This reminds me of an old but well known story or anecdote. Yet it doesn't just apply to music, it also applies to anything we want to do. The more we stretch, the better we will become, even if we do not think so at the moment, not even if we become very frustrated in the process. A music student once had a teacher who was known for pushing his students hard. One day, the teacher gave the student a particularly challenging piece to practice and sent them home with the instruction to work on it for a week. The student struggled with it but practiced diligently. When the student returned the following week, they could play the piece, albeit with difficulty. Expecting guidance on how to improve, the student was surprised when the teacher handed them an even more difficult piece. This cycle repeated week after week, with each new piece being more challenging than the last. Frustrated, the student eventually complained, "How do you expect me to play these pieces when I can't even play the previous ones correctly?" The teacher responded by handing the student the first piece they had been given. To the student’s amazement, they played it beautifully and flawlessly. The teacher then gave the student the next few pieces in succession, and the student played each one perfectly. The teacher smiled and said, "If I had left it up to you, you would still be on the first piece, struggling to play it correctly. Sometimes, to truly learn and grow, you need to be pushed beyond what you think you can handle."
perfect practice makes perfect... but it can also lead to stagnation i've found myself in exactly this same spot, i've spent a year working on Suzuki Book 1 and I was getting so frustrated not being able to play everything quite "right". But when I started trying to learn some other songs outside of the book, like "Love Like You" from Steven Universe that's in Eb and has some trickier finger moves, I noticed when I came back to Suzuki I was able to play some of the later songs a bit better.
I've learned a lot of thing in my life and I've found that you practice the hard parts that require all of your attention when you are fresh and enthusiastic and leave rote learning, the repetitive component, for when you are tired. When you are tired you seek the least amount of energy to expel, so your actions become efficient. This is a key component in traditional trade training.
This was the way my teachers in music schools told me to do, it's logical because it gives you a feeling of "oh I can do that" every day, and after a few years with very little music because of work, I went back to my violin and piano and kept this schedule, and now I am at better level even if I play alone since I left school. Maybe this is the french school music? I haven't heard anything else here in France, this schedule works great! Greetings!
I will dedicate myself to this and let you know how it goes. I do this to some degree now. After warmup I'll go to a concerto or new, challenging orchestra piece for some time. Then finish up with about 10 minutes of very familiar pieces as if to remind myself "oh yeah, I CAN play well!"
This is very interesting and the timing couldn't be better. I have started practicing again after years without doing so. To give you a frame of reference, I was concertmaster of my high school orchestra for several years, but now, more than just a few decades later, only get the violin out to play simple tunes, Christmas carols and the like. I am also interested in learning to play keyboard instruments, so practicing two instruments at one time is something I both planned to attempt and dreaded approaching. This will be alternating; one day on and one day off per instrument, similar to weightlifting, so my energy doesn't drop between instruments. I can't promise video recordings, though I will attempt that - audio I can handle. I will try this adjusted method for a month starting today (9 days after your post) and send you before and after results. Thank you for the suggestion!
Thank you for sharing this!!! I think that this will be a good change to make in my practice. It makes sense to me to “push yourself while you’re fresh”. I can see how that would keep you highly motivated to learn too
This is kind of funny to me, i thought everyone did the hard stuff first! It was intuitive to me that i would use my best energy and motivation to tackle the hard stuff, and then when i was exhausted i would flip to the stuff that was fun or easy because the novelty of easy or fun is a nice boost to motivation, and doesnt require big focus levels to be able to do... Plus the hard stuff is out of the way, so less stress in the background. I have always gotten comments on my ability to learn new things, maybe this is part of the equation :) I fully endorse this method! Works for me, and when i do it in the reverse with the difficult stuff last, i notice that i dont progress as im used to... Thats why i stick to it this way most days heh
I believe this technique would work for any Musical Instrument.... Before I put my Sax & Clarinet down (when I was a Music Major in College) I would do something similar and it helped me improve even more.... I still play my Sax & Clarinet but not with the intensity I once had. .
I have not heard of the guy but that is the technique I used to keep getting better in piano. What is difficult is relative, a Chopin Waltzes or Mazurka was difficult year 5 of getting better, now 10 years in its Etudes, Brandenberg, Nutcracker, Beethoven Sonata. I took lessons, hit a wall, 20 years with less than 5 or 10 hours a year playing, then from other things like reading regularly I realized daily practice will eventually work and starting early is BS. I started going through books, a page a day, one hand at a time. After several years it got up to around an hour a day and eventually leaned challenge is the quickest way to progress. I was downloading stuff from IMSLP and eventually for a cheap fire tablet and loaded it up with over 200 pieces, with probably several thousand pages of music and haven't even gone much beyond the popular from the biggest names in classical music, it will take a year or probably more if I tried to play every page, I make few mistake now my reading is good but I do not care if I am deadly slow, you play enough at your hard level you will speed up. The pieced start with the composer's name, I sort by name, and try to remember where I left off, I know the hard pieces and will do a few pages most days. I wouldn't consider Bach hard, but I said to myself after the popular Suits, Well Tempered, Goldberg that even now every time I go through Bach, I feel I am better reading, reacting, playing without stops sight reading. And as that becomes easier things that used to be beyond my reach can be used as my next set of challenges. As far as physical warmup and playing an hour a day, which goes fast now that I am good and enjoy listening to myself, a massage gun is essential. I massage because one of an hour a day exercise and my joints need it to do the next day. For piano I do both arms, neck, shoulder blades, up one side down the other ovals on upper, then lower arm, then finally the hands, give the joint connecting the finger and finger joint some vibration and relaxation, elbows above the keyboard while playing.
After the warm-up phase, I have been practicing the prelude of the 6th suite on a 5-string cello for some time, which is actually far too heavy for me. Up to approx. bar 30 it‘s already quite ok, but I am already exercising it up to bar 82 (my pitiful neighbors), so I combine what I have already learned (more or less) better with the still real challenges…
Hi Olaf! I want to testify that the Piere Lomont Master violin is a truly great instrument (well, mine is anyway, and I bet that Olaf ensures consistency), and WELL WORTH the money! Coincidentally, my Father threw my Brother off the boat (in about 70 ft of water) and told him to swim. I was already in the water and swimming. My Brother (in his late 60's), still doesn't like going in the water. Interesting practice ideas. I think I have been doing a bit of that myself already as it turns out (because I didn't know any better). I am learning Violin, and Viola, and Cello. Adding on to Mandolin, which helps me with violin because it has frets. I am trying double stops (3rds, 6ths, 4ths) and octaves, and also chords (all 4 strings, like on Mandolin). ...and getting better with them all. I am still playing in mostly the 1st position, but I do go up the neck and then try to play the proper scale notes (of whatever key I'm ij) while I'm there. Coming from decades of guitar, my left hand isn't too bad, and I can already visualize the patterns of the scales (from years on guitar), but my right hand needs a lot of work. My violin bow grip is improving, my cello bow grip is in its infancy and rather dodgy. The Cello bow grip is different from the violin/viola bow grip (as I have learned). I have also found that using Ray Chen's Tonic App motivates me to practice everyday and for longer than I had been per session. It works for me, and maybe will for others. Any way, if that juggler guy is right about his bold practiing efforts, then perhaps I got lucky going off and trying all this stuff all at the same time. I can confirm that what you learn on one instrument sheds light on aspects of other instruments. I also firmly believe (as I think you do as well) that an in depth understanding of how an instrument works and how it is made really helps you to really cooperate with the instrument to yield the best performance from it.
It's probably related to the work memory that is fresh and well rested. You use it at its peak, and when you are tired or feel an overload, you go to familiar things. Familiar things feel like less work and your work memory feels more at home. But learning and practicing is more complicated than that. This concept is interesting but I feel, it's a bit oversimplified. You need specific goals, random practicing, spaced repetition...
I tried that. It makes my practice time not more than 35 minutes because of intense training at start but things that I already know definitely become more beautiful but I don't feel anything while playing repertoire because of tiredness :c and yeah, my posture is very bad :D like a seahorse
Dear Olaf, I am writing to propose some improvements that could significantly enhance the playability and ergonomics of the violin. As you know, the violin lacks frets, which makes staying in tune a constant challenge. This forces violinists to rely heavily on their ear and muscle memory, leading to a steep learning curve and frequent adjustments during performance. As one renowned violinist put it, "playing the violin is an art of convincing the listener that you're in tune." It's time to consider whether the violin needs to be this difficult to master. Take Roman Kim, for example. Despite being an exceptionally skilled violinist, he opted to add a sticker with frets to his instrument. This small modification could make a world of difference for many players. Historically, violins did have frets, but they were abandoned due to the lack of precision and standardized tuning systems at the time. With today's advanced materials and equipment, reintroducing frets should not be an issue. This could make the instrument more accessible to learners and reduce the margin for error in intonation. Moreover, the ergonomics of the violin need attention. The necessity for slow warm-ups to find a comfortable and productive posture underscores significant ergonomic shortcomings. The reach for high notes, for instance, is not as convenient as it is on modern guitars, which have evolved to address such issues. Additionally, many electric guitars feature back and side beveling to ease contact with the body, preventing the discomfort caused by 90-degree edges. We shouldn't have to torture our necks and collarbones with such sharp edges on the violin. While customized violins are available, they are often overlooked by players. What we need are bold innovations and endorsements from trusted experts like yourself. Your influence and expertise could lead to meaningful changes that would benefit violinists of all levels. Please consider these suggestions and the positive impact they could have on the future of violin playing. Sincerely, A violin player who juggles them with ease but cannot play because of how imperfect the design is.
i have been trying this technique for decades. It makes no sense at all to me to tackle the hard things only when you are tired. Why would anyone do that?
one error of concept here is that if you really had a perfect posture, most things would come easy. So, if you are not lingling level already fix your posture m8
This reminds me of an old but well known story or anecdote. Yet it doesn't just apply to music, it also applies to anything we want to do. The more we stretch, the better we will become, even if we do not think so at the moment, not even if we become very frustrated in the process.
A music student once had a teacher who was known for pushing his students hard. One day, the teacher gave the student a particularly challenging piece to practice and sent them home with the instruction to work on it for a week. The student struggled with it but practiced diligently.
When the student returned the following week, they could play the piece, albeit with difficulty. Expecting guidance on how to improve, the student was surprised when the teacher handed them an even more difficult piece. This cycle repeated week after week, with each new piece being more challenging than the last.
Frustrated, the student eventually complained, "How do you expect me to play these pieces when I can't even play the previous ones correctly?"
The teacher responded by handing the student the first piece they had been given. To the student’s amazement, they played it beautifully and flawlessly. The teacher then gave the student the next few pieces in succession, and the student played each one perfectly.
The teacher smiled and said, "If I had left it up to you, you would still be on the first piece, struggling to play it correctly. Sometimes, to truly learn and grow, you need to be pushed beyond what you think you can handle."
perfect practice makes perfect... but it can also lead to stagnation
i've found myself in exactly this same spot, i've spent a year working on Suzuki Book 1 and I was getting so frustrated not being able to play everything quite "right". But when I started trying to learn some other songs outside of the book, like "Love Like You" from Steven Universe that's in Eb and has some trickier finger moves, I noticed when I came back to Suzuki I was able to play some of the later songs a bit better.
I've learned a lot of thing in my life and I've found that you practice the hard parts that require all of your attention when you are fresh and enthusiastic and leave rote learning, the repetitive component, for when you are tired. When you are tired you seek the least amount of energy to expel, so your actions become efficient. This is a key component in traditional trade training.
This was the way my teachers in music schools told me to do, it's logical because it gives you a feeling of "oh I can do that" every day, and after a few years with very little music because of work, I went back to my violin and piano and kept this schedule, and now I am at better level even if I play alone since I left school. Maybe this is the french school music? I haven't heard anything else here in France, this schedule works great! Greetings!
I will dedicate myself to this and let you know how it goes. I do this to some degree now. After warmup I'll go to a concerto or new, challenging orchestra piece for some time. Then finish up with about 10 minutes of very familiar pieces as if to remind myself "oh yeah, I CAN play well!"
This is very interesting and the timing couldn't be better. I have started practicing again after years without doing so. To give you a frame of reference, I was concertmaster of my high school orchestra for several years, but now, more than just a few decades later, only get the violin out to play simple tunes, Christmas carols and the like. I am also interested in learning to play keyboard instruments, so practicing two instruments at one time is something I both planned to attempt and dreaded approaching. This will be alternating; one day on and one day off per instrument, similar to weightlifting, so my energy doesn't drop between instruments. I can't promise video recordings, though I will attempt that - audio I can handle. I will try this adjusted method for a month starting today (9 days after your post) and send you before and after results. Thank you for the suggestion!
I have been trying this somewhat seriously for a little time and I totally agree.
🎉 Thank you Olaf, for this new information & excitement. 💙
A great little « pearl » of a video, thank you for the motivation and energy.
Thank you for sharing this!!! I think that this will be a good change to make in my practice. It makes sense to me to “push yourself while you’re fresh”. I can see how that would keep you highly motivated to learn too
This is kind of funny to me, i thought everyone did the hard stuff first! It was intuitive to me that i would use my best energy and motivation to tackle the hard stuff, and then when i was exhausted i would flip to the stuff that was fun or easy because the novelty of easy or fun is a nice boost to motivation, and doesnt require big focus levels to be able to do... Plus the hard stuff is out of the way, so less stress in the background.
I have always gotten comments on my ability to learn new things, maybe this is part of the equation :)
I fully endorse this method! Works for me, and when i do it in the reverse with the difficult stuff last, i notice that i dont progress as im used to... Thats why i stick to it this way most days heh
That's so interesting Olaf, will definitely try it and I'll let you know
The thing with violin, it's a lot like math in that you need a good base to build on to do more difficult stuff.
Thank you for all your hard work to teach us more about the violin world Terry Farrell Ferrell violin
I believe this technique would work for any Musical Instrument.... Before I put my Sax & Clarinet down (when I was a Music Major in College) I would do something similar and it helped me improve even more.... I still play my Sax & Clarinet but not with the intensity I once had.
.
I have not heard of the guy but that is the technique I used to keep getting better in piano. What is difficult is relative, a Chopin Waltzes or Mazurka was difficult year 5 of getting better, now 10 years in its Etudes, Brandenberg, Nutcracker, Beethoven Sonata. I took lessons, hit a wall, 20 years with less than 5 or 10 hours a year playing, then from other things like reading regularly I realized daily practice will eventually work and starting early is BS. I started going through books, a page a day, one hand at a time. After several years it got up to around an hour a day and eventually leaned challenge is the quickest way to progress. I was downloading stuff from IMSLP and eventually for a cheap fire tablet and loaded it up with over 200 pieces, with probably several thousand pages of music and haven't even gone much beyond the popular from the biggest names in classical music, it will take a year or probably more if I tried to play every page, I make few mistake now my reading is good but I do not care if I am deadly slow, you play enough at your hard level you will speed up. The pieced start with the composer's name, I sort by name, and try to remember where I left off, I know the hard pieces and will do a few pages most days. I wouldn't consider Bach hard, but I said to myself after the popular Suits, Well Tempered, Goldberg that even now every time I go through Bach, I feel I am better reading, reacting, playing without stops sight reading. And as that becomes easier things that used to be beyond my reach can be used as my next set of challenges. As far as physical warmup and playing an hour a day, which goes fast now that I am good and enjoy listening to myself, a massage gun is essential. I massage because one of an hour a day exercise and my joints need it to do the next day. For piano I do both arms, neck, shoulder blades, up one side down the other ovals on upper, then lower arm, then finally the hands, give the joint connecting the finger and finger joint some vibration and relaxation, elbows above the keyboard while playing.
After the warm-up phase, I have been practicing the prelude of the 6th suite on a 5-string cello for some time, which is actually far too heavy for me. Up to approx. bar 30 it‘s already quite ok, but I am already exercising it up to bar 82 (my pitiful neighbors), so I combine what I have already learned (more or less) better with the still real challenges…
Hi Olaf!
I want to testify that the Piere Lomont Master violin is a truly great instrument (well, mine is anyway, and I bet that Olaf ensures consistency), and WELL WORTH the money!
Coincidentally, my Father threw my Brother off the boat (in about 70 ft of water) and told him to swim. I was already in the water and swimming.
My Brother (in his late 60's), still doesn't like going in the water.
Interesting practice ideas.
I think I have been doing a bit of that myself already as it turns out (because I didn't know any better).
I am learning Violin, and Viola, and Cello. Adding on to Mandolin, which helps me with violin because it has frets.
I am trying double stops (3rds, 6ths, 4ths) and octaves, and also chords (all 4 strings, like on Mandolin). ...and getting better with them all.
I am still playing in mostly the 1st position, but I do go up the neck and then try to play the proper scale notes (of whatever key I'm ij) while I'm there.
Coming from decades of guitar, my left hand isn't too bad, and I can already visualize the patterns of the scales (from years on guitar), but my right hand needs a lot of work.
My violin bow grip is improving, my cello bow grip is in its infancy and rather dodgy.
The Cello bow grip is different from the violin/viola bow grip (as I have learned).
I have also found that using Ray Chen's Tonic App motivates me to practice everyday and for longer than I had been per session.
It works for me, and maybe will for others.
Any way, if that juggler guy is right about his bold practiing efforts, then perhaps I got lucky going off and trying all this stuff all at the same time.
I can confirm that what you learn on one instrument sheds light on aspects of other instruments.
I also firmly believe (as I think you do as well) that an in depth understanding of how an instrument works and how it is made really helps you to really cooperate with the instrument to yield the best performance from it.
It's probably related to the work memory that is fresh and well rested. You use it at its peak, and when you are tired or feel an overload, you go to familiar things. Familiar things feel like less work and your work memory feels more at home. But learning and practicing is more complicated than that. This concept is interesting but I feel, it's a bit oversimplified. You need specific goals, random practicing, spaced repetition...
I have found that practicing drills, like scales, before practicing pieces would find the pieces better, especially with runs and such. 😁
I tried that. It makes my practice time not more than 35 minutes because of intense training at start but things that I already know definitely become more beautiful but I don't feel anything while playing repertoire because of tiredness :c and yeah, my posture is very bad :D like a seahorse
matur suksma
🙏
I shall send you a vid once I master juggling my two set violins quickly…🤟😁💪 ling ling
Aim for 4 VSO's haha
The thing is, if I play what I want first I’ll never play the stuff I need to get done😂 but that’s me personally.
I was thinking the exact same thing
hi yall
Dear Olaf,
I am writing to propose some improvements that could significantly enhance the playability and ergonomics of the violin. As you know, the violin lacks frets, which makes staying in tune a constant challenge. This forces violinists to rely heavily on their ear and muscle memory, leading to a steep learning curve and frequent adjustments during performance. As one renowned violinist put it, "playing the violin is an art of convincing the listener that you're in tune."
It's time to consider whether the violin needs to be this difficult to master. Take Roman Kim, for example. Despite being an exceptionally skilled violinist, he opted to add a sticker with frets to his instrument. This small modification could make a world of difference for many players.
Historically, violins did have frets, but they were abandoned due to the lack of precision and standardized tuning systems at the time. With today's advanced materials and equipment, reintroducing frets should not be an issue. This could make the instrument more accessible to learners and reduce the margin for error in intonation.
Moreover, the ergonomics of the violin need attention. The necessity for slow warm-ups to find a comfortable and productive posture underscores significant ergonomic shortcomings. The reach for high notes, for instance, is not as convenient as it is on modern guitars, which have evolved to address such issues. Additionally, many electric guitars feature back and side beveling to ease contact with the body, preventing the discomfort caused by 90-degree edges. We shouldn't have to torture our necks and collarbones with such sharp edges on the violin.
While customized violins are available, they are often overlooked by players. What we need are bold innovations and endorsements from trusted experts like yourself. Your influence and expertise could lead to meaningful changes that would benefit violinists of all levels.
Please consider these suggestions and the positive impact they could have on the future of violin playing.
Sincerely,
A violin player who juggles them with ease but cannot play because of how imperfect the design is.
💙
i have been trying this technique for decades. It makes no sense at all to me to tackle the hard things only when you are tired. Why would anyone do that?
one error of concept here is that if you really had a perfect posture, most things would come easy. So, if you are not lingling level already fix your posture m8