How to Practice Violin Better [Brahms Violin Sonata No.3] - PART II
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- Опубликовано: 8 июл 2024
- Want learn how to take apart a difficult passage? Or how to find different kinds of sound colors, how to improve articulation, or expand our expressive possibilities in the practice room?
Welcome to Part 2 of my masterclass on "How I Practice". We're going to cover Johannes Brahms Violin Sonata in d minor, op.108: movements 2 and 4.
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• How to Practice Violin...
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===TIMESTAMPS===
00:00 Welcome!
01:16 Announcing my second Q & A
01:58 Excerpt 1 (Movement 4)
06:51 Excerpt 2 (Movement 4)
09:18 Excerpt 3 (Movement 4)
12:45 Excerpt 4 (Movement 4)
17:48 Excerpt 5 (Movement 2)
23:16 Excerpt 6 (Movement 2)
My 2nd Q&A is happening soon! Submit questions in the comments section.
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The sound of the violin is divine even when randomly practicing.
How much more in the hands of this master when playing the sonata.
I’ve been looking forward to part 2 since part 1 came out. I’ve watched it multiple times and it’s so incredibly helpful and inspiring for how I should change my practice.
I feel like watching these videos should be a mandatory class in conservatory.
I wouldn’t have minded discovering some of these things sooner :)
Can’t believe that you started playing the violin as a adult. Unbelievable! 👌👌
Feels like a lifetime ago... :)
I must have missed it...at what age did you start?
16.5
Ha! I never believed that nonsense about not achieving greatness unless you start by age two!
I started at 18, now I'm 20, hoping to make a progress as Daniel 😊
The beauty of your intimate sharing takes me back to my early childhood, watching my dad practicing. Diligent and purposeful while always musical. The one thing he always reminded me was to pay attention to breathing while playing phrases. Almost as if playing a wind instrument.
Thanks so much!
As a beginner, this is absolutely invaluable!! Thankyou.
This is a very good video to give insight on how practice should be like, there's been countless times where I've seen teenage musicians just "practice" by playing their piece over and over again. So, I find this to be a very useful and helpful video. Thank you very much for the hardwork and effort you put into your videos.
Hey, I used to be one of those!
How gifted you are , how practical and exact explanation of every step and thought to bring the best out of it!
I love to watch your videos, because you are aware of the fact , that your ability of playing this beautiful instrument and coordination etc. is a present of God ! Wish you lot of success!
My own violin is a model of Paganini’s Il Canon. Made by Enrico Atzeni, 2002.
They absolutely pierce the sound space. While dwarfed by Stradivarius in his own day, his work thrives today!
How delighting to hear this gorgeous instrument accompanied by a glorious Chickering piano.
Your videos are so exceptional and inspiring to me! I really love this video and part 1. To see really good practice and the thoughts behind the repetitions and exercises is priceless! Thank you SOOOO much for all of the time and energy you put into these videos! You are doing the whole violin community a huge service by sharing your gift of insight and analysis!
For the next Q&A I would love to see your hand position and approach for practicing the highest portion of 4 octave scales and 2 octave one-string scales. Especially thumb placement and squeezing the fingers so close together.
Thank you for your inspiration!
Absolutely fantastic! Outstanding Daniel👏👏👏👏
This is super valuable - so much effective practice packed into one video! Thank you for making this for your comminity, Daniel! Bravo!!!
Thanks Inna!
I really love how you play your instrument (Violin). You are such a talented person.
finally I know how to practice on my 1 million dollar Guaneri violin. thanks you so much. I was struggeling so hard to get a consistent tone on my Guaneri
well, now you’ll have to teach me, because I don’t have one anymore :)
I absolutely concur with your friend. Your book is very good too, helped with my practice sessions. I’d dare to say your channel is the best that happened throughout this awful past year. Thank you, thank you!
You are very kind! I am glad you liked the Practice Hacks. My goal with these videos is to eventually represent and expand on all of those methods.
Million Dollar practice advice, minus the Million Dollar Guarneri...!!!🙂
4:30 Loved your idea of "making a scale exercise" out of the shift to make it a smooth transition!
6:35 "Invent little dexterity exercises" to solidify the intonation. Great advice!
11:06 Light, but clear, sounding bow with "forte" (firmness) in left hand. Wonderful interpretation!
Absolutely amazing video. Reassuring to know my practice technique is already very similar to getting maximum progress from minimum time. Intelligent practice. If you’ve covered all eventualities in your practice sessions there’s nothing to be nervous about when you perform, even if something unexpected happens, you have several backup plans to go to. I will forward this to some of my better pupils as they always seem more willing to believe what they see on video than what their teacher tells them!
Glad it was helpful!
I’m so glad this is free! Godspeed
What a precious video! Thank you for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you! It’s beautiful ☺️
I am going to play this amazing sonata for my final recital this year and I felt like you just gave me a lesson on how can I practice with those difficult passages and make it comfortable ! Thank you so much!
Wonderful!
Bravo, Bravo.
Interesantísimo. Graciasss
Did you learn any new practice methods? What are different ways you like to practice? Don’t forget to ask your questions for my second Q&A! Also,apologies for several typos in the video. It took way too long to create, and didn't have it in me to do 1 more pass :)
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Welcome!
01:16 Announcing my second Q & A
01:58 Excerpt 1 (Movement 4)
06:51 Excerpt 2 (Movement 4)
09:18 Excerpt 3 (Movement 4)
12:45 Excerpt 4 (Movement 4)
17:48 Excerpt 5 (Movement 2)
23:16 Excerpt 6 (Movement 2)
Thanks for putting so much time on sharing your knowledge. I would be interrested to know how much time you spend on each section, or typ of practicing. So if you could add next to a comment line (when possible) the minutes you spend would be awsome!
Could you please make a video about all " unwanted little noises" . In my practice i've made a pause ( i'm 51 now). I'm more " aware" when i play than before and i now hear a lot of small imperfections. Too much pressure in the left pinky ? Bad strings crossings ? Too old strings ? Coordination between left and right hand ? Too much open strings ? Too much or not enough rosin ? Too much pressure, incorrect speed... i'm a bit lost, because i' dont know how to practice these difficulties.
Thanks a lot for all your videos, especially because i've found a lot of details and techniques that i've never found elsewhere.
I bought your book! thank you really so much its great and very helpful.
I always loved the Guarnery's . That one looks like it's still alive!😄
I really loved your video! Especially when ur mind zoomed out and tried the beginning of the Paganini 18, lol. I am very happy to see these type of moments because sometimes I would jump to another piece that is not in my current repertoire too. And thank you again for your effort on the video!
I do that all the time, far more than this video shows, haha :) I just like to play all the time...anything
23:40 sneaked in a Paganini excerpt i see! Haha. Thank you very much for the video sir, you have immensely improved my playing and helped me catch up to many of my peers who started learning this beautiful instrument much earlier than me.
So glad you are improving!!
Thank you for sharing!🌻
You’re very welcome, Diana!
This is incredible, again. You have out-done yourself. I love the setting and the tone of your introduction, beautiful and genuinely engaging. I am glad that you are not burning the candle at both ends - and a bit mystified why you want it there at all.
I will digest the complete video in small doses. For now, I find the first section inspiring for my practicing the double-stops section in Kreisler Praeludium & Allegro.
I do have a question for your Q&A: How do you organize practicing a piece over time, over a number of sessions? In particular, how do you handle it when what you did in a previous session did not stick (if that ever happens to you?)
Thank you Anne! Great question. The answer is only playing what’s easy (haha). Maybe I can first answer it properly for myself and then share what I come up with! I admittedly have a somewhat intuitive and maybe chaotic approach to such things.
Thanks. Great as always. Am trying to learn to improvise trying out bits of ideas really helps and improves 'pitch tone rhythm and ease.' Not my words. Will give the Brahms a listen 😁
So glad it’s helpful! I love improv and genre hopping!
I had a cheap bow with normal horsehair. One day I examined every hair to remove the bumpy hairs and the ones with raspy sharp spikes .Easy to find them with a magnifier . Then the sound was creamy smooth just like this Guarneri violin sounds . Worth a try on a cheap bow .
Very 19th-century-feeling outfit for the recording session :D That violin sounds wonderful with you even in practice!!
I wanted a puffier pirate shirt but couldn’t find it!
@@DanielKurganov Please wear it when you find one XD
genial! muchas gracias por los subtítulos en español!
I love your style and your violin, is so pretty
That really is one great-sounding violin. I do love a Guarneri. Your playing just seems to get better with it or is it a trick of my ears? Great stuff, Daniel.
It certainly inspired me to practice more ;) Thanks!
can you make a video about the best way to start learning a piece and your process of learning a piece from start to finish? I feel like it would be very interesting and help a lot of people
great topic! I will make a video like that soon.
Fantastic as always! I'm curious: how do you know when you need a bow upgrade? I've been playing on a "student bow" for many years, and I feel like it's probably holding me back... What do you look for in a good "all-rounder" bow?
I would go to a violin maker und try different (prized) bows and see if the playing becomes easier with them. Play pieces with different bow techniques, legato, staccato, spiccato etc.,slow, fast, pianissimo to fortissimo and then compare to the bow you own.
Hello Daniel,
I want to know your insights on getting mentally focused/prepared for a practice session. I struggle with keeping my practice pure and effective throughout my session. Thanks!
Great topic! Will definitely consider it for the Q&A.
Awesome video! I really enjoyed hearing your practice ideas and reading your commentary. I have one question-when you place your left hand fingers firmly on the fingerboard (hammer the fingers on the string) do you immediately release the weight of the finger? I'm trying to understand how you prevent left hand tension while still playing with firm left hand fingers. Thanks so much!!
Yes exactly! So think of the fingers as hammers of a piano. No matter how hard to smack a piano key, and no matter how hard the hammer hits the string, it will immediately release. Likewise, the hammer is a certain length -- any shorter and it wouldn't be able to produce the velocity needed for a wide dynamic range. Our fingers should be like that in both senses. The base of the finger is like the base of the hammer. That's where we move from, and we use the muscles in the hand and forearm to actually throw the finger and lift it with energy. Imagine there is a maximum amount of sustained finger pressure beyond which you will not go. Now try to play Schradieck (or anything else like that) with as much electric (think on-off and nothing in between) motion in the finger, yet never going beyond that level of pressure. That's the ideal. It goes together with the idea of practicing with very fast finger motions yet at a slower tempo. If you really want to go all the way with that exercise, you can set your maximum sustained pressure to something like harmonic level pressure, where the string doesn't touch the fingerboard. Usually this lightness has a sort of debilitating effect on the fingers. The fingers will become kind of slow or sluggish. This is the wiring we are trying to re-wire, and once you can articulate with great energy while not crossing the max pressure line, you've got it. Hope that helps! It's hard to explain, and I think I'll talk more about it in future videos! Thank you for the question and your support of the channel!
@@DanielKurganov Thank you so much for the reply. I have been working on the Simon Fischer Warming Up book and there are exercises that deal with varying finger weights (5 being harmonic level and 1 being down to the fingerboard). His suggestion is that most playing can be done at a level 4. I think one exception might be pizz. I like the image of the piano hammer with the immediate release of weight. I will try incorporating this in the Dounis op. 23 exercises that you posted a bit ago. Thanks again, Daniel!!
Love your videos, very high quality and educational. Also like your tone, so solid and deep. Out of curiosity, I saw you with a few different bows in a few videos, what difference do you make out of them? Also, what is your recoding gig look like?
Keep up with the good work!
I have a Baroque bow, my main bow (which is relatively new) and my old bow which I've always used for the last 10 years (which I am currently selling). Were there others :) ?
I use a sounddevices mixpre10ii, a pair of ribbon microphones, a condenser or lav for speech, sony a7c cameras, godox vl150 lighting
@@DanielKurganov Thanks for the reply. I never saw you with the baroque bow, bows have always been fascinating to me, I find one's choice of bow can tell a lot about the player, sometimes even more so than the violin. It would be awesome to have an episode on bows like the one you did with Andrew on violins. Thanks for the high quality content, I always enjoy your videos.
@@Chenyu_Huang thanks! One of my very recent videos playing an excerpt of Bach’s Chaconne is with my Baroque bow. I’m not a Baroque performance expert, but I try to practice and understand those sonic values and infuse that into my own playing. Thanks for the idea, I might just do that! It’s very difficult to get across the subtle differences between Bose through video, but certainly there’s a lot of good information violinists should know about that we can explore.
@@DanielKurganov I've gotta to rewatch it, I didn't notice it among fish animations and the overall black and white background. 😅
Very useful video. Thanks! But I just think about some people who gather tips like this for their practice and just do them automatically because somebody told them it's useful. What I mean is that the musician who uses this kinds of tips from somebody for their practice, they are not always aware why certain way of practicing is necessary. The practice is useful when you FEEL the NEED for certain kind of practice and you know why you practice the way you do. Ideally every musician should have their own-developed practice methods, knowing their own weaknesses and how they feel on stage. Especially important is from the first day of practicing a new piece to think how it would feel to play this in front of audience and playing it the way you want to play it. For most of violinists it always means a very detailed work. Something like shown in this video :). I personally started to know much more clearly how to practice only in my last year of Master's Degree. So I find it incredibly important to have a teacher who teaches how to practice already at a young age when you are already good enough to play your own concerts. This is the most important that a teacher can teach you. Another thing: you won't be able to learn how to practice when you don't perform because you won't know what kind of practice works for you if you can't test it in a performance situation (meaning: having one chance to play your piece through with the highest quality you can, capturing the essence of the piece). For me recording my practice is very useful. Are you a teacher Daniel Kurganov? :-)
Another thing is the instrument. I am sad that my violin teacher didn't tell me earlier that it was not possible to go further and sound professional, playing pieces like Prokofiev Violin Concerto when your violin really doesn't sound good enough for more difficult repertoire. On a bad violin Bach doesn't sound OK actually and even if you go crazy working on it. I had a student violin until the end of my Master's Degree :-(. I couldn't afford a better one and the school gave the couple of instruments only to the best players. And I was playing already quite difficult repertoire like the same Brahms Sonata here and even the Brahms Concerto and Bartok Concerto No. 1 not to mention more difficult Bach...
We certainly learn many important things on stage, I agree, and a private teacher is crucial for 99% of people. So, it’s not advisable to only watch RUclips videos instead :)
But you know, people have different ways of learning, and of course people watching this are at different stages. For example, I wish someone showed me these things when I was in school (even having famous teachers). I guess that’s one type of video I make.
Since I started the violin very late, it wasn’t performing or a teacher setting me up from a young age that originally fueled my intuition, but rather listening to my heroes, developing intense enthusiasm and love (and opinions), and analyzing the way they played. This was my most useful teacher, and I mostly just figured things out on my own. The things I remember from my teachers are little useful tips that come back every year or two, like “oh yah, now I see why that’s useful”.
In my videos and for my private students I try to explain things in a way that allows people to make discoveries and develop intuition for themselves. I think people of all levels have the ability to “try something” and it sort of creates a spark that changes the course of their playing/thinking. It happened to me so many times. Anyway...it’s all a journey! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and I hope you’re doing well!
@@elisabeth717 I used to think a good violin allowed me to do things, but then I go back to a lesser instrument and I can still do them. There are a lot of illusions here. It’s basically all technique. A fine instrument can give a boost of volume/clarity and some other benefits only for high level players. I mean that last 1% of nuance, which no one hears in the middle or back of a hall anyway. Maybe only the player hears/feels it. Those tests have been done pretty convincingly.
Good playing still sounds good on a cheap violin, 100%. Anything over $5000 can serve as a professional healthy instrument if you can really shop patiently (maybe less if you’re lucky). A guy I know won the Concertgebouw concertmaster position on a $5000 instrument. And soviet kids were playing competitions with success on really poor instruments back in the day.
I do think that simply the act of changing instruments can be a good learning tool for students, since instruments can be very different in how they want to be handled. And of course having a chance to playing on a very fine violins can be inspiring.
@@DanielKurganov Thank you for your reply! Your channel in general is great by the way. I subscribed ;)! Maybe I didn't express myself so well. Your videos are definitely great help for many! When I was younger and did some kind of practice that someone suggested for me, I was confused why it didn't work. Now, much later I see why some good method of practice didn't give me results or didn't give the effect faster. It was because I didn't REALLY understand why I need certain way of practice or I didn't know how to use it for my brain (in violin playing brain needs to know everything clearly and all these difficult movements in playing need perfect timing). And THEN I started to develop my own practice method that works best for my weaknesses and problems. For sure there are still very many methods to develop or to discover .... :)
And about violins. For me the difference was very big after finally changing my violin to a kind of professional violin. It was so much easier (even physically much less effort) for me to play on a better instrument. With a bad one I even couldn't tune the chords at the end of Prokofiev 2nd Violin Concerto first movement or chords in Bach. For me this volume and clarity was really missing for being able to play in a bigger hall and having professional sound... When I recorded myself on a bad and on a good violin next to each other I could hear very big difference...
I'm telling all my students to watch this - invaluable - thank you! May I ask who is the bow maker??
Thanks! My bow is made by David Hawthorn.
What is the best way to practice when a new technique is so challenging that it always sounds bad? Your practice always sounds perfect, but what about when you need to force yourself through the ugly struggles of violin?
( also, have you played my first violin concerto? How epic is the Cadenza? )
Very good point! Several things about this. I think one can find oneself in one of two camps.
1. Everything you play/learn is either “easy” or impossible. Easy, not as in everything just working right away necessarily, but that you feel that you know exactly what it takes only time stands between you and success. That’s entry-level mastery, I would say. High level mastery is when the amount of time it takes from zero to perfect is minimal.
2. Where it’s neither easy nor impossible, and you are struggling through it and it sort of works. You clearly feel there is a problem that is too complicated to solve at that moment. I try to live in No.1, but often find myself in this No.2 stage. What it means, in my view, is that you need more work on basics. Almost everything can be prepared in fundamental study of how you produce sound, whether all the basic strokes are really working, and whether the left hand is light, quick, and accurate. This is not even about what you’re playing. It could be scales and etudes, or it could be a piece of music. “Basics” are a more fundamental concept. The inner-most layer.
Now, to your point, I already learned Brahms 3, and it’s in the “easy or impossible” camp for me. I want to make some videos in the future learning a complex piece from scratch. There are some well known major concertos that I haven’t actually played, so it might be that. I think it might provide some insights (for me especially) into the process of discovering ones limits and suffering through something a bit more than I was suffering in the Brahms.
Thank you for your comment, and btw I love your 10th symphony.
@@DanielKurganov thank you for the response! Camp no. 2 is very relatable for me, as I have been making huge jumps in repertoire in the past year ( Suzuki book 3 to Bruch Concerto) that are always on the brink of what I can do, but in the end I can sort of play the piece well. I probably am missing out on some basic things that are causing me troubles, so I’ll be looking more deeply into that.
How and when does the overarching (or smaller level) interpretation of the piece play into practicing small segments? How much does the discoveries from practicing small segments influence the overall idea you have of a piece and it's performance? As more of a fan of music than a performer I'm really fascinated by the idea of "interpretation."
Great questions. I think of practicing music as a way to increase the resolution of an image as we zoom in. The pixels tell a story which could be obscured by lack of information. Upon 'enhancing' the image, we zoom back out, and though the effect isn't as extreme as when we zoomed in, you can see the imagine is superior. It's all about integration. Once physical aspects are taken care of, are you connecting every moment of music to the next moment? How small is a discernible moment of musical inflection? Well, play slow enough and listen closely enough and you'll find it.
😊
Do you think it’s too advanced for beginners ? I feel most of concepts/ideas are for experienced violinist
Certainly Brahms is not typically music for beginners, but I think as you work through the fundamentals of violin playing, instilling certain habits and ways of hearing the quality of sound and intonation early on is very valuable, even if you’re not sure how to implement it yet.
This is the conclusion I came too. By rewatching your videos, re-reading your 64 hacks book. Over time, I’ll eventually grasp and implement some concepts into my playing and practice session. Thank you 🙏🏾
What's the "expensive new rosin"? I laughed XD
I dare not mention snake oil products in fear that it might generate more sales for them :)
What was the piece played in the beginning of the video? Brahms?
Yes, the development section of his Violin Sonata No.3, movement 4!
Great LG Stefan Sack professioneller Violin Viola player Technik Ivan Galamian ergänzt durch James Ehnes Kannada
Are you sure that the violin is only worth one million$ ? I thought they were more beyond 2 million upwards.
All I know is that I can't afford it ;)