Teaching Foundations
Foundational Concepts
1. In order to play beautifully, we must play accurately (in tune and with good rhythm), with beautiful and varied sound, with effective articulation and projection of tone, stylistic awareness, and something to say with everything we play, full of character and personal “story-telling”.
2. It should never hurt to play, and playing should not cause injury. If it does, something is wrong. (This was one of my first lessons from Karen Tuttle, who described me back then as “several injuries waiting to happen”.) It should feel GOOD to play the viola, finding/maintaining the “natural” within, free of unnecessary tension.
3. To achieve numbers 1 and 2, I believe that physical issues must be dealt with first. Once the physicality is more natural, learning new music happens faster, with greater ease, greater retention, and no injury.
4. Therefore, we address the physical aspects that produce point number 2 while working on everything in point number 1.
Observations
It is extremely important to explore posture, instrument set-up, stance and balance, and left and right finger/hand/arm action to identify and let go of unnecessary tensions, and to learn to direct and control healthy energy in the hands, arms, neck, head, back, and entire body. EVERYTHING is connected.
We find freedom of motion within physical form and “consistency with flexibility”. How does the body react naturally to the motions of playing and expression of music, and how can the body move naturally to enhance those same things? All is of course informed by the music. (Karen Tuttle called this approach and physical connection to the music “Coordination”.)
Great freedom comes from healthy discipline.
The bow is an extension of the right hand, with which we can feel the string and “what each string requires”, and it’s also the breath and provides pronunciation of our “singing” through the viola, sculpting, painting, molding, and coloring every stroke with intention.
Practice time needs to be well organized, thoughtful, with clear goals and healthy habits, and thus will be enjoyable as well as effective. Problem-solving versus Performance run-throughs? Why and when? Much of our practice time should be spent identifying & isolating issues, setting small, medium, and large goals, and repeating with great awareness, to build new habits that become more and more easeful.
Intonation and Listening
- Our concept of good intonation must become linked with the feeling of how to land accurately on every pitch and interval on the fingerboard and being able to visualize the organization of the left hand (and arm) in relation to the neck and strings. Hearing intervals becomes linked to the feelings of creating accurate intended pitch, like thinking of a word and automatically saying it correctly.
- We must hear how pitches and intervals function in the line and in the key or general pitch organization and be aware of pitch relationships (horizontal and vertical, adjacent and spaced further apart).
- We must be able to hear and produce Functional/Expressive Intonation AND Just Intonation AND Equal Temperament, and know when each can be used effectively.
- Scales & arpeggios, double stops, shifting, and other exercises should be a regular part of one’s diet, and can be explored in ways that are fascinating and tasty!
Things We Should All Do More
Study the score, without the instrument as well as with it.
Identify the changing characters in the music we’re playing, early in the process. Ensemble music as well as solo repertoire. (Those repeated accompaniment notes in a classical quartet serve to heighten emotion and change color/character – not just to provide pulse and affect harmony!)
Sing the music you’re learning. Yes, really sing it – out loud. Indulge your inner singer/actor!
Record and listen, with a picky ear, and productive/constructive diagnosis – (“How can I make this better?” rather than “That sounds bad.”)
Pay attention to how you use your body in the rest of day-to-day life. Are you checking in on posture regularly? Shoulders relaxed? Jaw free of tension? Breathing deeply and freely? Do you really need to grip things you’re holding so tightly?
Listen to as much music as you can by the composer whose music you’re studying. Branch out and listen to the composer’s contemporaries, influences, and descendants.
Explore art, history, literature, dance, theater, and philosophy. The music we play often makes more sense in the context of its time and its composer’s influences. It’s interesting, too!
Practical Matters
Try to get adequate sleep, get a reasonable amount of exercise, stay hydrated, and eat your vegetables! Your body and brain (which are, after all, what you use to play the viola) need to be well cared for in order to concentrate, practice well, retain what you practice, and avoid illness and injury. Even the healthiest physical and mental approaches need adequate sleep in order to replenish/rebuild cells (necessary every night!) and to establish the necessary connections in the brain to retain what has been learned long term.
