[00:00.830 --> 00:09.010]  Can I find out, just out of curiosity, so my off-the-cuff parts of this land, anyone here play the violin?
[00:10.690 --> 00:12.690]  Anyone here still play the violin?
[00:13.330 --> 00:13.690]  Okay.
[00:14.590 --> 00:17.650]  Anyone ever tried the violin, but they don't play it really?
[00:18.690 --> 00:19.630]  A few of you.
[00:20.030 --> 00:22.970]  And was anyone here ever forced to play the violin as a child?
[00:24.650 --> 00:25.690]  So a couple of you.
[00:25.950 --> 00:26.050]  Anyway.
[00:26.050 --> 00:37.530]  Okay, so the reason I'm here doing Hack the Violin is because years ago 2600, which I've read for a long time, published a Hack the Piano article.
[00:38.910 --> 00:50.170]  And I was coming to this conference anyway, and I hadn't actually thought to submit this presentation, but they sent out another call for presentations.
[00:51.210 --> 00:56.710]  I don't know, it just sort of hit my head, and I thought, oh, well, I'll write the presentation, and maybe they'll be interested.
[00:56.890 --> 00:57.250]  Who knows?
[00:58.430 --> 00:59.890]  Well, anyway, so here I am.
[01:00.070 --> 01:01.670]  I had to then write a presentation.
[01:02.130 --> 01:05.030]  So hopefully you'll find this interesting.
[01:05.310 --> 01:08.810]  It's a matter of great fascination for me, and hopefully I can share that with you.
[01:08.810 --> 01:10.550]  So I'll give you a little bit of backstory.
[01:10.890 --> 01:12.970]  So how I came to Hack the Violin.
[01:13.310 --> 01:15.270]  My name is Andrew Morrican.
[01:15.370 --> 01:16.750]  I am a violinist and violist.
[01:16.950 --> 01:24.390]  I play professionally chamber music, orchestral music, rock music, fiddle music, Western Celtic bluegrass, and a host of the other musics.
[01:24.730 --> 01:34.490]  And I played violin for the past 50 years, and taught violin and strings for 30-plus years to individuals, groups, in schools, privately.
[01:34.850 --> 01:37.650]  I've taught the very young and the very old.
[01:37.650 --> 01:43.730]  So I presently teach part-time for the conservatory at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg.
[01:44.350 --> 01:52.030]  And by day, I'm the CTO for Iceberg Data, which is a healthcare data service company, which I helped start.
[01:52.370 --> 01:56.670]  That job grew out of my lifelong freelancing as a coder and developer.
[01:57.210 --> 02:03.390]  And the father of one of my students asking me to do some work for his research projects.
[02:03.390 --> 02:11.610]  He's a cardiothoracic surgeon, and is really trying to make a difference using curated healthcare data in quality assurance, among other areas.
[02:12.570 --> 02:16.250]  That's a bit of another story, and it might actually be interesting for another hope.
[02:16.410 --> 02:16.850]  You never know.
[02:16.850 --> 02:30.470]  But anyway, I had a lifelong interest in various hacking activities, having started with 4chan Watt5 in high school, punch cards, and sending our cards out to the mainframe of the university, and generally moved forward from there.
[02:30.610 --> 02:38.530]  And I actually did a lot of reading of 2600 and going, I have no idea what that is, but let's give it a try.
[02:38.530 --> 02:45.670]  And then eventually, I took university courses in computer science, so the hacking mindset was pretty much always around for me.
[02:46.390 --> 02:49.730]  As far as violin goes, I took lessons as a kid.
[02:49.990 --> 02:52.730]  I did it, but I wasn't particularly into it at the time.
[02:52.990 --> 02:58.050]  But I liked playing student orchestra, and you know, anytime you got to play with people, I enjoyed that.
[02:58.810 --> 03:07.270]  And then when I was about 15, I heard a live performance of Shostakovich's 8th String Quartet, and it really woke me up.
[03:07.630 --> 03:13.230]  The music was intense, violent, and like really beautiful, and I wanted to play it myself.
[03:13.950 --> 03:19.550]  And it was my friends in the orchestra I was in at the time who played it, so I thought, I could do that.
[03:19.710 --> 03:23.470]  I just have to get better at the violin, and that really started it.
[03:24.650 --> 03:32.750]  Anyway, not too long after that, I met the individual who really became my mentor and friend, and introduced me to his way of thinking about the violin.
[03:33.190 --> 03:38.610]  Which is really where the hack the violin approach I use is derived from.
[03:38.850 --> 03:41.350]  He was a concert violinist, and also into computers.
[03:41.970 --> 03:46.670]  And I had approached him after a concert he gave, because I was really brazen.
[03:46.670 --> 03:49.270]  I still am actually, I'll just go ask the expert.
[03:49.930 --> 03:52.250]  And asked a question about using the bow.
[03:52.450 --> 03:55.490]  And he gave me a concrete answer.
[03:55.870 --> 03:59.110]  What I would call the first hack I ever heard.
[03:59.290 --> 04:02.470]  And that was, balance the bow on the string.
[04:03.350 --> 04:06.190]  I tried it right then and there, and I got an immediate result.
[04:06.790 --> 04:09.230]  So, I asked if I could take lessons from him.
[04:09.430 --> 04:15.610]  And he was not teaching violin students, but we hit it off, and he did agree to teach me some more.
[04:15.610 --> 04:21.610]  And he had an exceptional ability to bridge the gap between his understandings and my own.
[04:21.730 --> 04:22.950]  So, I was very fortunate.
[04:23.650 --> 04:26.910]  I learned as much as I could from him about his approach to the violin.
[04:27.490 --> 04:32.910]  And then I spent the past 30 years taking what I learned from him and applying it to my own playing and in my teaching.
[04:33.170 --> 04:41.350]  And my focus was figuring out how to make beginning to play the violin as doable as, you know, starting the guitar and the keyboard.
[04:41.970 --> 04:47.150]  I saw a large variety of students who struggled with the violin, but were quite capable individuals.
[04:47.530 --> 04:51.070]  Who really should be able to play, but had gotten stuck for some reason.
[04:51.690 --> 04:57.270]  As well as adults who played in their youth, wanted to get it back, but had learned a very traditional way.
[04:57.890 --> 04:59.810]  And really didn't have time for that now.
[04:59.810 --> 05:06.030]  I also wanted to be able to instruct groups and have that sound good very rapidly.
[05:07.010 --> 05:09.230]  Mostly so we could all enjoy it.
[05:09.410 --> 05:13.750]  I mean, if you aren't loving your sound, it is hard to enjoy the violin.
[05:14.290 --> 05:18.290]  And if you don't think you're going to be able to make a good sound, you'll just probably give up.
[05:19.370 --> 05:23.230]  So all that led to the hacks that I will share today.
[05:24.430 --> 05:26.070]  So, what are the hacks?
[05:26.270 --> 05:27.230]  Or what the hacks are?
[05:27.970 --> 05:32.450]  They are what is done in a specific order when playing the violin.
[05:33.210 --> 05:39.890]  And they're rather equivalent to the code snippets, blocks, or libraries that have to be present and be compiled for runtime to be possible.
[05:40.530 --> 05:46.390]  Now you don't need to know these, as in, you know, be fully aware of this code when runtime is happening.
[05:46.390 --> 05:50.070]  But, you know, the program doesn't work or your results are off.
[05:50.490 --> 05:53.270]  That's when you need to have some understanding of what's going on.
[05:53.570 --> 05:55.330]  And that's when these hacks get very useful.
[05:56.570 --> 05:59.750]  They're also great, as it turns out, for speeding up learning.
[06:00.530 --> 06:04.090]  And correcting common misperceptions about playing.
[06:05.390 --> 06:09.690]  So, one of the things I found in this area is the challenge of scope.
[06:11.410 --> 06:19.110]  If you're teaching a person or a group, it's pretty easy to establish the scope of what you're going to say by who's in front of you.
[06:19.290 --> 06:25.310]  You know, they do what they do and you go, okay, we could look at this hack and, you know, maybe you're not balancing your bow.
[06:25.450 --> 06:29.030]  Or maybe you're not starting from a stop position with your right hand.
[06:29.910 --> 06:30.910]  It's easy, really.
[06:31.750 --> 06:38.950]  But I found when it comes to giving a talk or even trying to write a publication, it's like infinity.
[06:39.130 --> 06:40.730]  You feel like you have to explain everything.
[06:41.990 --> 06:44.990]  And I don't actually know everything, obviously.
[06:45.630 --> 06:48.870]  But also, there's never time for that.
[06:49.030 --> 06:49.510]  There's never really.
[06:49.510 --> 06:51.270]  And today, there definitely isn't time for that.
[06:51.550 --> 07:02.290]  So, with that in mind, today's Hack the Violin talk is kind of meant to be informational and practical for the most part.
[07:02.910 --> 07:13.350]  I'm going to share the hacks I've used and taught the most, that I found to be the most needed, and that have successfully landed with the language terminology that I will use.
[07:13.350 --> 07:19.130]  They represent the parts that are most often missing or not sufficiently emphasized in students playing.
[07:20.510 --> 07:24.830]  Just a note on the language terminology, it's a common parlance.
[07:25.090 --> 07:35.210]  I really found I would try to use the most natural language that causes the action that I'm trying to explain.
[07:36.670 --> 07:41.130]  So, that means sometimes the actual semantic meaning of the word is a little different.
[07:41.130 --> 07:48.830]  But, you know, I talk to a lot of kids, a lot of people, and I found certain words got them to do it, and certain words didn't.
[07:51.310 --> 07:53.270]  So, that's why I use these words.
[07:54.370 --> 08:06.490]  Okay, the order of the hacks is loosely arranged into what I found produces the most success when you're starting out, in that the order of presentation matches the order of events needed to play the violin.
[08:06.490 --> 08:16.670]  So, even if you're an advanced player, you're probably going to recognize that order, and you may find that you derive benefit from thinking about it in this way.
[08:17.250 --> 08:31.930]  There are a lot more hacks than what I'm going to mention today, but if there's something you're curious about, please do feel free to ask me later, or if you want to access me through DM, you can definitely do that.
[08:31.930 --> 08:41.270]  Currently, I do have a freshly minted Instagram account, which is hack underscore the underscore violin, and I will be responsive to it.
[08:41.910 --> 08:47.070]  And after the list of hacks, I'll give a sequence for making sweet sound, although that is really what this is about.
[08:47.270 --> 08:51.530]  It's about making your violin playing easier and your sound a little sweeter.
[08:52.490 --> 08:57.250]  So, the hacks all come from what I will call principles or parent classes.
[08:58.010 --> 09:06.250]  And these are best understood in a context, and I find people tend to have prior general knowledge of these ideas, so I'll just mention them briefly.
[09:07.510 --> 09:13.670]  We've got active sensing, feeling, hearing, balance, relaxation, where you allow it, it's deliberate.
[09:13.670 --> 09:23.570]  The one-way principle, a pivot principle, order of events, preparation, when you're supposed to be stationary, when you move, and how you can use that.
[09:24.050 --> 09:27.070]  Linear progression, the idea of progressing through points.
[09:28.550 --> 09:32.390]  Motion awareness, and the you aspect.
[09:32.730 --> 09:39.410]  And that one, it's just whatever you consider you, the person that's going to be directing what's going on while you're playing.
[09:40.350 --> 09:41.890]  And then I threw this one in.
[09:42.970 --> 09:44.890]  Yeah, it's giant, so you might be able to see it.
[09:45.010 --> 09:51.170]  Just to give you an idea of the ones that I commonly draw upon, or have drawn upon with teaching.
[09:51.730 --> 09:56.490]  There's more, but this is the most frequent list.
[09:56.830 --> 10:01.750]  Anyway, so that's just if you're curious, and especially if you're a more advanced player.
[10:02.470 --> 10:13.430]  So the broad categories for today's hacks is sound, then the left hand, the right hand, a little bit about practicing and playing and performing.
[10:14.090 --> 10:16.730]  So in sound, singing.
[10:17.010 --> 10:18.170]  This is the ultimate hack.
[10:18.470 --> 10:23.030]  I was going to teach you absolutely, or talk about rather, one thing.
[10:23.290 --> 10:24.210]  It would be singing.
[10:24.410 --> 10:32.790]  So singing music and playing music on the violin are basically the same thing, except your voice uses the strings in your throat, and your body is the instrument.
[10:33.390 --> 10:37.370]  Well, the violin has a separate set of strings with its own body.
[10:38.850 --> 10:43.570]  The bit before, right before you sing, and the bit right before you play, same thing.
[10:44.090 --> 10:52.090]  So what singing does is it gets the sound into the body, gives you pitch, gives you expression, and it ties together your technical efforts.
[10:53.470 --> 10:54.610]  It's really simple.
[10:55.330 --> 11:00.090]  And the really critical part of singing is that you don't have to sing a result.
[11:00.370 --> 11:02.190]  You just have to try to sing.
[11:02.790 --> 11:08.390]  And this is kind of important, especially, I did a lot of middle school teaching, is they don't really want to sing.
[11:09.650 --> 11:14.190]  So they have to be convinced, no, no, it doesn't matter what you sound like at all.
[11:15.170 --> 11:19.090]  It matters that you try to sing, that if you try to hum, something like that.
[11:19.590 --> 11:21.830]  It puts it in the body, and that's your goal here.
[11:22.370 --> 11:24.490]  It's really simple, you just have to try to do it.
[11:24.870 --> 11:27.550]  And it will work despite opinions.
[11:27.830 --> 11:35.190]  And that actually was the funnest thing in middle school, is because you get pushed back and it'd be like, what's that going to do, you know?
[11:35.330 --> 11:39.910]  So then I sing it with them with my not terribly great singing voice, nice and loud.
[11:40.170 --> 11:43.610]  So they'll go for it, and then, you know, they put up and they play.
[11:44.310 --> 11:50.690]  And the worst case scenario, they right away recognize what's going on, whereas before it was sort of a, you know, blank idea.
[11:51.050 --> 11:56.610]  And the most common case scenario was they could just play in tune, which is fantastic.
[11:56.930 --> 12:02.190]  Because then what they're doing is the next hack, which is aiming with your ears.
[12:02.390 --> 12:04.770]  They're aiming with your ears.
[12:04.910 --> 12:07.430]  That's actively using your sense of hearing.
[12:07.430 --> 12:16.290]  So this is akin to, if you shoot a basketball or if you throw a dart, you use your vision to guide what your hands do, right?
[12:17.650 --> 12:24.070]  In this case, instead of using your vision, you're using your sense of hearing to guide what your hands do.
[12:24.070 --> 12:24.870]  It's the same idea.
[12:25.710 --> 12:32.550]  An easier analogy is, say, you stand next to a singer who knows the song that you want to learn, and so you follow them.
[12:32.690 --> 12:34.390]  Well, you're aiming with your ears.
[12:34.510 --> 12:37.310]  So that's an active use of your sense of hearing.
[12:38.830 --> 12:44.130]  And that leads you to this that you really want to remember, is doing the sound.
[12:44.330 --> 12:46.470]  It is what you're really doing.
[12:47.350 --> 12:54.550]  And due to the technical nature of the violin, or any of the string family there, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that you're doing sound.
[12:55.230 --> 13:01.550]  But not doing the sound is like driving the car blind, totally into everything I'm doing.
[13:01.690 --> 13:03.070]  I'm not looking where I'm going.
[13:03.310 --> 13:19.310]  In the case of this type of playing, you have to be listening, and if you do, you'll relax, and you'll find those technical things fade, a bit like typing fades, when you really are intensely involved in the ideas that you're trying to get into the screen.
[13:19.950 --> 13:25.810]  Okay, so a little sound summary here, and we'll see if the video does what it's supposed to.
[13:30.560 --> 13:31.860]  I am not hearing that.
[14:03.910 --> 14:14.290]  So, I don't know, the first part was clipped a little, so I'm not sure if you could hear it, but in the first small clip, I just tried to play the correct bow stroke and the correct finger.
[14:14.290 --> 14:17.450]  It was very mechanical and felt tense, right?
[14:17.990 --> 14:18.750]  So then I sing it.
[14:19.230 --> 14:22.130]  I don't have to know how to sing, you just have to try to sing.
[14:22.370 --> 14:23.630]  Beautiful example of that.
[14:24.170 --> 14:29.970]  And then as soon as I do it, okay, we have a little bit of sound now, plus I'm obviously right away more relaxed.
[14:30.830 --> 14:48.970]  The takeaway there that's interesting to me is like, I've played for a long time, but if I don't actively do that, I don't mean necessarily sing out loud, I can shortcut that part, but if I don't actively put the music into my body, I don't get the tone either.
[14:49.190 --> 14:51.270]  It isn't just like a thing you learn and then you have it.
[14:51.470 --> 14:54.630]  You actually have to be present to do it, is my point there.
[14:55.090 --> 14:57.370]  Okay, so that's a little bit of a summary of sound.
[14:58.510 --> 15:01.550]  There's loads more, but you know, I can't say everything.
[15:02.170 --> 15:04.690]  And then we get to the left hand.
[15:04.910 --> 15:05.930]  So a few things about the left hand.
[15:06.430 --> 15:17.850]  First you want to balance the weight of the violin in the left hand, so you can move around easily, feel what you're doing, and you'll get a much more specific sense of what you're doing and you can keep left hand continuity.
[15:18.410 --> 15:20.390]  I just have my little historical note there.
[15:20.990 --> 15:26.630]  It used to be balanced, and then things got more tricky, so it came up and the chin was supposed to help.
[15:26.630 --> 15:29.890]  The chin is not supposed to clamp down and hold the violin.
[15:30.130 --> 15:36.610]  That's just going to give you shoulder, neck plane, and also it isolates your hand from the neck, and you need to be there.
[15:37.670 --> 15:44.430]  And I mention it because there was a lot of traditional method where, you know, you hold it with your chin.
[15:45.010 --> 15:47.790]  It helps, but it's not the primary holder there.
[15:48.610 --> 15:53.490]  Now the first major thing you want to learn is that the left hand comes first.
[15:54.170 --> 15:58.050]  You're going to set your left hand finger first before pulling the bow at all.
[15:58.250 --> 16:00.010]  So I recommend to pluck first.
[16:00.350 --> 16:05.770]  You want to sing a little so you know what you're trying to do, then set your left hand, and then...
[16:05.770 --> 16:10.690]  Because all the guitarists get this right, because you put your hand on that fret, or your finger on that fret.
[16:11.010 --> 16:11.610]  You pluck.
[16:11.750 --> 16:13.570]  If you didn't squeeze it properly, you don't get a sound.
[16:14.470 --> 16:17.670]  But in the violin, there's a problem in that the bow is in motion.
[16:18.510 --> 16:24.030]  And the mind, what it often does, is it just subtracts what it doesn't like, and listens to what worked.
[16:24.370 --> 16:27.930]  So you missed the beginning, but I heard the middle of the note, so I'm obviously doing it.
[16:30.990 --> 16:35.290]  And also, most traditional violin methods teach you the bow first.
[16:36.470 --> 16:43.010]  And what that does is it gives you your first physical impulse is pull with the right hand when it's time to make sound.
[16:43.750 --> 16:55.070]  So unless you sort of get that, I should stop the string first with my left hand, I know it seems obvious, but unless you actually get that, you're going to be struggling.
[16:55.510 --> 16:57.990]  You're going to be, why is this not working for me?
[16:59.610 --> 17:02.310]  I think this is actually a confusion point where a lot of people give up.
[17:02.430 --> 17:03.630]  They're like, I just don't get the violin.
[17:03.910 --> 17:09.910]  Because it looks like they happen at the same time, but they're not happening at the same time they're synchronous, not simultaneous.
[17:10.290 --> 17:13.770]  And for some odd reason, that's not really written down in very many places.
[17:14.010 --> 17:16.190]  I found it in a book by Ruggiero Ricci.
[17:16.790 --> 17:23.230]  And then last year, Hilary Hahn, the great Hilary Hahn, mentioned it in one of her Hundred Days of Practice.
[17:23.550 --> 17:27.310]  She used that exact phrase, it's synchronous, not simultaneous.
[17:28.330 --> 17:29.270]  But it...
[17:29.270 --> 17:33.750]  I mean, maybe it's considered obvious, but I found many students missing this point.
[17:33.870 --> 17:38.390]  And then many professionals who haven't noticed that they're doing that until they really pay attention.
[17:39.090 --> 17:39.570]  So...
[17:39.570 --> 17:42.990]  The coolest thing about this is it really frees up cognitive space.
[17:43.610 --> 17:45.250]  If it's left, right.
[17:45.670 --> 17:46.610]  Left, right.
[17:46.730 --> 17:48.490]  This is super easy for the body to comprehend.
[17:48.810 --> 17:51.630]  If you're not doing that, the body starts to fight itself.
[17:51.890 --> 17:54.010]  And then it is hard to play the violin.
[17:54.010 --> 17:54.110]  You know what?
[17:54.710 --> 17:55.670]  So, first thing.
[17:55.830 --> 17:57.470]  Set that left-hand note first.
[17:58.370 --> 18:02.050]  Then, what you want to do is feel the point of contact of the note.
[18:02.850 --> 18:04.030]  Actively feel this.
[18:04.410 --> 18:06.290]  Squeeze the string to the wood.
[18:06.410 --> 18:06.910]  No further.
[18:07.710 --> 18:09.710]  And you're going to grip it only as much as needed.
[18:10.650 --> 18:13.150]  And you want to try and just squeeze with weight.
[18:13.950 --> 18:14.770]  Not pressure.
[18:15.330 --> 18:17.150]  So, you press against the wall.
[18:17.250 --> 18:18.310]  You're making a lot of effort.
[18:18.650 --> 18:21.850]  If you lean against the wall, no effort.
[18:22.110 --> 18:23.090]  And that's the idea of weight.
[18:23.090 --> 18:25.690]  If you're just starting out, just squeeze and relax.
[18:26.310 --> 18:30.130]  And make sure wrist, elbow, shoulder, these are all relaxed, too.
[18:30.470 --> 18:32.170]  And that's for the active feel.
[18:32.950 --> 18:36.910]  Because active feel, the analogy I like to use there is if...
[18:36.910 --> 18:40.170]  Imagine I ask you to put your fingertip on a stove element.
[18:41.230 --> 18:42.910]  And I say, well, close your eyes.
[18:43.030 --> 18:46.990]  And I want you to let me know when it starts to get hot.
[18:47.110 --> 18:48.230]  Because I'm going to turn it on.
[18:48.910 --> 18:49.350]  Okay.
[18:49.930 --> 18:51.570]  I'm really in my fingertip now.
[18:51.570 --> 18:57.210]  And even if I get a little sleepy, I'm coming back to my fingertip, because I do not want to burn my finger.
[18:57.310 --> 18:58.590]  This is very popular with the kids.
[19:00.090 --> 19:00.530]  Anyway...
[19:00.970 --> 19:01.870]  You'll stay there.
[19:02.050 --> 19:03.110]  That's active feeling.
[19:03.450 --> 19:16.990]  And because I'm at HOPE here, and I spent two days having a fantastic time in the lockpick village, I just want to say what they're talking about, that extended sense of touch, where you're trying to feel the pins, and you're trying to feel...
[19:17.690 --> 19:18.170]  That...
[19:18.170 --> 19:19.570]  That is active feeling.
[19:20.410 --> 19:26.890]  I think the lockpickers would make good violinists, and with a little practice, I think I might get better at picking locks.
[19:27.570 --> 19:28.050]  But...
[19:28.050 --> 19:30.890]  Might even work it with the students one of these days.
[19:31.290 --> 19:32.210]  Or maybe not.
[19:32.750 --> 19:34.710]  Anyway, so that's the active feeling part.
[19:34.710 --> 19:43.550]  And you need that, because the more relaxed, and the more you can actively feel, but be more relaxed, the more you're going to be able to do left hand expression.
[19:43.970 --> 19:51.270]  So left hand expression is transferred using your active sense of touch at the point of contact.
[19:51.890 --> 19:52.010]  Okay?
[19:52.390 --> 19:53.570]  Sounds highly technical.
[19:54.010 --> 19:54.770]  It's really not.
[19:55.890 --> 19:57.810]  Absolutely everyone already knows how to do this.
[19:58.050 --> 19:59.410]  You ever petted a cat?
[19:59.530 --> 20:00.650]  You ever petted a dog?
[20:00.930 --> 20:02.370]  Tussled your child's hair?
[20:03.530 --> 20:04.410]  You know...
[20:04.410 --> 20:08.950]  Like, really, basically, how to express with a sense of touch.
[20:09.270 --> 20:12.150]  The difference in the left hand is, well, you're not moving as much.
[20:12.350 --> 20:14.530]  You're a bit stationary, especially when you're starting out.
[20:14.710 --> 20:16.230]  But it's still the feeling.
[20:16.450 --> 20:18.570]  It's still an easily recognizable feeling.
[20:20.790 --> 20:27.910]  As long as you're relaxed, and you're at that transfer point, whatever it is, your feeling is going to start to come out through the string and into the sound.
[20:29.150 --> 20:31.050]  So, anyone can do this.
[20:31.050 --> 20:33.170]  So, I have a little left hand summary.
[20:33.310 --> 20:34.690]  Let's see if we get volume right away.
[20:48.690 --> 20:49.170]  Set.
[20:50.390 --> 20:50.870]  Set.
[21:14.880 --> 21:16.780]  So, you see a very careful set there.
[21:16.960 --> 21:18.940]  So, it's very clear sounding, right?
[21:18.940 --> 21:20.240]  And even the expression.
[21:20.260 --> 21:24.800]  I wasn't really, really doing anything, but you can hear that the note is squeezed and it just rings through.
[21:24.940 --> 21:26.180]  So, I'm not strangling it either.
[21:26.340 --> 21:28.420]  Because if you squeeze too tight, you're going to get...
[21:28.420 --> 21:29.840]  the sound won't resonate in that way.
[21:30.560 --> 21:30.960]  Okay.
[21:31.080 --> 21:35.540]  So, there's another useful point, especially when you're starting out.
[21:35.820 --> 21:36.900]  And that's elbow rotation.
[21:37.140 --> 21:38.680]  And I'll play you this video.
[21:38.900 --> 21:40.940]  This next video has that in it.
[21:42.620 --> 21:46.400]  But just pay attention to what the elbow and the hand are doing, and then I'll explain it.
[21:46.400 --> 21:46.660]  So...
[21:55.600 --> 21:57.000]  More obvious there.
[22:01.740 --> 22:02.480]  See that?
[22:02.560 --> 22:03.380]  A little rotation.
[22:05.620 --> 22:06.740]  A little rotation.
[22:13.780 --> 22:14.300]  Yeah.
[22:14.720 --> 22:15.700]  That's a bit subtle.
[22:15.840 --> 22:23.380]  But the idea is this, is that your elbow is underneath your fingers, which would be on a diagonal, because in my case the violin is on a diagonal.
[22:23.640 --> 22:26.320]  I found a nice position where I can play all those notes in tune.
[22:26.640 --> 22:31.720]  So, I just rotate, following the curve of the fingerboard, and then I just have to do this.
[22:33.400 --> 22:38.360]  There is a school of violin teaching which used to jam your elbow under the violin and then say, keep it there.
[22:38.540 --> 22:40.480]  And then you'd be moving your hand around like this.
[22:40.700 --> 22:42.180]  Okay, that's too many variables.
[22:42.500 --> 22:44.340]  It used to be a bit like golf, you know.
[22:44.540 --> 22:46.660]  I learned to swing, then I just changed the club.
[22:47.040 --> 22:48.760]  Why do I want to do so many different things?
[22:49.340 --> 22:51.680]  The violin actually has enough challenges.
[22:52.560 --> 22:53.040]  Okay.
[22:53.480 --> 22:54.440]  So, there's some left hand.
[22:54.560 --> 22:57.200]  That gets you sort of the point of expression in the left hand.
[22:57.700 --> 23:03.160]  So, now I move to the right hand and I did a little video of bow hold here.
[23:03.340 --> 23:04.520]  So, let's see how this goes.
[23:04.960 --> 23:06.860]  So, just a demo for the bow hold.
[23:06.980 --> 23:09.120]  The classical bow hold looks normally like this.
[23:10.080 --> 23:10.560]  Right?
[23:10.680 --> 23:11.980]  Or some variation of that.
[23:13.340 --> 23:15.060]  Beginners, I usually just say, do this.
[23:15.180 --> 23:16.200]  Especially if they're kids.
[23:16.900 --> 23:19.220]  And the reasoning is just, you need to be relaxed.
[23:19.760 --> 23:22.300]  And you don't want to be tense in any way.
[23:23.060 --> 23:26.560]  So that you can feel wherever the hair is touching the string.
[23:26.840 --> 23:28.880]  You know, if you're not relaxed, you won't feel it.
[23:30.160 --> 23:34.560]  And your skin is amazing in terms of the capacity it has for sense of touch.
[23:34.560 --> 23:37.340]  So, I can put the violin bow in my hand here.
[23:37.680 --> 23:38.980]  Get a nice hold.
[23:41.060 --> 23:43.320]  And basically just use my skin.
[23:44.040 --> 23:46.280]  And a little bit of balance to hold the bow.
[23:46.800 --> 23:47.340]  There we go.
[23:48.700 --> 23:50.020]  That's all that's holding it.
[23:51.480 --> 23:53.580]  So, you know.
[23:53.800 --> 23:55.700]  The most important thing is what you can feel.
[23:56.060 --> 23:59.200]  The positioning of your fingers doesn't matter that much.
[24:00.680 --> 24:01.160]  Okay.
[24:01.400 --> 24:03.280]  This is my favorite little parlor trick there.
[24:03.900 --> 24:06.260]  But to emphasize that point even more.
[24:06.800 --> 24:09.680]  That, you know, you can just hold it like this and then relax.
[24:09.960 --> 24:11.400]  I have this little video.
[24:12.440 --> 24:13.760]  This is Michael Cleveland.
[24:14.920 --> 24:16.220]  He uses a fist.
[24:47.280 --> 24:49.840]  Does he have any trouble articulating?
[24:50.200 --> 24:51.260]  Changing expression?
[24:51.540 --> 24:52.120]  Playing quickly?
[24:52.500 --> 24:52.960]  No.
[24:54.440 --> 24:56.320]  Well, we should all have to play like that.
[24:56.820 --> 24:57.020]  Okay.
[24:57.280 --> 24:59.920]  So, the bow hold, it needn't be dramatic.
[25:00.140 --> 25:01.240]  You just have to hold it and relax.
[25:01.700 --> 25:02.160]  Okay.
[25:02.160 --> 25:02.240]  Great.
[25:02.440 --> 25:07.760]  And then the first thing you're going to do is the original hack that I learned first, which is balance the bow on the string.
[25:08.740 --> 25:10.200]  So, just let it sit there.
[25:10.400 --> 25:11.280]  No pressing.
[25:11.720 --> 25:12.700]  Just no movement.
[25:12.880 --> 25:14.260]  Just be stationary on the string.
[25:14.500 --> 25:16.260]  And then feel that balance.
[25:16.620 --> 25:18.320]  So, it's kind of almost a non-feeling.
[25:18.320 --> 25:21.620]  You'll move the bow up and down a little and you'll be like, no, I can't feel anything.
[25:21.820 --> 25:24.080]  But that's the feeling you want, that feeling of balance.
[25:24.420 --> 25:27.000]  And then try and feel that when you pull the bow.
[25:27.140 --> 25:28.260]  Feel it when you pull in motion.
[25:28.440 --> 25:31.080]  And always feel the point of contact.
[25:31.260 --> 25:33.080]  Extend your sense of touch and be aware.
[25:33.680 --> 25:34.760]  Actively feel that point.
[25:34.880 --> 25:37.820]  And that's the same as the stove element and the lockpicking.
[25:38.060 --> 25:45.820]  You want to try and actively feel that point of contact because ultimately you're going to transfer the expression you want through that point of contact.
[25:47.400 --> 25:49.940]  And the more you do feel it, the more you relax.
[25:50.080 --> 25:51.600]  And the more you relax, the more you feel it.
[25:51.640 --> 25:55.280]  It's like a beautiful cycle of wonderful sound coming up.
[25:56.180 --> 25:59.500]  Okay, now this is a bit akin to the left hand first.
[25:59.680 --> 26:05.480]  And that is you want to start from a stop position as much as you can when you're playing the bow.
[26:06.120 --> 26:11.160]  So balance on the string, be still, then give a command to start.
[26:11.460 --> 26:18.520]  What this does is it syncs up the sound, mind and body so that you always have a very, very clear start point.
[26:18.880 --> 26:20.680]  Okay, this promotes awareness.
[26:20.940 --> 26:24.020]  It speeds up your active field comprehension, your sense of touch comprehension.
[26:24.260 --> 26:26.980]  And it'll really clean up your performing and practicing.
[26:27.520 --> 26:32.720]  In practicing, it means that now your mind has got a very accurate form as to what you just did.
[26:32.840 --> 26:34.420]  And a clear start point, right?
[26:35.180 --> 26:42.700]  And for performing, it's very interesting because if you just play and do that thing that people do all the time, start, start, start.
[26:42.700 --> 26:44.380]  Okay, now I'm finally into the piece.
[26:44.900 --> 26:49.340]  When you finally have to go out on stage and play, you'll discover that you don't know how to start.
[26:49.580 --> 26:52.500]  And you're not allowed to do all those little preparations before you play.
[26:52.680 --> 26:56.540]  This is in the classical recital world for sure.
[26:57.260 --> 26:59.140]  Anyway, but I can't emphasize that one enough.
[26:59.320 --> 27:02.840]  Set left hand and then start from a stop position in the right hand.
[27:02.920 --> 27:06.580]  If you play orchestra, everybody knows this because that's how they all stay together.
[27:08.320 --> 27:08.980]  All right.
[27:09.280 --> 27:14.820]  And then you need to pull the bow one way progressively.
[27:15.540 --> 27:15.740]  Okay.
[27:16.300 --> 27:19.560]  So you're going to stay on the same spot on the string as much as possible.
[27:19.800 --> 27:22.600]  You're going to pull progressively at right angles to the string.
[27:22.780 --> 27:24.720]  That's kind of ideal sound, the right angles.
[27:25.120 --> 27:27.680]  And keep balance and awareness at the point of contact.
[27:29.480 --> 27:33.920]  And once you've balanced and started pulling, don't add any weight, right?
[27:34.320 --> 27:39.280]  That's very much, if you add any weight once you're in motion, that's when you're going to get crunch in the bow.
[27:40.440 --> 27:43.980]  And the analogy I like for this is, it's like a paintbrush stroke analogy.
[27:44.180 --> 27:46.820]  Dip a brush in paint, try and do a nice long stroke.
[27:46.840 --> 27:49.740]  If you hesitate in any way, you get a glitch.
[27:49.740 --> 27:52.180]  And it's the same for pulling a nice...
[27:54.200 --> 27:55.420]  That's a lot of words.
[27:56.540 --> 28:01.880]  If you distill it down, it's basically balanced feel and do a nice smooth conscious movement.
[28:02.220 --> 28:10.320]  The progressively part is worth remembering though, because you start from nothing and you're going to reach a bow speed.
[28:10.640 --> 28:13.000]  So what you don't want to do is jerk the bow.
[28:15.060 --> 28:20.220]  Because then it's, you've got that accelerated thing at the beginning and now you're going to put the brakes on for the speed.
[28:20.500 --> 28:28.260]  So then you have tension in your arm, plus you have a real unconscious amount of movement you just did, where you're not going to be making any real sweet sound.
[28:28.700 --> 28:33.240]  So just try and, from nothing, with sort of a conscious, graceful movement.
[28:33.920 --> 28:36.340]  Alright, I think I have a bit of a right hand summary here.
[28:41.310 --> 28:42.290]  Are we going to get sound?
[28:47.500 --> 28:48.360]  Any sound there?
[28:49.700 --> 28:51.480]  I have not touched anything, I swear.
[28:59.180 --> 28:59.660]  Nothing?
[29:01.380 --> 29:02.080]  That was okay.
[29:03.740 --> 29:06.180]  It's actually interesting to watch without the sound.
[29:06.760 --> 29:09.420]  Because you can see that I'm setting and pulling.
[29:09.800 --> 29:12.580]  And this would have been the one moment it would have been handy to have my violin.
[29:13.120 --> 29:17.120]  Setting and pulling in order to make the sound.
[29:17.120 --> 29:24.220]  And that's actually the real lesson there, is you want to set, then pull progressively, and start from a stop position.
[29:25.000 --> 29:25.240]  Okay.
[29:26.600 --> 29:30.160]  I have one more video here, I think.
[29:32.840 --> 29:34.160]  Let's see if we get it.
[29:49.880 --> 29:54.220]  This is the same one as before, but what I want to show is, watch the bow.
[29:55.040 --> 29:55.880]  Pivot down.
[29:57.900 --> 29:58.680]  Pivot down.
[30:02.020 --> 30:07.160]  Now, you want to know this because the pivot is what you use for a string crossing.
[30:07.160 --> 30:10.220]  So, when normally you're playing the bow, you have lateral movement.
[30:10.500 --> 30:13.380]  But when you cross strings, no more lateral movement.
[30:13.520 --> 30:15.060]  It's a pivot from one point to another.
[30:16.020 --> 30:21.980]  The normal response is pick up the bow and put it into the same place where you were touching on the previous string.
[30:22.420 --> 30:23.540]  And that's going to confuse you.
[30:23.640 --> 30:25.840]  If you're not aware of it, it will also create a lot of tension.
[30:25.840 --> 30:28.300]  So, it's always pivot down to the next string.
[30:28.460 --> 30:30.820]  You lose that amount of distance that's between the strings.
[30:31.240 --> 30:33.440]  So, you just refill the new point.
[30:33.680 --> 30:33.940]  Okay.
[30:34.100 --> 30:35.080]  So, it's worth knowing that.
[30:35.680 --> 30:37.700]  And then I have a couple of models here for...
[30:37.700 --> 30:39.520]  These are actually silent, I think.
[30:39.680 --> 30:41.880]  So, when you don't hear a sound, don't panic.
[30:42.480 --> 30:43.520]  For changing the bow.
[30:44.420 --> 30:45.600]  This one's the pendulum.
[30:47.580 --> 30:52.060]  And it gives you an idea of running out of energy at the end of a bow stroke and then going again.
[30:52.840 --> 30:57.540]  One of the interesting little parts of bow changing is...
[30:57.540 --> 31:02.820]  It changes direction, but the motion has to stay as though you haven't changed direction.
[31:03.580 --> 31:05.900]  And for the mind, that can be a little bit confusing.
[31:07.380 --> 31:07.900]  Alright.
[31:10.100 --> 31:11.900]  So, I have another example here.
[31:12.020 --> 31:14.520]  This is the piston and the flywheel there.
[31:14.820 --> 31:17.620]  So, the bow is the piston which is going straight back and forth.
[31:19.380 --> 31:19.740]  And...
[31:20.660 --> 31:24.640]  You can tell that it never stops because you can see the circle going around, right?
[31:24.840 --> 31:25.620]  So, it never stops.
[31:26.040 --> 31:32.120]  So, when you're playing though, you have to be able to do this and have that change point be part of a line that never stops.
[31:32.920 --> 31:36.100]  You've got to get your mind to let go a little bit in order to be able to do that.
[31:36.800 --> 31:37.140]  Okay.
[31:37.280 --> 31:40.840]  And then I boldly put in my hotel room change example the other day.
[31:45.530 --> 31:46.630]  A little change.
[31:49.630 --> 31:50.710]  That was pretty good.
[32:00.800 --> 32:01.980]  That one was quite good.
[32:04.400 --> 32:07.580]  The really, really good players like the top of the food chain there.
[32:07.980 --> 32:13.720]  I'm thinking Nicola Benedetti and like Martin Beaver from the Tokyo String Quartet and a host of other ones actually.
[32:14.000 --> 32:18.440]  Who can stand in front of you and they can do this all day and you can't actually hear anything.
[32:18.440 --> 32:20.300]  It's just a beautiful, long, smooth sound.
[32:21.020 --> 32:23.280]  Which you can get if you just consistently practice.
[32:23.520 --> 32:27.720]  And one thing I will say is these hacks will help you, but you have to practice anyway.
[32:28.060 --> 32:31.300]  It's just that you don't have to practice for six hours a day to get one tiny increment.
[32:31.720 --> 32:35.900]  If you do six hours a day like this for a few days in a row, you'll be really quite good.
[32:37.740 --> 32:38.120]  Okay.
[32:38.200 --> 32:39.180]  A little bit of application.
[32:39.940 --> 32:41.120]  I'm going to check my time here.
[32:41.260 --> 32:41.780]  We're good.
[32:43.560 --> 32:45.480]  So, a few pointers on practicing.
[32:45.940 --> 32:48.780]  And the first one is just make sure to check in on your left hand.
[32:48.940 --> 32:52.120]  As soon as you start using the bow, it'll eat up your attention.
[32:52.140 --> 32:53.060]  It's in motion.
[32:53.620 --> 32:56.660]  It's the sound maker in the most obvious sense.
[32:57.440 --> 32:59.740]  And it'll just steal all the parts of your mind.
[32:59.840 --> 33:01.940]  And you might be hearing odd sounds.
[33:02.000 --> 33:03.560]  You think, what's wrong with my bowing?
[33:03.580 --> 33:04.300]  What am I doing?
[33:04.540 --> 33:07.520]  And nine times out of ten, you're just not doing something in the left hand.
[33:07.680 --> 33:09.280]  You didn't squeeze the string properly.
[33:09.280 --> 33:10.620]  You're going to get a crunch at the beginning.
[33:10.740 --> 33:11.660]  You might think it's the bow.
[33:11.760 --> 33:12.240]  It's not.
[33:12.800 --> 33:15.960]  There's a host of other reasons why that happens.
[33:16.160 --> 33:17.000]  But just go back.
[33:17.140 --> 33:17.780]  Check your left hand.
[33:17.880 --> 33:20.780]  When it's working properly, the bow tends to just follow suit.
[33:21.940 --> 33:22.040]  Okay.
[33:22.660 --> 33:24.540]  This one is getting into the body.
[33:25.260 --> 33:26.880]  I sort of referenced that a little already.
[33:27.040 --> 33:28.380]  But this is kind of an interesting hack.
[33:28.960 --> 33:31.360]  You do need to be present in your body to play.
[33:34.660 --> 33:39.800]  And James Aniston, his father was a prof where I went to school.
[33:40.280 --> 33:41.400]  And I went to play for him.
[33:41.480 --> 33:43.200]  And he said, well, you know, you're having trouble with this.
[33:43.400 --> 33:46.920]  What Jimmy used to do when he had trouble with passage.
[33:46.920 --> 33:49.300]  Which was probably like for maybe ten seconds.
[33:49.480 --> 33:51.300]  He's an outstandingly good violin player.
[33:51.880 --> 33:52.940]  He used to walk around.
[33:53.200 --> 33:54.900]  He'd walk around and then it would come together.
[33:55.620 --> 33:56.580]  So I tried it.
[33:56.680 --> 33:57.840]  It's tremendously effective.
[33:58.080 --> 34:01.220]  All of that mental strain or trying or thinking it's gone.
[34:01.340 --> 34:01.940]  You're walking now.
[34:02.180 --> 34:03.740]  You're really in the zone focused.
[34:04.240 --> 34:06.240]  And you have a really lot of fun with students.
[34:07.580 --> 34:09.360]  Either after school or the middle of the day.
[34:09.560 --> 34:10.960]  You ask them to stand on one leg.
[34:11.140 --> 34:12.140]  Balance on one leg.
[34:12.360 --> 34:12.640]  And play.
[34:12.900 --> 34:14.180]  Well, they wake up right away.
[34:14.320 --> 34:14.780]  That's for sure.
[34:16.500 --> 34:20.220]  And then usually they can just play what they need to play.
[34:21.040 --> 34:22.900]  You have to be present, the violin.
[34:23.180 --> 34:24.240]  If you're at arm's length.
[34:24.580 --> 34:26.540]  Even if you have a lot of aptitude.
[34:27.000 --> 34:28.300]  It doesn't usually work out.
[34:28.760 --> 34:30.200]  So that's just a little hack there.
[34:31.020 --> 34:33.100]  And then this one is practicing to correct.
[34:34.120 --> 34:38.640]  And this is if you experience or, you know, if you have other disciplines in life.
[34:38.800 --> 34:39.480]  We'll teach you this too.
[34:39.620 --> 34:42.240]  But if you're experiencing this thing where you try something.
[34:42.440 --> 34:43.320]  And you make this mistake.
[34:43.520 --> 34:43.700]  Okay.
[34:43.900 --> 34:45.280]  I know what the mistake was.
[34:45.760 --> 34:47.100]  I'm going to go back and try it again.
[34:48.240 --> 34:48.640]  Mistake.
[34:48.720 --> 34:49.000]  Mistake.
[34:49.120 --> 34:49.720]  You repeat it.
[34:49.840 --> 34:51.000]  And you're getting this dialogue now.
[34:51.500 --> 34:53.100]  I always play that note flat.
[34:53.300 --> 34:54.500]  Or whatever your dialogue is.
[34:54.680 --> 34:54.820]  Okay.
[34:55.480 --> 34:56.840]  So a couple of things you want to do.
[34:56.940 --> 34:59.900]  One is, you've got to go to the note.
[35:00.240 --> 35:01.280]  And look at the previous note.
[35:01.600 --> 35:02.820]  This is my linked list example.
[35:03.140 --> 35:06.040]  Because at the end of every note, there's a pointer to the next note.
[35:06.540 --> 35:09.480]  If you fix the pointer, you don't even really have to fix the note.
[35:09.600 --> 35:11.020]  Because you'll just go to the right place.
[35:11.660 --> 35:14.500]  It's a gleeful and enjoyable thing to do.
[35:15.380 --> 35:16.680]  But that may not be enough.
[35:17.540 --> 35:19.280]  Because your mind...
[35:20.020 --> 35:21.980]  You're smart, but your mind is just your mind.
[35:22.100 --> 35:22.180]  Right?
[35:22.640 --> 35:25.640]  And it has multiple versions of all the things you're doing.
[35:25.960 --> 35:27.740]  And when you now go back to play it through.
[35:28.700 --> 35:29.680]  It'll be like...
[35:29.680 --> 35:30.960]  Oh, we're playing it through now?
[35:31.220 --> 35:33.420]  It'll just throw up the version that you last played through.
[35:33.640 --> 35:34.360]  And it'll do that.
[35:34.840 --> 35:35.940]  And you make the mistake again.
[35:36.060 --> 35:38.860]  And you might be thinking to yourself, I just fixed that.
[35:39.440 --> 35:40.380]  Why isn't it working?
[35:42.900 --> 35:44.040]  All you have to do...
[35:44.040 --> 35:45.080]  Well, you could use your will.
[35:45.340 --> 35:46.840]  You know, get determined and do it.
[35:46.920 --> 35:47.900]  But that's quite a strain.
[35:48.460 --> 35:50.260]  All you want to do is tell your mind.
[35:50.260 --> 35:53.100]  And literally, you can talk to it like it's a child or something.
[35:54.020 --> 35:54.880]  In a nice way.
[35:55.000 --> 35:55.680]  In a respectful way.
[35:55.820 --> 35:55.960]  Sorry.
[35:57.440 --> 35:58.600]  I did mean that.
[35:58.660 --> 35:59.080]  I promise.
[35:59.700 --> 36:02.520]  That it now needs to play through.
[36:02.720 --> 36:06.980]  But at this point, it needs to use this thing that I just fixed over here.
[36:07.060 --> 36:08.040]  We're going to pull it over here.
[36:08.120 --> 36:09.240]  And we're going to play it through.
[36:09.700 --> 36:09.820]  Okay.
[36:10.700 --> 36:13.720]  And worst case scenario, I find right away people notice.
[36:14.100 --> 36:16.200]  And so the next time through, they definitely got it.
[36:16.400 --> 36:18.000]  Best case scenario, they just play it through.
[36:18.520 --> 36:23.540]  Now, if you're a professional or if you've been doing this for a while, then you've probably worked that out already.
[36:23.700 --> 36:26.120]  But it's very common when you're beginning not to think of those things.
[36:26.540 --> 36:28.940]  And I mention it because I know this.
[36:29.120 --> 36:35.760]  And when I begin other things, sometimes I catch myself making rookie mistakes because I'm doing something that's not exactly the same.
[36:36.460 --> 36:36.860]  Okay.
[36:37.720 --> 36:38.540]  How am I doing here?
[36:39.180 --> 36:39.900]  I'm still good.
[36:41.060 --> 36:44.180]  A note to preparation, and this is just a very good thing to know.
[36:45.080 --> 36:51.560]  When preparation happens, you start a note, and then you prepare for the next note.
[36:52.720 --> 36:57.100]  And then you have to refill the note you're on, and then go to the note you're going to.
[36:57.920 --> 37:11.360]  This is good to know because if you're playing a long line of notes and you're having trouble somewhere, a very common error is to be very focused on where you're going and forget to refill the note you're on before you go.
[37:11.500 --> 37:14.500]  You need to have that from to in order to go anywhere.
[37:14.680 --> 37:19.860]  So it's a good thing to know if you were looking at your playing and wondering, oh, well, this really should be working.
[37:19.860 --> 37:21.340]  I know where all these notes are.
[37:21.560 --> 37:23.480]  But that process is very, very important.
[37:24.760 --> 37:24.840]  Okay.
[37:24.980 --> 37:28.780]  And then I have this is for putting back together when you've been practicing.
[37:30.860 --> 37:31.540]  Separate notes.
[37:31.980 --> 37:32.640]  One block.
[37:43.950 --> 37:44.350]  Interesting.
[37:44.950 --> 37:47.410]  So the idea there is you did all this work.
[37:47.530 --> 37:48.390]  You learned all these notes.
[37:48.450 --> 37:50.090]  But you can't play that way.
[37:50.230 --> 37:51.410]  You have to play a larger picture.
[37:51.410 --> 37:54.290]  So you need to have a way of I played a note.
[37:54.550 --> 37:56.050]  I play a short group of notes.
[37:56.190 --> 37:57.610]  And then I group those notes into a line.
[37:58.450 --> 37:59.610]  So it's important.
[37:59.650 --> 38:03.190]  And you need to get in the habit of thinking that way when it's time to think that way.
[38:03.430 --> 38:06.150]  And that's once you have those notes kind of working for you.
[38:06.410 --> 38:12.130]  And that sort of brings me to this, which is you need to practice specifically, but play very generally.
[38:13.290 --> 38:14.450]  Usually people do the opposite.
[38:14.610 --> 38:16.430]  They go home and they play through their stuff.
[38:16.730 --> 38:19.030]  And then it's time to play, perform.
[38:19.030 --> 38:22.310]  And it's like, oh, I'd really like to express it this way.
[38:22.550 --> 38:25.590]  But I have actually not really tried to do that specifically before.
[38:25.910 --> 38:27.250]  So this is really...
[38:27.250 --> 38:27.930]  You want to...
[38:27.930 --> 38:31.790]  If you practice specifically, one, you'll be much more awake in your practice.
[38:31.810 --> 38:33.230]  And you'll enjoy it much more.
[38:33.230 --> 38:35.610]  And then when you perform, relax.
[38:35.870 --> 38:42.050]  You can play the big general ideas because, well, you've got a lot of tools to work with from all that specific practice.
[38:42.350 --> 38:51.310]  And if you're worried that, okay, I only did three notes in the ten minutes I allotted for my violin time today.
[38:51.850 --> 38:53.790]  Eh, it's not a worry at all.
[38:53.990 --> 38:59.750]  Because three notes, very beautifully practiced, you know, with really nice attention and consciousness.
[39:00.510 --> 39:02.570]  That will spread out into the rest of playing.
[39:02.710 --> 39:04.530]  Kind of like the way Dai does in water.
[39:04.690 --> 39:05.450]  Like concentration.
[39:05.970 --> 39:06.870]  It'll spread out.
[39:07.090 --> 39:10.310]  So it's actually much, much better than trying to get through things.
[39:11.030 --> 39:12.990]  And then a couple of notes on performing.
[39:14.690 --> 39:20.990]  And this one I just mentioned because you're playing what you know, so no looking back with the mind.
[39:21.150 --> 39:26.470]  And I mention it because if you practice more than you really play, then your mind's in the habit of looking back.
[39:26.630 --> 39:27.030]  Looking back.
[39:27.050 --> 39:27.750]  What can I do?
[39:27.870 --> 39:28.590]  How can I fix this?
[39:28.610 --> 39:29.390]  All this kind of thing.
[39:29.830 --> 39:32.210]  This is literally no help at all when you're playing.
[39:32.410 --> 39:33.810]  And you want to get into music.
[39:34.070 --> 39:36.570]  You might need to remind your mind to go forward.
[39:38.770 --> 39:40.510]  Obviously, it'll make your playing more enjoyable.
[39:40.510 --> 39:46.350]  You'll have more space to do this, which is get involved in the music.
[39:46.590 --> 39:46.910]  Okay.
[39:47.710 --> 39:50.450]  This is really obvious, but it's worth mentioning.
[39:50.950 --> 39:53.290]  Again, because of the technical nature of the instrument.
[39:53.790 --> 40:01.330]  But, you know, most practice is really just so your mind won't interfere with you when you're trying to do what you really want to do, which is get into the music.
[40:01.610 --> 40:06.170]  And you'll hear all the great musicians talk about getting into the zone, getting into the flow.
[40:06.350 --> 40:07.650]  And yeah, this is the really good stuff.
[40:07.650 --> 40:14.030]  So, use whatever hacks you can to get to the point where you can dive into the music.
[40:14.270 --> 40:16.590]  This is really helpful if you're playing music you love.
[40:17.050 --> 40:18.590]  So, it's easy in fact.
[40:18.850 --> 40:22.150]  So, I would try and do that too.
[40:22.610 --> 40:26.390]  So, what I've been talking about here is the road to sweet sound.
[40:27.830 --> 40:31.830]  And so, just to sort of sum it, you need a concept for whatever sound you want.
[40:32.270 --> 40:36.090]  And that can just be, I want it to sound lovely or anything you want.
[40:36.330 --> 40:37.110]  Happy, sad.
[40:38.010 --> 40:46.050]  At first, you actually won't be great necessarily at transferring those ideas, but actually having an idea will be better than not having any idea at all.
[40:46.050 --> 40:51.330]  Then you want to do that transfer via the sense of touch at the points of contact.
[40:51.550 --> 40:53.790]  So, that's your left hand, right hand, where they're touching the string.
[40:54.670 --> 40:57.830]  And the cat analogy, just to remind you, you already know how to do this.
[40:58.230 --> 41:01.890]  So, feel the quality you want, relax at the point of contact.
[41:01.890 --> 41:05.350]  And then, this is my sense word.
[41:05.490 --> 41:06.610]  Do the left hand first.
[41:07.090 --> 41:08.450]  Get it really nice.
[41:08.770 --> 41:09.910]  Get the quality in there.
[41:10.030 --> 41:11.450]  And the bow will follow suit.
[41:12.130 --> 41:15.930]  It really just does this when the left hand is doing its job.
[41:16.130 --> 41:18.410]  And to make it even easier, sing your idea.
[41:18.650 --> 41:19.450]  Get into the body.
[41:20.370 --> 41:24.090]  And you should find that doing that will make your playing feel a little easier.
[41:24.310 --> 41:26.870]  And your sound will become much sweeter.
[41:27.270 --> 41:27.510]  Okay.
[41:28.830 --> 41:29.730]  That's most of it.
[41:29.730 --> 41:31.730]  A couple of points about equipment.
[41:32.750 --> 41:34.450]  If you can get a nice violin, great.
[41:35.010 --> 41:37.910]  These days, you can get inexpensive, good violins.
[41:38.810 --> 41:42.350]  It's much easier to get than when I was young.
[41:42.590 --> 41:44.070]  Which really was a while ago now.
[41:45.350 --> 41:47.470]  But whatever you get, put good strings on.
[41:47.610 --> 41:49.210]  Spend as much as you can on strings.
[41:49.390 --> 41:50.570]  And get them put on properly.
[41:52.190 --> 41:54.530]  Because most of your sound comes from the strings.
[41:55.090 --> 41:57.910]  And high quality string is just great.
[41:57.910 --> 42:00.510]  Plus, if your strings wear out, which they do.
[42:02.210 --> 42:04.550]  Especially, you know, if you saw a lot.
[42:06.230 --> 42:07.370]  Then they ring false.
[42:08.110 --> 42:11.870]  And then it takes enormous skill to play in tune on strings that are false.
[42:13.250 --> 42:15.290]  It's really even humorous to me.
[42:15.450 --> 42:18.810]  If I've been stretching the life out of my strings, then I finally...
[42:18.810 --> 42:19.910]  I've got to change them.
[42:20.110 --> 42:20.810]  I change them.
[42:20.890 --> 42:22.210]  I put on new strings and boom.
[42:22.210 --> 42:24.250]  I'm like, why was I doing all that work before?
[42:24.750 --> 42:25.810]  So, it matters.
[42:25.970 --> 42:27.010]  Your string quality matters.
[42:27.430 --> 42:30.990]  And for the bow, I mention it because if the hair wears out.
[42:31.170 --> 42:33.530]  Or if you don't rosin the bow, then you'll start to press.
[42:33.670 --> 42:34.830]  And that'll kill your quality too.
[42:35.130 --> 42:42.930]  So, it's easy to find out information about the quality of bow and rosin and violins.
[42:43.050 --> 42:43.510]  And that kind of thing.
[42:43.670 --> 42:47.890]  The thing with strings is just, you know, make sure that you actually get decent strings.
[42:47.890 --> 42:49.310]  They're kind of the core of your sound.
[42:50.570 --> 42:51.730]  And then one last thing.
[42:52.670 --> 42:54.070]  This is because there's so...
[42:54.710 --> 42:56.210]  I mean, I touched on a lot of points.
[42:57.030 --> 42:59.390]  But everybody doesn't need to know everything.
[42:59.690 --> 43:02.230]  So, if it ain't broke, just leave it alone.
[43:02.450 --> 43:03.810]  And if you're...
[43:03.810 --> 43:05.630]  to somebody, really.
[43:06.550 --> 43:09.570]  If they don't need to think about it, I wouldn't bring it up to them.
[43:09.850 --> 43:16.010]  And the only exception to this is if you are going to do an audition or something like that.
[43:17.090 --> 43:23.270]  If you get into that type of world where you get massive scrutiny and massive pressure, yeah, then learn as much as you can.
[43:23.930 --> 43:28.630]  That way, when you're in that situation, you'll have a lot of resources to draw on.
[43:29.670 --> 43:31.370]  Anyway, so that's my talk.
[43:31.570 --> 43:40.210]  I just want to thank, well, teachers, colleagues that I've had the privilege to work with in all walks.
[43:40.210 --> 43:47.090]  I really want to thank 2600 for inviting me to do the talk one.
[43:48.330 --> 43:52.430]  Because, I mean, what a fantastic experience.
[43:53.030 --> 44:07.090]  And I want to thank all of you, because actually there's a lot of you here, for sitting through my fairly dry technical, but hopefully very helpful if you're trying this talk.
[44:07.910 --> 44:10.890]  So, if you want to ask a few questions, I am happy to take them.
[44:11.490 --> 44:12.950]  I don't think we have very much time.
[44:13.090 --> 44:14.050]  You might need to DM.
[44:14.590 --> 44:22.810]  And I just have to go on record is that because I was doing a lot of talking, and because it is in the workshop, I didn't bring a violin, because that would really take it down a different direction.
[44:23.790 --> 44:28.110]  I also wasn't sure I'd be able to exactly reproduce everything, and then run back and talk.
[44:28.410 --> 44:29.670]  They're not really the same thing.
[44:29.970 --> 44:31.190]  Anyway, that's all.
[44:31.190 --> 44:31.670]  That's all.
[44:31.910 --> 44:32.370]  Thank you.