Fingers for fiddle players and jazz violinists.

Anyone who's seen Stephane Grappelli play, either live or on a recording, will notice how incredibly relaxed and fluid his style of playing is. The flowing nature of the kind of Jazz Stephane played is kinder to the fingers than more structured and repetitive music such as is found in some Irish music or classical.

The advantage of traditional music is that players tend to find a way of holding the violin that suits them and their body. There are less rules as to how the violin is held, and many players adapt their technique to suit themselves. Any music that has a bit of a swing in it tends to flow a bit easier than a fast Irish jig for example, or a bluegrass piece that has quick bow changes, and is very rhythmic.

The bowing hand can also suffer from "stress" and refuse to cooperate after too many repetitions of difficult phrases.

I find for example that the more I play a tune such as "cotton patch rag" at full speed, sometimes the worse it gets ... UNLESS I take time between gigs to slow it RIGHT DOWN again in practice, and solidify the bowing and fingerwork in my brain, really paying attention to how I want every minute detail to be played.

Not all players will want to do scales. For any music that requires improvisation, scales and arpeggios and pattern work, help to cement all the different keys and fingering in the brain, - and for those who don't have a naturally perfect ear, help to improve the quick translation what
is being played by guitar or any accompanying instruments into phrases and licks on the violin that are in key and 'fit' the music being played.

However slow playing of complex pieces, regardless of the style of music, will help to maintain good finger condition, and longevity as a fiddle player.

The other key point, which Stephane represents brilliantly, is RELAXATION!!
Some of us are more naturally relaxed than others. Stephane Grappelli, rarely did any kind of practice once he had matured as a violinist. He preferred to play only in a live situation, with other musicians. And this never appeared to do him any harm.

I think it's important that each fiddle player finds what works for them. Yehudi and Stephane often worked together, and they couldn't be more different in style and approach. Stephane's playing was always beautiful and he has a very light touch that is easier on the body.

Being a violinist, is a bit like being an athlete, but the muscles used require fine rather than gross motor control. The movements required for higher level playing, of all styles, are often very subtle, and sometimes almost imperceptible.

Neurologists see the nerves that relay the messages from the brain to the fingers, as extensions of the brain, rather than seperate from it. This implies that you have to take care of your brain as much as your fingers to maintain a high level of playing.

Many messages are being sent down the nerve pathways at lightening speed during the playing of a complex piece of music.If there is confusion or lack of clarity in the mind of player, or tension in the body, then the transmission of these subtle impulses will become scrambled.

Just as a radio requires certain conditions for a clear signal to be received,& if these conditions aren't met then the result is static, the pathways between the brain and the fingers need to have as few obstacles in the way as possible for the result to be a beautiful clear and effective playing style.

This is why players such as Yehudi Menuhin found practices such as Yoga and meditation so helpful.

I tend my advice towards the fiddle player, because that's where my heart lies. I prefer a more individual approach to technical issue than the strict formulas of classical music. For some people, a little alchohol helps, and for some situations that's all that's require to create the kind of relaxed atmosphere that protect fingers. For me personally, my playing turns to mush with the smallest amount of alcohol so it's not the right solution for me.

(All those subtle little details I have recorded in my brain regarding a piece of music, and the high speed changes of direction of bow for jigs etc, get lost, also, I'm less inclined to care about the finer details, that to me lift a piece to a higher level,and are what I love about violin, but I know of other players who retain wonderful musicality under the influence.)

Basically, I feel that more structured music tends to requires a more structured approach to building up fingers, and to relaxation as well. More flowing music and a more flowing adaptable personality may mean that less attention needs to be paid to this area.

As a personality, I'm probably somewhere in between Yehudi and Stephane. I find a little bit of structure & a bit of go with the flow works for me. I have found though, that as my fingers have strengthened over the years, that the depth of expression I can convey has increased.

I hope that when I finally have the equipment again to record music video's and a broad band speed capable of uploading them, you will be able to see the effect of the work I'm doing now to build my fingers back up.

(when I started this blog up, I'd hardly played for about 3 years.... I'm looking forward to being able to make video's again once my fingers have really kicked back in again)