You see, many teachers, who more likely than not possess a rather limited teaching vocabulary, resort to such statements when they run out of things to say.  In such cases a better alternative would be the more honest statement, ‘I don’t know what to tell you.’

It’s much different to feel music as a listener, which is a emotional response, than it is to EXPRESS music as a player.  A player must have tools with which to translate the emotions he or she might feel as a listener into physical sensations and actions taken on the violin.

In fact it is just this complex dance that makes playing   the violin one of the most challenging things to do; one of the most engrossing things to do; and ultimately one of the most satisfying things to do.

So you’ve got to have technique.

So how  do you get technique.  Well, you get technique by feeling,  actually.

‘Now, wait just a doggone moment,’ you say.  ’You just said before that being told to ‘feel the music’ made you confused.  Now you’re as bad as the teachers you just talked about.’

Hang on, hang on, I’m talking about feeling in a very different way.  I’m talking about taking the time to FEEL THE PROCESS of playing the music, not the feelings that arise out of the music BEING PLAYED.

You see, the feelings that arise from the music are based on past events.  The feelings of process HAPPEN IN THE MOMENT.

This is why many violinists get stuck in their playing. Either out of lack of patience, lack of focus, or lack of knowledge, they try to jump into the future – the LA-LA land of emotional feeling.

It’ll never work.

And similarly, when someone says, ‘you’re thinking too much.’  It can only mean ‘you’re thinking wishfully,’ which is not really thinking at all.

It’s daydreaming.

Nobody’s playing EVER suffered from an over abundance of ‘process thinking.’  Process thinking is about visualization and intention.  It’s about discipline and self-direction.

If you’re still with me, let me say one more thing about all this.  Most of us do need direction.  We need help figuring out What to Feel and What to Think to play effectively.

Musicianship may be taught, but it’s most effective when it is a natural God-given talent;that comes from within. “Remember,only you can prevent out-of-tune notes.!!!”

-Dr. Certain

No, we’re talking about such exceptionally rich and complex skills as playing the violin, performing brain surgery, and, say composing symphonies.

So let’s see now. If you practiced 5 hours a day, six days a week, 50 weeks a year, then we’re talking somewhere in the neighborhood of seven years to become Maxim Vengerov.

Sounds like a bargain to me.

What about you, is the violin worth that to you?

Even if it is, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to ‘take it on.’ After all, life is full of choices, and we may have several passions we want to indulge at one time. This is, after all, where art meets amateurism. And I mean amateurism in the best sense of the word.

One does not have to be Maxim Vengerov to derive great joy and pleasure from the instrument. But let’s take a look at what kind of time investment is typically required to reach some recognized levels of achievement.

In as little as an hour a day you can, in 3 years, equip yourself to the point of playing in community orchestras and enjoying a diversity of chamber music with like minded friends.

Push that up to 2 hours a day for 4 years and you’ll be qualified to teach beginning students, do paying ‘gigs’ and land a chair up in the front of the 1st violin section of your community orchestra. You’ll be playing early Beethoven string quartets quite credibly, I might add.

Let’s talk about becoming a professional.

Just add an hour a day to make it three. Do that for 5 years and you should be well qualified for any regional symphony orchestra. You will have the pick of the best paying gigs in your smaller city. You’ll even have the tools to develop one heck of a teaching studio.

But what about a major symphony orchestra, you ask.

Now we’re talking serious commitment. But add another hour and a couple of more years and you’ll have it. Yes, at 8,000 hours you’re there, would be the conventional wisdom.

By the way, competition for positions today is fierce. You really must be very close to the concert-artist level to win a major audition.

Now, would you be shocked if I told you 30%-40% could be cut from the figures I gave you by adopting a certain mindset and specialized practice tools?

Milstein told me that at the time he studied with Leopold Auer he only practiced 1 1/2 hours a day. He even brought this fact up with Auer, asking if he really should be practicing more.

Auer said to him, ‘Practice with your fingers and you need all day. Practice with your mind and you will do as much in 1 1/2 hours.’

OK, I think Milstein was exaggerating a tad about the 1 1/2 hours. Maybe his watch ran a little slow.

But in any case, I agree with the premise wholeheartedly, which is why I maintain a violinist with a fully conscious mind can do so much more in a given amount of time than the average Joe.

But you must not take anything you do for granted. You must be ALIVE and fully AWAKE when you practice. And you must take good advice seriously.

If you have one of my courses or have been to one of my masterclass/seminars you’ve benefited from some quality advice. After all, much of it comes from Milstein himself.

All you must provide is your full attention to the process. And there is nothing more nourishing and rewarding than doing that.

All my best & remember- “Keep Fiddlin’ around safely!!”

“Practice,practice,practice!!!”

Dr. Certain