Otwell Methodology

Introduction

During my college days in the CSU Music Program I was searching for answers to a multitude of questions. I asked my instructor for the hard and fast rules of mastering the violin but was suprised and a little annoyed to find that she offered relatively few answers. Over the next two decades I developed several points which is what I was looking for at that time. I wish I knew then what I know now... I also hope these can benefit many other people here and now.

Preparation

Feet should be shoulder width apart with even weight distribution, mostly. {More Details}

Three point balance - feet, pelvis, shoulders (The pelvis should be well forward and the chest should be thrown out to permit for ease of breathing without disturbing your frame. The spine should be more straight than curved.)

Chinrest and Shoulder rest should be configured for comfortable three point contact, viz: the jaw, collarbone, and shoulder shelf. Furthermore, the Violin should remain level, mostly.

Oval faces with pointy chins (like Hilary Hahn) requires an angled and well concaved (scooped out) chinrest. Players with Round and/or Square faces (like Jasha Heifetz) are better suited with level and flatter chinrests (less concaved). {More Details}

Natural head weight and well fitted chinrest should secure the instrument. The shoulder and shoulder rest is used sparingly and only for shifting, viz: it should not be a permanent support point (crutch).

Breathing should occur regularly and consciously. Especially, for musical phrasing emphasis. Your breathing can be used as a tool to stabilize your heart rate and your mind.

Before you begin to play, Use three deep breaths to reduce the effects of adrenaline. {More Details}

The art of ignoring... Professionals only focus on the information which matters to get the job done right! Everything else is irrelevant and distracting like mental noise and interference. Everything that is not leveraged to assist you in doing your job should be blocked out and/or ignored.

During performance, Be aware of our shell we would all rather retreat into. Calmly remain outside of your shell.

Hands should be nimble and free of tension and aggravation. Do not practice repetitions until the tendons and muscles swell.

Left hand finger nails should be trimmed as short as possible (0.5mm from the "delicate quick" should suffice).

The mind and body should be well trained. Do yourself a favor and abandon any tendency toward "expectations of overnight success". Instead, Practice and develop your skills in persistent and regular moderation - one section or phrase at a time.

Hydrate yourself daily. This prepares the mind and body for optimal performance.

Stretch your body regularly before your play - in practice and performance.

The majority of your work should be mental labor; not physical labor. {More Details}

Practice five repetitions of each passage with a metronome set to a slow pace. Maintain the metronome at this tempo for the duration of practice session one. Later, practice the passages again in ten separate practice sessions. {More Details}

When you start playing each day, begin by playing on the D and A string. This will always remind you of the relationship between the relative string heights.

Duties

Left hand is for tone formation. In the simplest of terms this is the FORM function.

Right hand is for tone production. In the simplest of terms this is the MAKE function.

Each hand requires individual practice attention and independent methods of development. Assembling them together is the final product. The torso shall be considered the supervisor in the middle.

The Left hand thumb should be as transparent as possible. It serves a supporting role. Periodically, it may be temporarily relieved of support duty and also be relocated to preset into a shift position (if determined to be useful).

The head rests on the chinrest and secures the body of the instrument. The head should not clamp onto the chinrest with obvious neck muscle strain. The weight of the head is sufficient to secure the instrument.

The shoulder is considered reinforcement and is leveraged in brief intervals to assist in stabilization of the Violin. Keeping the Violin floating up the air keeps the left shoulder relaxed, flexible and responsive, and best of all, pain free.

Shifting is accomplished via sliding of a guide finger. Usually, the best candidate for selection as the guide finger is from a preceding note. {More Details}

Equipment

Baroque equipment is much different than Modern equipment. Everything is different.

Modern equipment requires more bow digging in and constant bow pressure. This is why the modern Violin requires more support surfaces (chinrest, shoulder rest). Baroque Violin is the opposite. It only requires accents to start the notes and the bow may glide the rest of the way through the tones. This light touch requires much less support faculties.

No two Violins/Bows are alike. Some are more responsive than others. The more responsive instruments are better with control over dynamics and therefore, control over musical expression. Cheap/inexpensive instruments typically have thicker body parts and do not condition the player for delicate phrasing. {See Image}

I personally perform repair and modification work on all my equipment. I resurface my fingerboards, recontour my necks, refinish the varnish/shellac and also trim on my bows. I prefer my bows to be trimmed in the crook of the frog (tailored to fit my thumb comfortably into the slot). I also prefer to remove the leather and silver winding. {See Image}

Artistic Expression

Acquire and Use the best equipment possible. Struggling with expression while playing what feels like a shoebox and a fire poker is never enjoyable. In fact, it is impossible.

Play within your means. Do not carelessly push your boundaries during public performances. A good and trustworthy music instructor will help you determine what is ready for performance and what is not.

Use 95% of your expression capabilities and Do not over perform any works. At the end of your performance, leave the audience with a little desire left in them and let them fill in blanks with their memory of what you have already done for them. You do not want them exhausted when they depart. This is my only complaint about Paganini concerti. IMHO, there really are too many notes in his large works. Not only is the player exhausted at the end but so is the listener.

Double stops rarely (if ever?) require double the bow power of a single stop. For the most part, double stops require well rehearsed accuracy of steady and even string pressure.

Use vibrato in good taste. Do not wiggle every single note unless you really know what you are doing (like Itzhak Perlman).

In your mind, Shift into different hand/finger positions thoughtfully and carefully but make sure your hands carry out the actions with zero interference. Shifts should sound to the listener as agile, transparent and confident. If your hands sound too cautious then the musical result is detrimental or worst, disastrous.

Music should breath and vary with dynamics and maybe a little tempo flexibility (rubato). The player should also take care to breathe all the time. This helps with musical phrasing. Take care to use flexibility (dynamics, tempo) in each performance. This alone will give you an advantage over your competition and your audience. {More Details}

Use the music as a guide but avoid tunnel vision and fear of losing one's place in the music.

Good form and active listening are the best counter measures to nervousnous and tension.

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