tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30685158.post-37403891913528472422008-04-14T10:09:00.001-05:002008-04-14T10:09:46.097-05:00You may find this a little hard to believe, but just a few months ago yours truly found himself striding through the hallways of the Tampa ‘Marriott’ working up quite a head of steam, whilst playing through the Bach Chaconne.<br /><br />Now as odd as that may sound – in the Hallway of a Hotel? – I was doing it without making so much as a peep. <br /><br />I was, in fact, playing on thin air, not a violin in sight. <br /><br />I guess you could call it ‘shadow playing.’<br /><br />But at least I can say this for myself. I wasn’t the only one looking quite silly on that day.<br /><br />You see, my wife and I were attending a ‘personal development’ seminar. We had been given the assignment to ‘shadow play’ an activity around which we had fears or mental blocks. <br /><br />For 15 full minutes we all scattered ourselves around the ballroom and immediate hallways gesticulating in all manner of silly ways.<br /><br />Writers were pounding away on imaginary keyboards; fearful public speakers were giving silent orations, arms sweeping to and fro.<br /><br />And then there was the violin player. <br /><br />At first I was astonished at how foolish and awkward I felt. After a minute or two I dropped my arms with the thought, ‘this is too ridiculous’.<br /><br />But then, looking around and seeing the others still going at it, I shouldered my imaginary violin once again.<br /><br />This time I exercised myself on that invisible fiddle. I willed every note into being. I felt the bow travel over the strings. I put my vibrato on ‘ultra-passionate’ mode. And the fingers of my left hand were held accountable for every note of every chord. <br /><br />Let me tell you, I worked up quite a sweat in those few minutes.<br /><br />I also exposed many a weak spot in my armor. I thought I KNEW the Chaconne when I started. But I was forced to concede that I didn’t know it beyond a ‘shadow’ of a doubt.<br /><br />If you think you know a piece of music, try putting you violin aside and shadow playing it with every finger placement and bow stroke in place. You just might be in for quite a surprise.<br /><br />Now I’ve found this to be a powerful exercise to use at all stages of learning a piece. <br /><br />If you give it a try, don’t be discouraged if you find it difficult at first. But do ‘hold your feet to the fire’, as it were. It takes a lot of mental toughness to move your fingers correctly with a violin in place. It’s even tougher to do it without.<br /><br />But the payoff can be huge.<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.violinmastery.com/index.htm/">Clayton Haslop</a><br /><br />P.S. Speaking of big payoffs. I’m just putting the finishing touches on the 1st month of the <a href="http://www.violinmastery.com/allegroplayers.htm">”Allegro Players”</a> intermediate program. It’s still not too late to be part of the vanguard of players who will benefit tremendously from this instructional DVD course.Clayton Haslophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05889619328562893257noreply@blogger.com