CREATIVE DIRECTIONS IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTAL PRACTICING AND TEACHING

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CREATIVE DIRECTIONS IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTAL PRACTICING AND TEACHING

Journal Title: Role of Higher Education Institutions in Society: Challenges, Tendencies and Perspectives - Year 2013, Vol 1, Issue 2

Abstract

I want to present an important imbalance in violin playing, between the existing concert repertoire and the practicing material in use at most academies and universities in Europe. Violin playing as we see it today is based on a more than thousand year’s tradition. The popularity of the violin in western music is due to the 18th century composers and the relationship between the composers and violinists in this period. In the 18th and 19th centuries, we were presented with an immense amount of collections of etudes and methods by genius composers/players like Rodolphe Kreutzer, Pierre Rode, Jakob Dont and many others. Their contributions in this field are still among the violinists standard repertoire today. In fact, we have to present an etude by Rudolf Kreutzer (1766-1831) to be accepted as a full time student at many European music academies today. We also have to play music by Bach and Mozart, but I have never listened to a contemporary piece at any entrance after 40 years as a teacher. During the evolution of violin technique in the 18th and 19th centuries, the study material and concert repertoire were in a perfect balance and tended to mirror each other. This is due to the fact that the composer and the performer in those days most often were the same person, like Antonio Vivaldi, Rodolphe Kreutzer, Pierre Rode, Jakob Dont, Henry Wieniavskij, Niccolo Paganini and many others. A problematic imbalance between the study material and the concert repertoire became apparent at the end of the 19th century. The declination of practicing methods has been dramatic. By visiting libraries in both Europe and the US, we can see the immense difference in the amount of technical material from 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The same imbalance we find in the sale lists from all the existing sheet music companies. There are some valuable, modern contributions like the Freeman etudes from John Cage, and a collection of modern etudes by Max Rostal, but few are in regular use by students in Europe. What I want to present in this article is a new approach in form of an interval supplement in balance with the contemporary repertoire. The aim of the TMH method is to provide a modern updated supplement, which also reflects the recent development in our contemporary repertoire. I also want to introduce new creative practicing exercises based on a holistic mental view on the map on the fingerboard. The new approach is based on geometric models, which in the process of playing by ear can be varied, developed on, and adjusted to suit individual needs. For the first time in the history of violin playing, we are presented with a method where all intervals and shifts are fully explored and systematically trained. The goal of this method is to prepare the modern violinist for performance of the entire repertoire and to give an ultimate command of- and accuracy on the fingerboard. The article is based on empiric research, and the sources includes my own experience as a violin teacher, analyses of violin method books through the history, and my own experimental research on violin technique.

Authors and Affiliations

Terje Hansen

Keywords

violin technique innovative method new directions learning process interval supplement Holistic view

EP ID EP146711
DOI -
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