Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
« Getting into detail | Main | Stepping back from detail »
Detail V The big picture
A few details to concider without forgetting the activity as a whole
I learnt during my last violin lesson that would help the smoothness of my playing and particularly the transition from one note to another if the next finger is already on the string in readiness to play a note in a downwards transition, before I take the finger off that plays the note before. This is different from what I have been doing up to now, where I switch fingers at the same time.
Trying to change this 'technique' that applies to almost every note I play in downward transitions is very difficult. Although I have only been playing for just over three years, certain techniques are already becoming established. But having given a couple of hours to this, the new way is becoming more familiar.
There are times in any activity, be it in golf, tennis, music, or any performance you care to mention that attention to detail is essential. But it is also important that we do not lose sight of the big picture. It's all very well for me to consider how I'm using my fingers in such subtle and detailed ways, but if I start to lose my overall poise, to stoop downwards as I study my finger movements, to tense up with the 'intense' focus I am giving to detail, then I'm lost. Attention to minutiae, no matter how important it is, must not be made at the expense of the working of the whole body. We must maintain overall good use, despite our focused efforts on small things, because the small things need to relate to the whole; they are not independent.
It's like juggling plates on sticks. Not that I can do this, but it's clear that as we start a new plate spinning on the stick, we must keep the previous one going. And as we add yet another plate to another stick, we must keep the other ones going too, While we focus on getting one plate to spin, we must have an awareness of our total activity otherwise we'll drop the lot. Now I'm not going to drop my violin, but I need my overall poise to remain in as good condition, freedom and uprightness if I am to play to my best ability. Poor posture undermines our efforts so we will never be as good as we could be, if we were to maintain good poise. This is because it affects our whole co-ordination, agility, accuracy and speed.
My post about 'Getting into Detail' leads me to ponder a few other things that may be more subtle still. Examining the minutiae in a situation is fine and helpful; not examining the minutiae is also helpful. It's important to look at detail; it's also important not to look at detail and keep your awareness on the whole big picture. When you're out, get in. When you're in, get out.
Let's look at an oil painting, maybe from the impressionist period where the subject is suggested by broad brush strokes, rather than being very detailed and realistic. If we firstly view it from a distance we see the overall broad statement made by the artist; the colours, composition, the subject and its interpretation. If we get closer we can see more detail; the brush strokes that appear random yet from afar look organised, the small details within the picture that go unnoticed. But the painting was never intended to be viewed so closely and nor is a piece of music. But now if we step back again and view the painting, we no longer see it as we originally did on our first encounter; having studied it at close quarters our appreciation of the picture is more informed, we know more about it, we have more intimate knowledge and appreciation of what makes up this painting. After all, a painting is the sum total of all the elements within working together. A piece of music is the sum of the notes put together. But if all these brush strokes and in music if all these notes are assembled in a certain way, with subtlety, with nuance, with deep instinct and sensitivity, the sum of all these individual parts makes something that is far greater than the sum of the individual parts. The synergy between all the intrinsic details works to make something that has a new meaning. It can become great. My father who has been a professional flute player all his life has often commented on various compositions and their composer. With regards to Mozart, his compositions are so perfect that to remove any single note from a piece will result in a reduction of its overall quality; every note means something and contributes to the whole. This cannot be said for many other composers, and certainly not for all they have composed.
As a painting is made of its thousands of brushstrokes and a concerto is made of many thousands of notes, they are meaningless without the arrangement that brings them together with phrasing, harmony, rhythm and tempo. When looking at the details of how to play an instrument, or swing a golf club or tennis racket, it's important to look at the detail, but not at the expense of the whole body movement. We need to step back regularly and check our overall poise and use is OK. It's good to stop frequently and reassess the overall situation. Not to get drawn into detail at the expense of the whole.
With these few musings and ideas in mind, I shall return to my violin practice later today and see if I can improve my abilities in the small area of my finger actions, without losing my overall poise. If I want to play pieces of music by Mozart, then I want every note to be there nice and clear, particularly since every single note counts so much.
