Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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Not what, but how.
It's approaching three weeks since I did away with the shoulder rest on my violin, and the going has not been easy. Changing how I hold the instrument, without the support of the shoulder rest to keep it in place, has necessitated supporting it between my collarbone and my left thumb which is all very unstable. It is also taking me some time to get used to my left arm and thumb supporting the instrument while also moving this hand up the fingerboard to higher positions for different notes. This requires much more dexterity in my thumb than I experienced when using a shoulder rest.
I still remain firmly committed to experimenting with this change, as ultimately I believe it will help me be a better player. Indeed, my vibrato has improved significantly as my left shoulder is now freed up because it's not supporting the violin. But my ability to play notes accurately in tune has been completely thrown. So it's exercises, scales, more exercises and scales and more.....and more. Handel has to wait. Mozart has to wait too.
These changes are challenging on several levels. I can no longer play the lovely pieces I could just a few weeks ago. As my technique is in the midst of change and transition, I don't have stability and technical reliance in the new technique, so my playing is 'all over the place'. This could be disappointing, but I'm a sticker and I can see the benefits at the end of the tunnel. Not that there's a tunnel in my practice room, but you know what I mean. It requires patience, possibly more than I have. We'll see how it goes, but it's good discipline.
There is also frustration at not yet being able to physically do what I want to do. I know how it should sound and I know how my poise should look in the mirror. Getting there takes hours.......and hours. So this has all required me to review how I perceive what I'm doing. I need to look at my playing practice time in a different way. It is not about playing pieces but about learning the instrument and fundamentals. And when I think of it all in these terms, frustration doesn't exist and I get joy in the process of applying mself and achieving small steps. All these steps will eventually combine to a better technical ability.
My approach to the instrument has had to be different. Rather than aiming to play the Handel well, or any other piece for that matter, I'm having to work on the process of playing. So I work on technique, my lightness of hold, my overall posture and carefully rehearsing fingering sequences so my muscle memory makes it familiar. This takes repetition.....very careful repetition of simple passages or exercises. Because if I repeat mistakes, I'll just get good at doing the mistakes and those are habits I do not want, particularly now that I have made the big step to go right back to basics. So I need to practice adequately slowly to ensure that I maintain the free and upright quality in my body without it being 'held', the feather-light hold of the bow, while also fingering the strings smoothly, accurately in tune, without gripping or hunching my left shoulder. There is so much to think about, and it's all Alexander Technique 'in action'.
But I am sure that once the new way becomes more familiar, I will be able to return to Mozart and Handel, with a technique that will allow me to progress further than I may have otherwise. But patience is the name of this game. I need to stick to the process and enjoy that for what it is. It is how I play that is important and not what I play. If I get the basics working well, the end results will take care of themselves.
I'll keep you posted.
