09/01/2023
Did you ever have trouble making fast notes clean and sparkly?
I did and this is what I learned from the world renowned violinist, Vadim Gluzman.
When I was in school for Violin Performance, I had a privilege of playing for the famous violinist, Vadim Gluzman.
I played Zigeunerweisen by Sarasate and to my embarrassment, my fast notes were not good. They were fast but they didn't have that crystal clarity that I so wanted to get.
After I played, Mr. Gluzman looked at me and said "you know what's really going to help you with those fast notes?"
I said yes and he said, "coordination."
See, I thought in order to play fast, I needed to have fast fingers and bow and I tried everything - rhythm practice, metronome practice, slow practice...
What I didn't know was it's not just speed of the fingers or the bow that makes the fast notes work. It's the coordination.
But here's the secret.
Coordination doesn't mean your left hand and right hand play at the same time. Your fingers have to be FASTER than your bow.
If your fingers move before the bow, your notes will be cleaner, sparklier, and will actually sound faster than they actually are.
This is what you need to be working on when you are practicing slowly. Put your finger down before you play the bow.
This was the one of the most important lessons I've ever learned about violin playing and it came from none other than one of the top world-class violinists.
After this day, my fast notes never sounded the same.
Do you struggle with fast notes? Do you work on your coordination? Let me know in the comments!
