JAVS Fall 1990

19

instrument properly and firmly (shoulders back, feet flat and apart in line with the shoulders, instrument resting on the collarbone, parallel to the floor), always ensure that each of your movements is as precise and economical as possible. This requires mental anticipation. Every repetition of a passage should aim to make some improvement. Repetition is not only a matter of fulfilling a blind mechanical function, but of acquiring in-depth mastery of one of the innumerable technical difficulties of our instrument. The Time Required If it is to bear fruit, practice must be quiet and reflective. Don't be impatient, don't insist on pressing on regardless; you can never make up for lost time. Such fastidiousness will quickly bring its own reward: a joyous emotional state that will transform and transfigure your playing. T,vo Joys There is the joy which comes from outside, And the joy which comes from inside. I wish both to be yours. But if only one joy can belong to you, If I could choose for you, I would choose the joy Which comes from inside. The refinement of your ear is an ongoing process of stringent testing. When you are tuning, take care to sustain tone-quality while playing piano, gently, and with great care. This indispensible formality, all too often treated in a slap-dash way, is in itself an exercise in the mastery of the bow. Pay attention to the position of the bow, parallel to the bridge, hair quite flat except at the heel, where the frog should be slightly inclined to the right. The tone should be clear and pure. Play the open strings together as long as is necessary for you to hear properly whether or not they are in tune. While practicing, don't be afraid to check the tuning of each of your strings in relation to the others while practicing. (Le Livre de Lezard ) Training (or retraining) the Ear "Knowing how to tune"

VIOLA TECHNIQUE

by Marie- Therese Chailley

This article is taken from the first of two volumes of Technique de L'alto, Les exercices au service de l'expression musicale. by the author, and reproduced by permission of Alphonse Leduc & Cie, owners and publishers for all counties, Paris, France. The Value of Excercises Listening to quite advanced students practice their instrument, I'm often struck by how little taste they show in their approach to playing different sorts of exercises. Surely music itself should be present, even in the couse of their execution. One should not only be able to dash off any study by Sevcik or Schradieck with great flamboyance, but should pay proper attention to the phrasing and melodic contours. Phrasing is the essence of music. Getting Into Shape Since exercises are music, leading to greater music, they should provide much pleasure in themselves. Didn't the great Pablo Casals speak of the joy of playing exercises? To fully experience this joy, it is necessary to pay the most meticulous attention to the quality of those precious moments which such study occupies. Exercises can come to form part of your morning routine, like a barometer of your inner disposition. I confess that for me this is the best time of the day. But before tuning your instrument, you must already be in tune with yourself. Take control, establish an inner calm, and be ready to listen to yourself in a most conscious and I careful way. Daily instrumental study demands concentration and constructive self-criticism, which of course implies preparing oneself psychologically first. Exercises, like the study of a piece, should allow the player to draw on all the mental and physical resources which lie within his or her being. STUDY is a JOY, It is also a DUTY.

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While playing these exercises, after making sure that you are holding the