A Violinist's Journey

thoughts, stories, notes, and observations from a growing violinist

[highlandvalley]

https://twitter.com/tatuya01/status/950380312340541446/photo/1

[op85ee]

yesterday my viola teacher mentioned something really interesting! i’ve heard of this so many times before but i guess we all need a little reminder sometimes.

we all (right?) sometimes marvel at the sound of the “old masters”: haifetz, oistrakh and so on. how could they play so beautifully? what was their secret? well, one american violinist (whose name i fail to remember) decided to find out once and for all. he kept listening to recordings of the masters for hours and hours everyday, slowing them down more and more and more. one day he decided to take the sound off completely and just look at their slowed down playing — and that’s when he started to see similarities. all of these great masters that seem to have such different ways to perform had something in common: it’s what my teacher calls “upbeat — downbeat thinking”.

psychologically the downbeat isn’t very insteresting. the human brain somehow (i’m not a doctor) knows to expect the downbeat, the resolution, the first and third beat. the downbeat is not interesting at all — we know it’s there and we always know it’s coming. but what makes music interesting are the things that lead to the downbeat. if you didn’t already guess: it’s the upbeat. the second and fourth beat, the second and fourth and sixth and eight note in a passage of sixteenths (or whatever passage). this is why we are always advised to not play the resolution of a chord progression louder than the dominant, instead the tonic should be ever so slightly quieter, or less intense.

but onto the researching violinist guy: what did he find, exactly? he saw that all of the great masters made their upbows more intense compared to the downbow. it’s actually rather logical: you go up defying gravity, you need force and intensity — and then you let go and relax, let gravity do the work and bring the bow back down. obviously it’s not so easy, you do need some control for the downbow too to not make your bows sound too different. but what this allows you to do is relax half of the time you’re playing: do you think oistrakh could do his crazy fast sixteenths so seemingly effortlessly if he didn’t relax on every single downbow? the bow comes down naturally, you don’t need to move your hand to make it come down. but when you do an upbow, you need to put some extra there, be it intensity or weight or whatever. because the upbows are what make the music interesting.

the downbows already exist before we even play them, everyone in the concert hall knows they’re coming. but the upbows need our attention and some physical work.

i need to experiment with this thought more before i can elaborate and express myself more clearly. hopefully this gave you something to think about!

[choirmas]

Visit Original Link

Ding, Dong! Merrily on High Choir of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh

[violinjourney]

a concept: a recital following my auditions ft a brahms sonata, a quartet piece, and rondo capriccioso ??? now i need a venue and a pianist!

[studydiaryofamedstudent]

[sonateharder]

This heartbreaking interview with Lang Lang describes the price he paid in his childhood to become the pianist he is today.

(via Lang Lang: ‘Beethoven was a sausage lover’ | Music | The Guardian)

[classicalliterature]

Daniel Barenboim with Jacqueline Du Pré, Itzhak Perlman, and Arthur Rubinstein

[outofcontextarthur]

[onemountaingoatssongaday]

*wipes tear from eye* You’re damn right, Fugue. You’re damn right.

[violinjourney]

when all the teachers you visit tell you to change your bowings for the g minor fugue... time to completely relearn bowings 😓

[piccolo-pirate-deactivated20260]

Found this in the music building and I am so confused

[thechanelmuse]

Hazel Scott playing two pianos at the same damn time with ease

[rubyetc]

mood

[masonyin]

Fresh picked violin, viola, cello, string bass, are on sale now~

[atlantasymphony-blog]

We tweeted to the @nypl #emoji #bot🤖 and they tweeted us back this image from the Music Division - #Handel’s “Airs, overtures and other pieces for the #harpsichord.” 🎼🎹 (at Atlanta Symphony Orchestra-Woodruff Arts Center)

[violinjourney]

Joseph Silverstein playing solo from Swan Lake - too beautiful

[litany-of-excuses-deactivated20]

Friendly reminder to check you’re not holding tension in your body. Let your shoulders drop, unclench your hands and jaw. Take a deep breath. Much better.

[drainedluck]

this is such a genuine reminder

[nakedly]

Do a little better than last time

My best friend told me to do this before an exam. Tell yourself this everytime you do something, keep making yourself better and better. Be the greatest you can be. (via nakedly)