Simon Hewitt Jones - The Violin Blog

Feb

2

Practising Technique Through Music

Filed Under Violin Tips | 

Part of the Violin Tips series

TenthsWorking on Bazzini’s fearsomely virtuosic Round of the Goblins this morning, I struck upon a passage in tenths (a double stopped note where the pitch of one note is ten degrees of the scale away from the other), and realized I’d have to slow it down and really work very carefully for several minutes in order to build up the muscle memory in my fingers.

If only I practiced tenths every day, I thought to myself, I could do this instantly.

But the truth is, I wouldn’t go out of my way to practice scales in tenths every day even if you paid me. (OK, maybe I would if you paid me). How scandalous! That Simon guy is way too lazy to practice all his scales every day!

Well, not really. The point is, as soon as there’s no motivation behind something, then it often becomes a chore. If I’m practicing scales in tenths every day just so that I can play them straight off the bat, that’s all very well (and indeed I would do that if I were performing a piece like Round of the Goblins regularly and needed to keep that technique in shape). But unless there’s a bigger goal or a musical motivation, then it’s unlikely to be particularly satisfying. I’m much more likely to do it badly, or inefficiently.

I’ve often noticed that my students are put off by specific technical exercises when they don’t have any music to work on that covers those techniques. But as soon as they are trying to find a sound or an effect in a piece of music they’re learning, but can’t quite work out how to do it, they find immense pleasure in taking to a scale or an arpeggio and using it to isolate and solve the problem.

But otherwise, I disagree with people who insist that weird and wonderful techniques should be learned before there is reason to do so. Likewise, if you know your current capability with a particular technique, then there’s no reason to practice it more than is necessary just to maintain it at its current level — unless you have some new reason to expand your ability in that area, like a new piece of music that has more complicated requirements.

Which is why if I know that it will take me 15 minutes to get my tenths back into shape, I think it’s reasonable not to feel guilty about not playing a scale in tenths each day.

Disclaimer: before you all start sending me rude emails, I do practice tenths every so often, and I am NOT endorsing no scale practice! Scales and arpeggios are essential ways to warm up the fingers… it’s just that apart from warm-ups, scales are much more effective for problem-solving than hours of practice…. unless you want to become a heartless, soulless virtuoso ;)

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