The Global-thinking and Violin Playing

By Clayton Haslop

Recently I have been studying a very esoteric form of Chinese philosophy called Hwa-Yen. It is the philosophical basis of Zen Buddhism.

In the process I have learned something about the way Asian language systems, Chinese in particular, conceptualize and name the objects we see in our every day world.

So this morning as I was practicing, and it suddenly struck me that my thinking about violin playing reflects this Chinese approach to language and conceptualization very closely.

You see, there is a subtle and interesting difference between the East and West in how 'things' are given names, and if you stay with me I think you'll get something worthwhile out of it, something that may indeed benefit and shed light on your playing of the violin.

You see, in Chinese the word for 'train' translates, literally, as 'fire car'; automobile, as 'gas car'; and bicycle, as 'foot-stepping car.' In English we use quite different and distinct words for each of these things; etymologically they are quite unrelated.

In the Chinese mind, then, the linguistic construction first identifies 'train' as a generalized vehicle for transportation. This generalized term is then modified by an adjective to describe one requiring fire for operation - at least they did in the old days.

So even from the way our object words are constructed you can see that the Western mind tends to compartmentalize, to identify each 'thing' with its own, specific word. The Eastern mind, on the other hand, tends to generalize and then differentiate, through the use of an adjective; this 'thing' is BOTH like these many things AND, simultaneously, is something quite different.

Now let's talk violin playing. Many violinists I coach want to 'nail things down'; this is THE way the fingers of the left hand articulate.

And for such players it comes as a surprise that in one Etude I will talk of fingers tapping the string, while in another, of the combined four fingers as a constant motion machine; the former implying a digital type of articulation, the latter something quite analogue.

And BOTH, in fact, must be available to you to reach the highest levels of performance.

The world of form IS full of contradictions and the message of music is, by definition, transmitted within this same world of form.

There is no escaping this.

Now, don't get me wrong here. Because I say there are contradictions does not mean you surrender to chaos. There are, after all, ways of playing the violin that are more efficient, effective and conducive to getting the music across than others.

The point is, however, that your technique must be fluid, dynamic, and able to embrace and effortlessly expand through a great range of textures and expressions.

So there isn't just one way to articulate with the fingers of the left hand. And there isn't just one way to 'take the string' when initiating a tone.

The challenge of a violin system, however, is to provide for all these 'contradictions' within something of a generalized framework, otherwise you have hopeless confusion in place of a technique.

In short, you need a method of approaching the instrument that is BOTH superbly straight-forward and simple, AND supremely flexible and adaptive.

As proof, when we listen and watch a truly great master moving effortlessly through a vast range of expression we often can't help but think, 'and they make it look so simple.' And so it has become, for them, as it must for you. - 18418

About the Author:

Clayton Haslop is Concertmaster (leader) on hundreds of movie soundtracks, including The Matrix movies, Titanic, Avatar, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Star Trek, Up, Jurassic Park, Apollo- and The Perfect Storm. Haslop creates bestselling Instructional DVD courses used by beginning to professional violinists worldwide.