Otwell Ideology (page 2)

Physiology

Preparations should be conducted which will prime the body for proper responses from the mind. Athletes warm-up their bodies and so too must musicians. My warm-up routine consists of arms swirls in the air (forward and backward), torso bending/flexing front to back and side to side, finger stretching fanned out and relaxed, and the most important is the neck stretching. I bend my head over from side to side until I feel the muscles resisting. I release some of the stretching resistance and then roll it around VERY slowly and carefully. I do not tip the head and then roll the head at the point of all muscles under resistance because this would pinch the different muscles around neck against one another. This would be like sitting on your hands while they are clenched in fists and trying to twist them under your weight - ouch! I like to touch my chin to the middle portion of my collarbone (clavicle) with my chin slightly tucked in. I DO NOT reach my chin out toward my shoulder. That is a guaranteed way to hurt yourself and also put a six week cease and desist on your violin playing. My chin tuck and lean looks like a small bird sleeping. I will hence forth refer to this stretching exercise as the sleeping bird exercise. The name should imply a gentle act. See this picture on Tom Twigg's photography site for an example. Long-term dedication in this area will help your body be loose and ready for action. In many cases, mind over matter can force the body to do things it normally would not be capable of. Yet, the mind cannot force the body's muscles to go instantly from stiff to loose. Therefore, this should be incorporated into your normal playing routine and made a part of your lifelong dedication to musicianship. I have noticed my body takes between two seconds and fifteen minutes to release all signs of muscle stretching. Some examples are: The two second release is witnessed when I need a couple seconds to reset the violin on my shoulder. The other extreme of fifteen minutes applies when I have pushed a muscle too far and basically over-used the muscle.

The power of Visualization can serve you well. It can be done silently and can also progressively replace any idle time you have when you would otherwise day dream, play with a hand held digital device, or worst worry about an upcoming performance. Visualization takes much practice so don't expect perfect wonders during your rookie season as a visualizationist. Simple is a good place to start. Try starting with visualizing your posture or your comfort level. Later move into seeing yourself on stage looking and playing relaxed and comfortable. The more you practice visualizing the more detailed you can get - all the way down to the complex racing sixteenth note lines climbing up the fingerboard.

The dark triplets: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt - These three evils of the world can be used to serve us or hinder us. While the triplets can hinder, they can also help. When it comes to real life and death events we need to leverage all three to the best of your capabilities. For example, it is wise to have fear, uncertainty and doubt when/if you are in an unknown area and you are walking down a dark alley and you hear someone walking behind you... It doesn't require much creativity for you to see where that can lead. Another eye-rolling example is buying a used car from a small road side dealership which you have never delt with. You should probably fear paying too much, be uncertain of the quality of the car, and doubt whatever the sales person is telling you - especially if they seem OVERTLY FRIENDLY or DESPERATE to make a sale. Humans typically do everything within power to avoid or defeat these dark triplets.

The dark triplets during musical performance time can be a show stopper. It is sad to witness a performance where the only person interfering (or interFEARing) with the performance is the actual performer. No one is standing there accusing them of missing notes or forgetting the music and/or how they practiced it. Yet, if we could see inside the faulty performer's mind we would tap into an information super highway of self-destruction! I have had these personal horror stories in my day. I will likely never perform the virtuoso version of the Hungarian Dance No 5 because of the deep wounds of performance pain I have inflicted upon myself and my listeners. I picked that piece up and performed it entirely too early in my music career and it left scars behind. Sometimes we just have to say, "No" or "No More" to our interests and desires.

2011-09-29

The power of pluck practicing. (ref. Geminiani)

Posture setup - This morning I realized that I cannot place my instrument and left side chin into final playing position while my right hand lay at rest. The muscles in my right collar bone area becomes too tense and it feels like the muscles pinch one another. What I found is that I have to raise my right elbow slightly, then lower my chin leftward over the instrument, then place my bow on or near the strings to begin playing. This was an interesting discovery in that it was a deeper discovery of how my body operates. The reader's physiology could be quite different. I just found it very interesting to make this discovery. I now have a formal ritual for positioning my instrument and body prior to playing.

2011-09-30

Use consistent and steady finger pressure in the left hand. Also, do not use more/less pressure to attempt correcting intonation misses. Instead, roll your fingers and then use your spatial awareness to compensate the rest of the fingers. For example, if you place a 2nd finger during a shift and find it a little low in pitch then roll the hand slightly forward to correct and then with your hand now in a leaning forward position, place the other notes relative to the 2nd finger but do so with a forward lean. Practicing this compensation method will make it easy to implement and eventually it will become "second nature". Looking back I realized that lacking adequate pressure in my third and fourth fingers marred several of my performances.

Cold vs. Warm E string - This morning I picked up my instrument in a (71 degree room) and found that the E string was tuned a little high. I reduced the pitch slightly and began playing. About 20 minutes later I realized I was having to place my E string notes higher than I expected. Upon investigation I found that the E string was now pitched a little low. After thinking about this for a moment I realized the warmth of my left hand and fingers had warmed the E string up just enough to allow it to stretch ever-so-slightly and thereby altered the pitch down slightly. Albeit simple, I thought this was a miraculous discovery. It helped me answer the question on some of my performances of the past as to why my E string notes were sharp after pre-concert dress rehearsal. During previous performances (and certainly dress rehearsals) I would warm everything up and tune the instrument. During performance time, often times you find yourself sitting around WAITING for your performance section. During this waiting period, my E string would cool down and thereby contract and raise in pitch slightly. Then when I go on, my cold E string is there waiting for me. The only problem was, just up until this morning I didn't realize I had this warm up/cool down condition going on. Therefore, in the past, when I placed my E string notes I found many of them to be sharp. Now that I realize this condition exists, I will compensate with tuning and/or be prepared to place notes higher or lower depending on the rest period between playing sections.

Cradle the neck like you would hold a small bird - The morning I wrote this I realized how much pressure I was using to support the instrument - too much pressure, I discovered. I started reminding myself to gently cradle the instrument like a bird. If you've ever held a bird in your hands you know that the minimal amount of grams a small bird weighs feels like nothing in your hands. I have saved a couple of birds and at the time I only thought about being a good samaritan. I did not realize until later that the experience could be related to playing the Violin. The only way I could detect any weight of the small bird was when hopped around in my hand. My point is that accuracy vice pressure, is the key.

The phenomenon of FAST progress from SLOW practicing. The focus here is on taking YOUR time (I emphasize "your") to understand the music to the point of complete comfort. This is like going to a service industry retailer such as a restaurant and listening to the server rattle-off the salad dressings they offer. Sometimes the server states it so fast you can't even understand what they say. Performing music is the EXACT same thing. Once you are completely comfortable with the material you can go as slow or as fast as you choose. Once you have the solid foundation of comfortable understanding, the next part is simply a matter of delivery.

Aptitude, Environment & Surrounding Culture, Skills Development & Inventory, Materials (Instrument & Music), Instruction, Progression Path, Good Decisions, Luck

Your progress belongs to you. No one can diminish it. Become your own leader and follower. Become your own authority with your mind/body command skills.

Be aware that settling into a single fingerboard position and getting too comfortable there will make it more difficult to release that position and move on to another position. Keep your left hand agile and thinking of each position as a temporary location.

2011-10-07

Practice Intervals (ref L. Auer)

Players should practice no more than 30 - 40 minutes and followed by a 10 - 15 rest period. This allows the maximum focus from the mind and gets the body loosened up well while also allowing for some rest time. The net result is four to five hours of total practice time but done over a six to seven hour period of time. There is such a thing as practicing too much. Too much practice is like cramming for a test. Once the mind has slipped out of action then everything that follows is a waste of time.