034: The spirit is willing, but the Flesch is weak

This week, we're talking scales and etudes. Are they the foundational blocks on which your entire technique is built? Or more like raw vegetables that you have to choke down if you want to stay healthy?

Akiko actually had a scale class as a kid, while I got a crash course in scales from my Curtis teacher Felix Galimir (who had studied with Carl Flesch himself).

Etudes were a different story. Both of us went through a progression of Sevcik, Schradieck, Kretuzer, Dont, and all the rest. But back then, we just played without knowing why. These days, we like to know the point of an etude before we dive in: the key that unlocks each etude's benefit.

Developing my Virtuoso Master Course has given me a chance to reevaluate my relationship with the classics, but I wanted Akiko's take on the topic as well. Enjoy a roll in the hay of fundamental violin techniques!

Key points

Akiko recounts her distaste for practicing scales at JuilliardScales: more like meditation or workout?Akiko's time at Juilliard pre-college with Ševčík, Schradieck, Kreutzer, Paganini and YostWhy Akiko stopped practicing scales after a Paganini concerto got her downScales and etudes as prep for challenging piecesNathan's first scale, at the end of Suzuki studiesHow Ivan Galamian adjusted a three-octave scale to give it 24 notesAkiko's scale classNathan and Akiko's take on Simon Fischer’s Warming UpThe times in life to discover etudes (i.e. bachelor freedom)Thirds for 20 minutes a day, thanks to Ruggiero RicciNathan's first lesson with Felix Galimir, and the four-hour-a-day scale workoutEvery etude has a key to unlock its benefitHow to practice scales so they lead to confident performanceAkiko’s feeling of impending violinistic disaster, as inThe Godfather.

Quotes

“I feel like the goal for the Delay students was to get to Paganini ASAP.” — @Akiko Tarumoto  [0:10:31]

“I think that’s the real argument for learning skills in scales and etudes, so that when you get to them in in the repertoire, you feel like you can say, ‘I’ve got this.’” — @natesviolin  [0:14:43]

“Opening up an etude book, trying to play one and just – whether your reaction is just stopping and closing it or breaking down crying, it is actually a pretty common thing.” — @natesviolin  [0:26:56]

“Great strides are made when there is not a lot else going on.” — @Akiko Tarumoto  [0:29:17]

 “it wasn’t like I was sitting here watching TV and you came up to me and you said, ‘You need to work on your arpeggios.’” — @Akiko Tarumoto  [0:47:04]

Links from the episode

Juilliard Pre-CollegeAspen FestivalThe Virtuoso Master CourseKreutzer SonataHenry SchradieckOtakar ŠevčíkNicolò PaganiniFranz WohlfahrtJacques Féréol MazasGaylord YostCurtis Institute of MusicSuzuki Violin BooksMozart Fifth Concerto in A MajorMozart’s Fourth Concerto in D majorJohannes BrahmsJoachim CadenzaDan MasonVienna Philharmonic OrchestraCarl FleschIvan GalamianPierre Gaviniès Simon FischerMoritz MoszkowskiSaint Paul Chamber OrchestraAnimal FarmRuggiero RicciSergei ProkofievJack Benny William PreucilThe Godfather

Transcript

[0:00:00.7] NC: Hello and welcome back to Stand Partners for Life. I am Nathan Cole.

[0:00:04.7] AT: I am Akiko Tarumoto.

[0:00:18.7] NC: That’s it, it’s just the two of us this time. We’ve had a couple of episodes lately with some very special guests, especially cellists.

[0:00:26.6] AT: Yeah, I guess it goes along with my theory that violinists aren’t really friends with other violinists.

[0:00:32.9] NC: Well, we’re married to other violinists but just not friends.

[0:00:36.3] AT: I said friends.

[0:00:37.8] NC: That’s true, it took us a while to become friends.

[0:00:39.8] AT: Yeah, right?

[0:00:41.7] NC: Because of that, I thought that maybe this episode could be a little bit more violin centric, you know, we talk a lot about the orchestra life, playing in orchestra, obviously Stand Partners refers to the orchestra life but sometime we can nerd out a ...