to shift the focus around between general, specific, future, present, and the past. NOTE: Short term memory will serve you well while PERFORMING music. What I mean is forget what you have already played very quickly and keep your focus and attention on the present and future notes. You need NOT focus on notes just played (the past) and thereby jeopardize the upcoming notes (future). Although, memory of the past will serve you well while PRACTICING and PREPARING repertoire because you know what to go back to and focus on for areas of improvement. Again, plan your success and play toward success. END NOTE. Concentration is the state of eliminating distractions and allowing the mind to Focus and Execute the playing plan. Focus & Concentration lay the foundation for Awareness & Observation (following section).

Awareness & Observation (a.k.a. real-time supervision) - If you are playing and unaware or unconscious there is no telling what will come out. Mindless playing that is not monitored in real-time will be like unsupervised children. They will go here, there, and yawn lacking planning and precision. If you feel as though you need to metaphorically close your eyes, saw the notes out, and just get through the performance then you should really rethink your situation and reapproach it with a renewed sense of real-time awareness and appreciation.

Act Calm, Be Calm - By nature, I believe that during "performance pressure" environments we all find ourselves balancing the two extremes of introverted (like a turtle retreating into our shell) or extroverted (feeding on the adrenaline and "showing off" in a sense).

Emotional State - In my study and travels, life has taught me that humans may only experience one emotion at a time. Meaning, we go sequentially (step-by-step) through emotional states and in most cases, experience individual and discrete emotions one at a time. Our minds will not allow us to feel happy and sad simultaneously. It simply is not possible. Just before a performance we might feel anxious and maybe even scared and if so, there is not much room in our emotional mind for anything else. People suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) lose command and control of their emotional stability and are driven by fear and doubt that something was not done correctly or that something (bad) is going to happen in the near future. If OCD starts to creep into a performer then they can spend thousands of hours practicing and sadly, make little improvement. If there is such a thing as "normal" then I would give you my definition of "normal". Playing Music should be a part of your daily routine, occupy a large portion of your life and become part of your life's rhythm. Cramming for tests (or a performance) the night before throws off your life rhythm. Conversely, if you prepare each day, little by little, step by step, then the final moment of sharing it with others is much less charged up (with anxiety). You will not be at a moment of holding your breath waiting to discover the same musical surprise as the audience. You will eliminate the cram and guess work. Instead, you will know exactly where you stand with your progress. Granted, you might still have some weaknesses here and there, but you cannot self-destruct in the process. All good things come in good time. If you continue your patient and proper preparation journey, you will succeed and obtain your desired results as long as you stay within safe and realistic boundaries. What I mean by realistic boundaries is don't try to play Paganini, Biber, or Locatelli pieces in your first recital...

What's the forecast? Know your problem areas and also the areas where you can predict your emotional state. For instance, you know you are going to feel anxious during the first few bars of the music and also just prior to some crazy difficult section. Inversely, you will also feel relieved after the difficult passages or during periods of rest. Use the forecast and your predictions to your advantage. To prepare for the "nervous" sections insert deep breath marks in your score.

I read in Martin Schuring's book, Oboe Art and Method, "Simple is a good place to start."

Page 2