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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Getting into detail
Tiger Woods
The more you get 'into' something the more you notice. The more you examine something or a situation in fine detail, the more detail you see. This is true when looking at a painting from afar, observing the overall composition, layout, colour style, subject and broad statement made by the painter. But when you get close and examine the detail, there is so much more to be seen that is missed when only viewed from a distance. Close inspection may show the broad and almost carefree brush-strokes that from a distance look like an entire village on a hillside, or a group of people huddled together. Close inspection shows the thickness of the applied paint and the detail within the picture that cannot otherwise be seen. The more one looks the more one sees.
This situation is what I am experiencing right now with my efforts with learning the violin. Violin, I hear you ask? What about Tiger Woods and golf? What I'm talking about relates to any activity. Let me explain. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago in a post that I was now focusing on my bowing hand, referring to a suggestion by a celebrated teacher from early last century that to be good, one should practice playing long bows on open strings for 30 minutes a day for 6 months. On first consideration this exercise seems as though it could be as boring as watching paint dry. What can one possibly learn by doing something so mundane? Naturally one is keen (I am keen) to play music, to play the pieces I'm learning as that's what it's ultimately all about. And I do this still for an hour a day. But I am also applying myself to the exercise of playing open strings for 30 minutes daily. And guess what.....it's not boring.
Indeed the closer one looks at a situation, the more one sees. Superficially the action seems simple enough, having gained a reasonable ability to hold the bow quite well, I can make quite a nice sound; I can bow it in a straight line or a reasonable approximation to a straight line and I can play fortissimo and pianissimo with a modicum of finesse. What more can I ask for? I ask for a quality of tone that brings tears to our eyes because the resonances within the note touch our soul. I guess this is what all violinists and all musicians and singers would like to achieve.
But now after applying myself diligently to the playing of open strings (not fingered to make other notes) I begin to notice more and more. And the more I notice the more interesting and demanding it gets. I'm looking at minutiae; the subtleties that go unnoticed when concentrating on playing an actual piece of music. Take away the music and I'm left with looking at my technique on open strings. Now I'm interested in the lightness of touch of my fingers on the bow so they are springy and not tight. I'm now discovering the importance of the right wrist in the production of sound and quality of tone. As for the violin, well the instrument is responding to my enquiries and experimentation. It is beginning to vibrate differently as though the pores in the wood are opening up. You know, I play without a shoulder rest so the edge of the instrument sits on my collarbone. I like this 'intimate' connection with the instrument. It sits on my skin. As I bow to make a note, I can now feel the resonance and vibration of the instrument not only in my collarbone, but in my chest and down into my lower back. I can feel the resonance in the right hand that holds the bow; the back of my hand vibrates with the notes. And as I engage my muscles in the most gentle ways, I notice subtle but important changes to the quality of sound. Indeed my whole posture can change the quality of sound.
This exercise that I'm doing daily is becoming a meditation. Excluding all thoughts except for observing and noticing the way my hand holds the bow, the muscle tension within the hand and wrist, the amount that I can reduce my own effort which seems to be proportionate to the increase in resonance of the instrument; I feel that I'm setting out on a journey that is just so rewarding; and that's before I play any music!! My playing ability has already improved in two weeks in ways it would not have done if I'd not started this quest.
Observing the minutiae shows up all sorts of issues. Experimenting and observing the sensations within oneself and one's instrument brings huge rewards and it's so fascinating. I'm sure you think I'm mad and you'd find it truly dull. Well this may be the case. But I'll put a bet on it; if you apply the same consideration to basics that I am with the violin, to any other activity such as archery, swimming, horse riding, running, singing, piano, dance, guitar or any other instrument or activity that demands the highest co-ordination of yourself and accuracy in skill, .....you will make huge improvements in your abilities.
This shouldn't be seen as 'taking' the time to do such exercises. We 'give' our time, as it's an investment that will repay itself a thousand fold. The positive experiences we get from dealing with such detail will inform our performance on every occasion ever after.
The more one gets into a situation, the more one can see. The more one examines and experiments, the deeper and rewarding it can be.
Ps. And if you're still wondering why I've put a picture of Tiger Woods into this post, it's just because the techniques I mention apply to virtually any other activity you care to mention....and I've shown enough photos of violinists recently!
I'll keep you posted.... :-)
