Put Your Fingerings To The Test
If you take just about any passage of music in the violin repertoire and gather 5 players to play it, chances are you will see 5 different fingerings being used.
However, this may not be the case if those 5 players came from the studio of one teacher.
Now, I consider that I have had four teachers in my life.
What is interesting, as I look back, is that two of them tended to have specific fingerings for any given passage, and sought to adjust my technique to accommodate them.
The other two took a very different tack.
I studied with a very gifted Italian violinist in high school - Guido Mansuino. His theory was, if you couldn't play a passage with a given fingering after 3 honest attempts, it was time to find a new one.
Milstein was much the same way.
In the interim, however, I spent three years with Eudice Shapiro at the USC School of Music. Now Shapiro was a truly extraordinary violinist, one of the finest of the 20th century, in fact. Yet I would still place her firmly in the school of 'adaptive technique', where fingerings were concerned.
I must admit to having chaffed at the bit in this regard whilst under her tutelage.
It was only when I arrived at Milstein's door that I again began to really feel the adventure of musical exploration and of personal innovation.
And fingerings were a big part of this agenda.
He himself was constantly looking for new and innovative ways of doing things; often playing different fingerings in successive performances - he was unrivaled in his ability to do this.
In short order I found myself investigating three or more ways of fingering a passage before coming to one that allowed for the right musical impact as well as a fluid, facile execution for my hand.
It sure fired my imagination to do so.
Admittedly, there are times when your fingering options are limited, and you really must rely solely on technique to get the job done.
Yet that is truly more rare than most violinists realize.
So if you run into a problem playing a passage, stand back and take a fresh look at those fingerings. Chances are, with a little investment of time, you'll surprise and delight yourself with a much more effective way of getting the job done.
As a result you'll actually be saving time AND effort. - 18780
However, this may not be the case if those 5 players came from the studio of one teacher.
Now, I consider that I have had four teachers in my life.
What is interesting, as I look back, is that two of them tended to have specific fingerings for any given passage, and sought to adjust my technique to accommodate them.
The other two took a very different tack.
I studied with a very gifted Italian violinist in high school - Guido Mansuino. His theory was, if you couldn't play a passage with a given fingering after 3 honest attempts, it was time to find a new one.
Milstein was much the same way.
In the interim, however, I spent three years with Eudice Shapiro at the USC School of Music. Now Shapiro was a truly extraordinary violinist, one of the finest of the 20th century, in fact. Yet I would still place her firmly in the school of 'adaptive technique', where fingerings were concerned.
I must admit to having chaffed at the bit in this regard whilst under her tutelage.
It was only when I arrived at Milstein's door that I again began to really feel the adventure of musical exploration and of personal innovation.
And fingerings were a big part of this agenda.
He himself was constantly looking for new and innovative ways of doing things; often playing different fingerings in successive performances - he was unrivaled in his ability to do this.
In short order I found myself investigating three or more ways of fingering a passage before coming to one that allowed for the right musical impact as well as a fluid, facile execution for my hand.
It sure fired my imagination to do so.
Admittedly, there are times when your fingering options are limited, and you really must rely solely on technique to get the job done.
Yet that is truly more rare than most violinists realize.
So if you run into a problem playing a passage, stand back and take a fresh look at those fingerings. Chances are, with a little investment of time, you'll surprise and delight yourself with a much more effective way of getting the job done.
As a result you'll actually be saving time AND effort. - 18780
About the Author:
Clayton Haslop is Concertmaster (first violinist) on hundreds of Hollywood movie soundtracks, including The Matrix movies, Titanic, Avatar, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Star Trek, Up, Jurassic Park, Apollo- and The Perfect Storm. Haslop's bestselling Instructional DVD courses are used by beginning violinists to professionals worldwide.
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