Realisation
I have no idea where this site will go. It isn’t really a blog I guess. Still, it allows me a voice to put my videos into context.
I realised earlier this week that, yes I enjoy teaching and Im pretty good at it, but that I am building a collection of essential truths about violin practice and playing I wish I had never forgotten.
As a kid learning the violin, even though I had commited parents and a tape recorder present at my lessons, I focused on the cool stuff. The pieces that would ‘Wow’ my family and audience. Of course I hardly paid attention to the boring exercises I was given. And my teachers, as I remember, allowed it more often than not.
Decades later I, and many professional musicians I know, look back and realise how our lack of discipline lost us years in the long run. Without a solid foundation, bad habits made relative simple things seem so complicated. But worse, the unlearning of those habits often wasted even more time.
I think these lessons I am posting here are the important basic techniques I wish I had paid more attention to. I wish I had better understood the practical benefits of patience and scales and the odd boring drill. How those little details often make the difference between growth and stagnation.
I just hope I can help you avoid some, in hindsight obvious pitfalls and help you grow more continously, so you waste less time on rectifying bad habits or overcoming injuries during your awesome journey as a musician!