Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-06-16 15:02
Dutchy -
If you're a member of the IDRS (and if not, you should join immediately), read Allan Vogel's wonderful description of his studies with Fernand Gillet (principal in Boston), Lothar Koch (Principal in Berlin) and Robert Bloom (principal in the NBC Symphony and the Columbia Symphony) http://idrs.colorado.edu/Publications/Journal/JNL6/vogel.html. Vogel describes Gillet's method of working out difficult passages:
Finger the first note (here, the Db) without playing. Make an intense mental image of how it looks and feels to switch to the next note (Eb). Then, make the switch crisply and perfectly. Never make a movement until you've thought about it and pictured it. Then stop, wait and finger the Eb. Picture the change to Db, and make that switch. Do this over and over (at least 10 times), never speeding up, giving yourself the experience of perfection.
When you feel confident, do the same thing while playing.
Never let yourself make even the slightest bobble. If you do bobble, take even more time to visualize the movements.
Then, put the practice "cell" aside and let it "cook" for three days, so that the perfect change becomes automatic, and part of your muscle memory. If you were to play the change fast, and should there be some imperfection, this would be tantamount to throwing something rotten into the pot just before allowing it to simmer for a few days. Gillet said, "You can destroy in thirty seconds what you have done in thirty minutes."
Going slowly engraves the change into your muscle memory just as effectively as going fast.
This advice is pure gold, from one of the greatest players and teachers in history.
It's really, REALLY difficult to discipline yourself to "never practice faster than perfect," but it's the best and maybe the only way to perfect your technique.
It's hard work. Therefore, give it your best time -- the first 5-10 minutes of every practice session. The moment you can't give it total concentration, it's time to move on.
Keep us posted on your progress.
Ken Shaw
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