Itzhak Perlman: Teaches Violin

ITZHAK PERLMAN
Teaches Violin
MASTERCL ASS
A NOTE FROM MR. PERLMAN
Consider this workbook like an encyclopedia of instrumental

information, meant to be used as a reference. One cannot learn
how to play the violin from a book. You need a teacher who can
show you one-on-one how the left and right hands work. Describing
and trying to solve problems involving playing the instrument also
requires a teacher. I hope this book will provide you with information,
demonstrating my ideas about the various aspects of violin playing,
technical as well as musical. If anything is unclear, discuss it with
your teacher. Good luck, and happy “slow” practicing.
MASTERCLASS
—ITZHAK PERLMAN 2
INTRODUCTION
BIOGRAPHY
A violinist of the highest caliber. A devoted teacher. A humanitarian. Itzhak

Perlman has graced the world with his astonishing abilities, breathtaking
musicality, steadfast devotion to the art, and signature wit since the 1960s.
After more than a half-century of performing as a superstar violin soloist with
nearly every top orchestra, every top conductor, and in every top concert hall
in the world, Mr. Perlman continues to expand his horizons, conducting major
orchestras and teaching at the Juilliard School in New York.
MASTERCLASS
3
Born in 1945 in Tel Aviv to Polish immigrants, Mr. Galamian and Dorothy Delay, two of the greatest
Perlman became intensely interested in the violin violin pedagogues of the 20th century.
from the age of three. He first started his studies
at age five at the Shulamit Conservatory and the A rapid ascent followed. In 1963, Mr. Perlman
Academy of Music in Tel Aviv, where he worked made his Carnegie Hall debut with the National
with the Russian teacher Rivka Goldgart. When he Orchestra Association. Mr. Perlman’s career was
was ten, he gave his first recital in Tel Aviv. launched in 1964, when he won first prize in the
Leventritt Competition. This gave him the opportu-
Mr. Perlman’s first big break came at the age of nity to solo with five leading American orchestras,
13, when he was invited to New York to play on including the New York Philharmonic, and led to
CBS’s The Ed Sullivan Show. Following his television professional management and a major recording
appearance, he then stayed in New York and contract.
entered the Juilliard School to study with Ivan
ITZHAK PERLMAN INTRODUCTION
Mr. Perlman’s catalog of recordings have also Mr. Perlman has played for world leaders across
shaped the landscape of classical music; to date the political spectrum, and he performed for the
he’s won 16 Grammy awards as well as the orga- 2009 Inauguration of President Barack Obama.
nization’s 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award for He received a Medal of Liberty from President
excellence in the recording arts. Mr. Perlman has Reagan, a National Medal of Arts from President
been the subject of numerous documentaries and Clinton, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom from
television specials, including In the Fiddler’s House, President Obama.
Perlman in Shanghai, Itzhak Perlman Live in Russia,
and, most recently, the Grammy-nominated In 2003, the John F. Kennedy Center for the
documentary Itzhak. Performing Arts granted Mr. Perlman a Kennedy
Center Honor, celebrating his distinguished
When it comes to conducting, Mr. Perlman has led achievements and contributions to the cultural
orchestras across the world, conducting the New and educational life of the United States. He has
York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago received honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale,
Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Brandeis, Roosevelt, Yeshiva and Hebrew univer-
Angeles Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, sities, and in 2005, he was awarded an honorary
Berlin Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic. doctorate and a centennial medal at Juilliard’s
100th commencement ceremony.
Through music, Mr. Perlman has helped shape
MASTERCLASS
4
our cultural landscape in myriad ways for more Working from the same studio where his own
than half a century. Not only has he collaborated teacher Dorothy DeLay once taught, Mr. Perlman
with fellow musical celebrities like composer has been teaching at the Juilliard School since
John Williams (the pair crafted the haunting score 2003. His students have gone on to secure pres-
in Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award-winning tigious grants and win competitions and awards.
1993 film, Schindler’s List), but his appearances on During the summer, young musicians also flock
Sesame Street have been cited by many of today’s to the Perlman Music Program (PMP) on Shelter
young violinists as their earliest exposure to Island in New York. For Mr. Perlman, teaching is
the instrument. a crucial part of his artistic life. “When you teach
others,” he says, “you teach yourself.”
Welcome to Itzhak Perlman’s MasterClass.

THE ESSENTIAL ITZHAK LISTENING GUIDE
THE PERLMAN SOUND MOZART (2003) Here’s an MARITA AND HER IN THE FIDDLER’S HOUSE
(2015) This set of three album that showcases Mr. HEART’S DESIRE: (1995) Mr. Perlman says
CDs was released for Mr. Perlman’s talents as both A MUSICAL FAIRY TALE klezmer music always
Perlman’s 70th birthday. soloist and conductor: he (1998) Mr. Perlman served came naturally to him. This
One disc is dedicated performs Mozart’s Violin as the violin soloist in this album is a celebration of
to highlights from Concerto No. 3, and he con- project, composed and con- classic klezmer and was the
major violin concertos ducts Mozart’s Symphony ducted by Bruce Adolphe, basis for a PBS special by
(Mendelssohn, Brahms, No. 41, Jupiter, with the meant to introduce the same name.
Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Berlin Philharmonic. children to the orchestra.
Korngold, Sibelius, He performs with the PERLMAN
Vivaldi); another includes ARGERICH AND Chamber Music Society of REDISCOVERED (1965,
virtuoso solo and chamber PERLMAN (1999) Mr. Lincoln Center. published 2004) This
repertoire (Paganini’s Perlman partners with full-length LP, a recital
Caprice No. 24, Bach’s piano virtuoso Martha CINEMA SERENADE recorded in 1965 with
Partita No. 3, Massenet’s Argerich in a live per- (1997) This collection pianist David Garvey,
Méditation from the opera formance of two beloved of themes from iconic was meant to be one of
MASTERCLASS
Thaïs, Rimsky-Korsakov’s violin sonatas: Beethoven’s films was made with John Perlman’s first recordings.
5
Flight of the Bumblebee, Kreutzer Sonata (No. 9, Op. Williams, who conducts It includes several Paganini
Sarasate’s Zapateado), and 47), and the Sonata in A the Pittsburgh Symphony Caprices (1, 16 and 24);
another includes klezmer major for Violin and Piano Orchestra. It includes Handel: Sonata in E-Major,
and jazz selections. Mr. by César Franck. Williams’ own score from Op. 1 No. 15; Hindemith:
Perlman plays with some Schindler’s List as well as Sonata for Violin & Piano
of the biggest classical stars CONCERTOS FROM MY Quincy Jones’s theme from in E-flat major, Op. 11 No. 1;
of the 20th century, from CHILDHOOD (1999) Mr. The Color Purple, Ennio Leclair: Sonata, Op. 9 No. 3
Placido Domingo to David Perlman’s recording of Morricone’s theme from in D; and more.
Barenboim. some of the most popular Cinema Paradiso, and more.
works in the violin student
THE PERLMAN EDITION repertoire is invaluable for A L A CARTE (1995) A
(2004) This enormous students and teachers. It compilation of shorter
collection (originally a 15 includes Rieding’s Violin pieces with orchestra, this
CD box set) features major Concerto in B-minor, Op. album includes classics
violin concertos by Ludwig 35; Seitz’s Student Concerto like Méditation from the
van Beethoven, Max Bruch, No. 3, Op. 13; Accolay’s opera Thaïs by Massenet,
Jean Sibelius, Christian Violin Concerto No. 1 in Vocalise by Rachmaninoff,
Sinding, Erich Wolfgang A-minor; de Bériot’s Scène Zigeunerweisen by Sarasate,
Korngold, Pyotr Ilyich de Ballet, Op. 100; and and Schön Rosmarin by
Tchaikovsky, and more. Viotti’s Violin Concerto No. Kreisler.
22 in A-minor.
I T Z H A K P E R L M A N | C H A P T E R 01
THE VIOLIN
The violin is both an object of great beauty and symmetry as well as an

ingenious work of mechanical design. Familiarize yourself with the parts
of the violin and bow and get a better understanding of how each works:
THE BASICS
SCROLL TIP
PEGS PEG
BOX
HAIR
NUT
NECK
MASTERCLASS
STICK
FINGER
BOARD 6
STRINGS
RIBS
TOP
PURFLING
BLOCK
(inside
each of the
corners)
F HOLES BRIDGE
SOUNDPOST
BOW GRIP
(inside violin—
FINE located under
TUNER the E string
just behind the
TAILPIECE bridge)
EYELET
FROG
CHIN REST
END SCREW
SADDLE TAILPIECE GUT

Parts of the violin: STRINGS: A violin has four strings tuned in inter-
SCROLL: The decorative top of the violin. It’s vals of fifths. From lowest to highest (left to right)
most often carved in the shape of a scroll but is they are G, D, A, and E. The strings are made from
sometimes carved in another shape, such as a a variety of materials, including steel, synthetic
person’s head. materials and/or animal gut. They are strung over
the fingerboard, from the pegs to the tailpiece.
PEGS: Four wooden pegs around which the
strings are wound. They are used to tune the PURFLING: A thin strip of three ply wood inlaid
instrument’s strings. Tightening a string raises its in a channel around the edge of the violin to
pitch; loosening a string lowers its pitch. protect the instrument from damage. It may look
like an outline drawn around the edge of the violin,
PEG BOX: The enclosure in which the strings are but its purpose is actually more protective than
wound onto the pegs. decorative.
NUT: A small piece of wood between the pegbox CORNER BLOCKS: Wooden blocks inside
and fingerboard. It has four notches, one for each the violin that stabilize the construction of the
string to emerge over the fingerboard. instrument.
NECK: The part of the violin between the body of F HOLES: The two holes from which sound
MASTERCLASS
7
the violin and the pegbox and scroll. emerges from the violin. They are shaped like
cursive fs.
FINGERBOARD: The surface where the fingers
press down on the strings. It’s generally made of BRIDGE: A decorative but functional piece
ebony. of maple wood that balances underneath the
strings and transmits vibrations from the strings
TOP: The front of the violin. In most violins, the into the body of the instrument to create sound.
top is made from spruce wood and the back is The bridge is not glued on, it is held in place by
made from maple wood. tension. The force that the strings exert on the
bridge is equal to about 90 pounds.
RIBS: The thin strips of wood that wind around
the sides of the violin, connecting the top and the SOUNDPOST: A wooden post located inside
back to form the soundbox of the violin. the violin, under the right side of the bridge. It is
crucial for transmitting vibrations of the strings
into the body of the violin to create sound, and its Parts of the bow:
placement can change the quality of that sound, in TIP: The pointed end of the bow (sometimes
terms of volume and/or tone quality. referred to as the point) where the hair connects
to the bow.
FINE TUNER(S): Small tuners located on the
tailpiece. They tune the violin but in smaller incre- HAIR: The strands of horse hair that are strung
ments than the pegs do. Smaller violins often have across the bow and which rub the violin strings to
fine tuners for all strings, but full-size violins tend create sound.
to have them only for the E string.
STICK: The main structure of the bow, most
TAILPIECE: The somewhat triangular piece of often made of pernambuco wood. The stick can
wood where the strings are attached on the lower also be made from brazilwood or synthetic materi-
end of the violin. als such as carbon fiber.
TAILPIECE GUT: The cord that attaches the BOW GRIP: The leather pad and metal winding
tailpiece to the violin. where the hand grips the bow.
CHIN REST: A shaped piece of wood or plastic FROG: A carved piece of wood, usually ebony,
on which you rest your chin and jawbone. It’s where the hair connects at the base of the bow.
MASTERCLASS
8
attached near the tailpiece. It also houses the mechanism for tightening and
loosening the bow.
SADDLE: A block on the inside of the violin that
helps support the tailgut and the tension of the EYELET: A small brass piece inside the frog that
strings. allows the bow to be tightened and loosened with
a turn of the screw.
END SCREW: A screw used to tighten or loosen

the hair of the bow.
THE BOW
HOLDING THE BOW
THE BASICS
As a child, Mr. Perlman was taught two ways to

hold the bow. His instructor in Israel taught him
the Russian bow grip, in which the hand is ex-
tremely pronated, with the fingers close together
and the wrist up. This grip was used by famous
violinists such as Jascha Heifetz, Mischa Elman,
and Nathan Milstein. The Russian bow grip allows
for a lot of bow speed.
MASTERCLASS
Russian bow grip
When he moved to the United States, Mr. Perlman’s

teachers Ivan Galamian and Dorothy DeLay taught
him the Franco-Belgian bow grip, and this is the bow
grip he now recommends. In the Franco-Belgian
bow grip, the middle finger is opposite the thumb.
The thumb should be slightly rounded/curved. It’s
important not to lock the thumb. The index and ring
fingers are resting on the bow with even spaces
between them, and the pinky rests on top, slightly
curved. This bow grip gives you more control and
Franco-Belgian bow grip allows you to use more bow pressure from the
natural weight of the arm.
ITZHAK PERLMAN THE BOW
ELEMENTS OF PRODUCING A GOOD SOUND
Terms:
POINT OF CONTACT: Where the bow is is like that “nice trampoline,” where there is just
placed between the fingerboard and the bridge. It enough tension and just enough give. When you
is best to place the bow somewhere in the middle bow in that area, the string can easily vibrate in
of these two places. If it is too close to the bridge just the right way to create a good sound.
the sound will be scratchy, if it is too close to the
fingerboard the sound won’t have focus. BOW SPEED AND PRESSURE: Speed is how
fast you move the bow, and pressure is how much
Mr. Perlman compares this to jumping on a you press the bow to the string. Bow pressure
mattress: If the mattress is too hard, it’s difficult doesn’t mean tensing up the muscles in the bow
to get any height because the mattress isn’t arm, but by relaxing the natural weight of the arm
springy enough. The “hard mattress” is that area into the string. The more pressure you use, the
right next to the bridge, where the string has the faster you must move your bow to avoid scratch-
most tension. If you take your finger and push on ing. The less pressure you use, the slower you can
the string right next to the bridge it won’t move move your bow and still make a good sound.
much. Likewise, the bow will really have to work to
MASTERCLASS
10
get the string vibrating that close to the bridge. A SOUND WITH “CORE”: What does it mean
Then there’s the soft mattress—you won’t get a to have a core to your sound? It means the violin
lot of bounce on one of those, either, because produces a pure, focused and resonant tone
there’s too much give. The “soft mattress” is what without any extraneous noises such as squeaks,
the string is like over the fingerboard. Press there scratches, or what Mr. Perlman calls “sand.” To
with your finger and you’ll see that the string gives produce a good core, you’ll need to experiment
easily under the pressure. With the string so loose, with your point of contact, speed of the bow, and
the bow can easily distort the vibrations unless it is pressure in order to discern the ideal combination
applied very softly. The ideal place, in the middle, for loud notes (forte) and soft notes (piano).
ITZHAK PERLMAN THE BOW
BOW DIRECTION
THE BASICS
When moving the bow from the frog to the tip

(down-bow) and from tip to frog (up- bow), it
is important that the bow remains relatively
parallel to the bridge. Mr. Perlman suggests as
you play a down-bow, move the hand slightly
out. As you reach the tip, bring the hand
slightly in as you transition to the up-bow.
Then, as you reach the frog, pivot the hand
slightly forward again for the down-bow. Think
of it as a very, very narrow figure 8.
MASTERCLASS
Changing Bow Direction

11
pronation supination
To make your changes in bow direction more PRONATION is when your fingers are
smooth, Mr. Perlman recommends cushioning leaning sideways on the stick and your wrist
the bow change with your fingers. This requires is up.
your fingers and hand to feel loose and flexible
when holding the bow. At the frog, slightly SUPINATION is when your fingers rotate
“pronate” your fingers before you switch from up as your wrist goes down.
up-bow to down-bow, then as you begin the
down-bow, you “supinate” the fingers.
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
To work on finger flexibility in your right hand, “teeter-tottering” the pencil over your thumb,
hold a pencil like you would hold your bow (make keeping the thumb somewhat bent as the index
sure your fingers match the finger position on finger pushes the pencil down to the left, then the
your bow). The pencil can be either straight up pinkie pushes it down to the right. The benefit of
and down, or at a slight tilt. Flex your fingers, this exercise is that you can do it anywhere—when
including the thumb. Then relax the fingers, you’re bored in a class, say, or watching TV. Once
allowing the hand to drop from the wrist. The goal you get good at this, try the same exercises with
is not to drop the pencil. You can also practice the bow.
MASTERCLASS
12
A D VA N C E D B O W I N G A N D L E F T- H A N D
TECHNIQUE
When you speak, vowels and consonants help you pronounce words. When you
play the violin, your bow helps you articulate music. Bow strokes can be long, short,
connected, separated, short, smooth, accented, or even bouncy. Here are some of the
standard bow strokes that Mr. Perlman uses:
LEGATO: Smooth, connected bow strokes. SPICCATO: Detached notes played with
Legato notes are often slurred; that is, a a bouncing bow (the bow comes off the
group of notes is played together in one string). Generally, spiccato is used in faster
down-bow or up-bow. In the music, a slur passages than staccato—but not always.
looks like a curved line over the notes that To execute this stroke you need to have
are all in one bow. a relaxed shoulder, flexible wrist, bow at
MASTERCLASS
the bounce point, and contact point near

13
DÉTACHÉ: Broad but separate bow the middle of the bow. “Flying spiccato” is
strokes. In music, the notes simply are not when a number of short notes are played
slurred. all in one bow, and the bow bounces for
each note. This is indicated in the music in
MARTELÉ: Detached, strongly accented the same way as flying staccato (dots over
notes. Often you’ll use large and very rapid the notes as well as a slur over the group of
bow strokes for martelé. These are some- notes), but you can tell them from staccato
times marked in music with a line or an notes by context.
accent over the note, but they not always.
You choose this stroke from the context of SAUTILLÉ: Detached, very rapid bounced
the music. strokes played in the middle of the bow.
This is marked in the same manner as
STACCATO: Detached, short notes with spiccato and chosen in the context of the
accents. Staccato is indicated in the music music.
with dots over the notes. “Flying staccato,”
also known as “up-bow staccato,” is when RICOCHET: Bouncing several notes in a
short notes are played all in the same bow row with one bow stroke. Most often you
stroke, stopping the bow for each note (the let the bow drop, and then keep bouncing,
bow stays on the string). This is indicated moving it in a down-bow or up-bow di-
in the music with dots over the notes as rection. You can learn to control the speed
well as a slur over the group of notes that at which the bow bounces and number of
will be in one bow. times it bounces by gauging the height from
which you drop it and controlling when
you stop the bounce.
ITZHAK PERLMAN A D VA N C E D B O W I N G A N D T E C H N I Q U E
TREMOLO: Usually played at the tip of the NATURAL HARMONICS: This is a

bow, this is an effect produced by moving matter of physics. If you mathematically
the bow very quickly in small strokes from divide a string in half and place your finger,
the wrist. It’s so fast that the notes aren’t light as a feather, at that exact middle
measured, and it’s shown in the music as a point while bowing on that string, you
note that has three slashes through its stem will produce a ghostly overtone that is an
(or over the note if it’s a whole note). Keep octave higher than the given string. Divide
the tremolo going for the length of a note’s both halves of that string in half again, and
value: A whole note would get four beats of at both of those points (which we can call
tremolo. quarter points), you get another harmonic,
an octave higher than the first harmonic. At
PIZZICATO: Plucking the string, most other intervals along the string (dividing it
commonly with the right hand. Usually the in thirds, for example) are other harmonics
music says “pizz” to indicate pizzicato, then that create other notes.
arco when it’s time to use the bow again.
For left hand pizzicato, done with your Here is a fun trick to try with your violin.
violin fingers, a “+” is placed over each note Play a nice smooth, open G string. Now,
that is to be plucked. continuing to bow very smoothly and
MASTERCLASS
slowly, run your finger up the G string, but

14
Mr. Perlman also talks about the barely touch the string. The result should
following advanced techniques: be a series of harmonics that sound a little
DOUBLE STOPS: Since the violin has like arpeggios, but not quite. Stravinsky
four strings, you can play on two strings used this effect in the violins at the begin-
at once by putting the bow on both strings ning of his 1910 ballet The Firebird. When
while using the appropriate fingering. natural harmonics appear in music, they
This is shown in sheet music as two notes look like a diamond-headed note placed
stacked on top of each other. right on the note where you’re supposed
to lift your finger so it’s not pressing the
TRIPLE STOPS: You usually have to roll fingerboard (rather, it’s barely touch-
the bow to get three notes to play at a time, ing the string).
but it is possible. This would be reflected in
the music as a stack of three notes.
QUADRUPLE STOPS: You guessed it:

Four notes at a time. Roll the bow over all
four strings, usually from the bottom to the
top, to make it happen. In music, it looks
like four notes stacked on top of each other;
you’ll see it most frequently as a “chord” at
the end of the piece.
ARTIFICIAL HARMONICS: When you would normally be, but instead of pressing,
want to create a harmonic on the open barely touch the string. This creates a
string that is not part of that sequence harmonic that’s the same as the note you’re
of natural harmonics, you can do so by pressing with your first finger. The entire
“shortening the string,” or putting down a Pe Loc dance in Béla Bartók’s Romanian
finger. This is much easier than it sounds: Folk Dances consists of artificial harmonics.
First, press any note with your first finger When these appear in music, they look like
(the pointer finger). Next, put your fourth a double stop, only the top note, usually a
finger (the pinkie) down in the place it fourth above, has a diamond head.
THE BASICS
Positions
MASTERCLASS
15
FIRST POSITION: Beginners start by THIRD POSITION: Using first position as

learning where the left hand fingers go in a reference once again, third position is when
first position. the first finger is placed where the third finger
would be in first position. All other fingers
move up accordingly. Traditionally, third
position is learned after first position, followed
by second position and the higher positions.
SECOND POSITION: Using first posi-

tion as a reference, second position is when
the first finger is placed where the second
finger would be in first position. All other
fingers move up accordingly.
Scales are a great way to polish and perfect two-octave, or three-octave), play your scale
various bowing techniques. Using whatever using one of the bowing techniques described
scale is appropriate for your level (one-octave, in this chapter, for example: martelé or legato.
MASTERCLASS
16
I N T O N AT I O N
Intonation is the accuracy of your pitch. If you play with good intonation,
then you are playing in tune, or “on pitch.”
SHARP AND FLAT
SHARP: In musical notation, sharps are the notes If you are practicing alone, you can test your
that are made high in a given key signature. The strings against a piano or other reference pitch.
symbol for a sharp is #, which means half a tone (If you are using a chromatic tuner, the tuner will
higher than the written note. tell you if you are sharp or flat. Let’s focus here on
tuning by ear.)
FLAT: In musical notation, flats are the notes
made low in a given key signature. The symbol for Tightening the string makes the pitch higher, while
a flat is L, which means half a tone lower than the loosening the string makes the pitch lower. Use
MASTERCLASS
17
written note. the pegs and fine tuner(s) to tighten and loosen
the strings. Pegs change the pitch drastically,
so turn the peg a little bit at a time. Fine tuners
Tuning the Violin change the pitch more gradually, which is why
Good intonation begins with having the instru- they are used on fractional (child-size) instruments
ment in tune, which means that the pitch of the and E strings, which require less tightening and
open strings must be in tune with the piano, the loosening to change the pitch.
orchestra, or your musical partners in a chamber
group or band. Always play an A to compare your When a note is exactly in tune, the violin will ring
intonation with either another violin, a piano, more fully.
or an orchestra. Once you have the A, then
you can tune the other three strings, which are
usually in fifths.
ITZHAK PERLMAN I N T O N AT I O N
A First Lesson in Tuning When you’re practicing a piece of music, you must
Start by tuning your A string. First, listen to train your fingers to land correctly. If you play a
the A that you will tune to—we will call that the note out of tune then move the finger and until
tuning pitch. Now, play your A string. Does your it’s in the right place, you are practicing just that:
A string sound higher, lower, or exactly the same playing out of tune and then fixing it. Instead, stop
as the tuning pitch? If it sounds exactly the same, and ask yourself: Was the problem note sharp
your string is in tune, and you don’t have to do or flat? Once you know, back up to the note or
anything. If your A string sounds lower than the phrase before so that you can accurately measure
tuning pitch, then it’s flat. Tighten the string by the distance to the problem note (whether you’re
turning the peg away from you (or turning the fine shifting for a note or simply placing the finger).
tuner clockwise) until your string sounds exactly Then, slow down, and practice placing that note
the same as the tuning pitch. If your A string correctly in the context of the music.
sounds higher than the tuning pitch, then it’s
sharp. Loosen the string by turning the peg toward When practicing new music, go slowly enough that
you (or the fine tuner counterclockwise) until your you can play all the notes in tune. If you play fast
string string sounds the same as the tuning pitch. and allow a lot of out-of-tune notes, then you are
MASTERCLASS
18
If you turn the peg too far in any one direction, setting yourself up for a lot of correction in the
turn it back until the pitches match. future.
Tuning With Your Fingers Working daily on scales and arpeggios will help you
On the violin, your fingers must land in exactly to learn and solidify the correct placement of your
the right place on the fingerboard, without the fingers on the fingerboard. By carefully and cor-
help of frets, in order to produce the correct rectly repeating the various patterns that scales
pitch. As Mr. Perlman says, “It’s like playing by and arpeggios present, your fingers will eventually
Braille.” Beginners might want to have tapes on know where to go.
the fingerboard so you can see where your fingers
go. Eventually, as your fingers learn to find their Becoming a Good Listener
way by feel, those tapes will be removed. Your ear You need to have a concept of what you want
is the ultimate authority when it comes to correct- to hear before you can play in tune. For this,
ing your finger placement. Mr. Perlman recommends listening to music
performed by musicians who have an exceptional
If your finger lands in the wrong place, the note sense of intonation. Two of his top choices for
will be out of tune. If it sounds too high, or sharp, honing this particular skill are singer Ella Fitzgerald
then you have to move your finger lower, slightly and violinist Jascha Heifetz.
closer to the scroll. If it sounds too low, or flat,
you have to move your finger higher, or slightly
closer to the bridge.
V I B R AT O
Vibrato is a slight fluctuation in pitch that’s used to create a warmth or richness of

tone. On the violin, it is a left hand technique; the effect is produced by rocking the
finger from the wrist or arm.
ARM VIBRATO: The impulse for the vibrato In the beginning, it takes a while to develop the
comes from the arm, and the entire arm and hand motion of vibrato. For wrist and finger vibrato, the
serve to rock the fingertip. While he uses this motion is something like a combination of rolling
kind of vibrato on occasion, Mr. Perlman says that dice and waving to yourself. For arm vibrato, it’s
there is generally less control with arm vibrato a little like shaking your fist at someone. The key
than with wrist and finger vibrato. is to persist in trying and then to develop these
muscles by implementing vibrato as often as pos-
HAND VIBRATO: The impulse for the vibrato sible in your playing. Expect this to be a long-term
comes from a rocking motion of the hand. The project; it can take years to turn this technique
MASTERCLASS
19
arm stays relatively still. into something that feels natural.
FINGER VIBRATO: Mr. Perlman uses this kind Vibrato becomes art when you can learn to vary it.
of vibrato most frequently. Here, the impulse also As Mr. Perlman says, varying your vibrato is how
comes from waving the hand from the wrist but you make musical “colors.” You can reduce this
at times comes straight from the muscles of the variation down to two simple parameters: speed
hand and fingers. and width. Vibrato can be slow or fast. Vibrato
can be wide or narrow. Then you can combine the
speed and the width to create variation.
ITZHAK PERLMAN V I B R AT O
SPEED
SLOW VIBRATO: The speed of the vibra- FAST VIBRATO: The speed of the vibra-
tion is slow, which means you are rocking the tion is fast, which means you are rocking the
finger slowly. finger quickly.
WIDTH
WIDE VIBRATO: Made using bigger oscillations Vibrato can vary within a piece or even within a
of your finger, rocking it wide so the pitch wavers phrase: You might play the first theme in a piece
widely. with a medium-width vibrato, but when the theme
appears again later, you may play it with a wider
NARROW VIBRATO: Made with smaller oscil- vibrato to make the second appearance more
lations of your finger, rocking it narrowly so the intense.
pitch varies only slightly from the vibrato.
Different speeds and widths can work for different
MASTERCLASS
20
A wide, fast vibrato can sound more “juicy” and parts of the violin. If you’re playing very high on
is used for Romantic literature. Mr. Perlman the E string, for example, you would use a narrow
demonstrates how it works in the beginning of the vibrato because the note placement is so close on
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. that part of the violin. A narrow movement is all
you need to fluctuate the pitch.
A more narrow vibrato can convey the elegance
in a more Classical piece such as Mendelssohn’s
Violin Concerto in E major.
ITZHAK PERLMAN V I B R AT O
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE:
When you first learn vibrato, you will probably passively shake the hand from the upper arm.)
need to wake up your “vibrato muscles,” that is, You can start by shaking along to these words:
the muscles that control the waving of your hand. “Perlman, Perlman.” Then double the speed:
Try exercising these muscles away from the violin, “Mis-ter Perl-man Mis-ter Perl-man.” Then double
using an egg shaker or even a box of “tic tac” the speed again: “vi-o-lin-ist vi-o-lin-ist vi-o-lin-ist
candies. Hold the shaker (or box of tic tacs) in the vi-o-lin-ist.” Even just shaking the shaker for thirty
palm of your left hand, facing you. Then shake seconds every day will help you begin to develop
your hand forward and backward, actively using and control these muscles. Your goal is to make
the muscles around your wrist to do so. (Do not that shaker sound steady and strong at all speeds.
MASTERCLASS
21
COMFORT AND POSTURE
The violin is not a naturally comfortable instrument to play, but there are some
ways to make it as comfortable as possible. Your individual combination of chin
rest and shoulder rest can help a great deal. When deciding what to use, consider
the shape of your shoulders, the length of your neck, and even the shape of your
jawbone. There are many kinds of chin rests and shoulder rests, and your
combination of the two is often referred to as your set-up.
Notice the difference between the violin’s position side of the instrument and attaches over the tail-
on Mr. Perlman’s neck versus that of his student. piece. He uses no shoulder rest at all. His student,
Mr. Perlman’s neck is shorter than his student’s, so who has a much longer neck, uses a custom-made
the student needs to fill the space with a shoulder side-mounted chin rest. It’s higher than most chin
and chin rest. rests and attaches on the left side. Underneath
MASTERCLASS
22
the violin, he also uses a clip-on shoulder rest.
Mr. Perlman uses a rather low Guarneri-style chin
rest (see below) that has the chin cup on the left
THE CHIN REST
A chin rest is attached to the top of the instru- SIDE-MOUNTED MODEL: These chin rests
ment. Though it’s called a chin rest, it’s primarily a are mounted on the left side of the violin and
rest for your jawbone. Chin rests come in all sorts come in a number of shapes and heights:
of materials and models; they can be made from Dresden-style: a contoured cup for the chin
a variety of woods, including boxwood, rosewood Kaufmann-style: a flatter cup for the chin
and ebony, and a few are even made from hypoal- Morawetz-style: a considerable lip at the front of
lergenic plastic. the chin cup
GUARNERI-STYLE: Clamps over the tailpiece FLESCH-STYLE: Clamps over the tailpiece
(center-mounted), but the cup is to the left. It (center-mounted), and the cup sits over the
tends to be medium in height. center, too.
ITZHAK PERLMAN COMFORT AND POSTURE
THE SHOULDER REST
The shoulder rest attaches to the back of the and a rubber band. (Just attach the sponge to your
violin and rests on the shoulder and collarbone. instrument, and voilà.) There are also pre-made
Again, there are many to choose from: cushioned shoulder rests that shape to the shoul-
der, as well as small round pads and sponges that
CLIP-ON SHOULDER RESTS: These rests self-adhere to the back of the violin.
have “feet” on either side that attach to the rim of
the instrument. They are often adjustable both in AIR CUSHION RESTS: This is an inflatable
terms of height and also the angle at which they cushion, usually made by the company Playonair,
can be attached to the back of the instrument. A that straps to the back of the violin.
few of the most popular brands include Kun, Wolf,
Everest, Viva, Korfkerrest, Mach, and Resonans. Some violinists, including Mr. Perlman, opt to go
without a shoulder rest. Whatever your choice,
FOAM SHOULDER RESTS: A foam shoulder make sure it feels comfortable.
rest can be made at home using a foam sponge

MASTERCLASS
23
If you are uncomfortable with your set-up on the it the right height? If you have a short neck and a
violin, don’t overlook your chin-rest as a possible very high chin rest, you may want a shorter one.
solution. Consider a couple of factors: does your Likewise, a tall neck with a very short chin rest can
chin and jawbone actually rest in the cup of your be uncomfortable, and you might want a taller
current chin rest, or are you placing it somewhere one. Be sure to choose a chin rest that places the
else? There are chin rests made to put the cup to cup in the correct place for you and gives you the
the right, the middle or the left, so choose one right amount of height.
that fits where you actually rest your chin. Also, is
COLOR AND TONE
“Color” is a variety of special qualities of sound that you can produce on the violin
by altering dynamics, bow speed, bow pressure, bow direction, amount of bow, as
well as using shifting and glissandi. Familiarize yourself with each of these elements:
DYNAMICS: You can use your bow to change AMOUNT OF BOW: You can move a fraction
the volume of sound, making it louder or softer. of an inch on the bow or you can travel from frog
to tip on the bow (or anything in between). In
BOW SPEED: In general, you can use a fast general, you’ll use small amounts of bow for fast
bow or a slow bow. A fast bow creates energy in notes and larger amounts of bow for slow notes,
the sound; a slow bow can be quieter and more but even here you can experiment. For example,
calming. You can speed up your bow or slow it playing fast notes with a lot of bow can create a
MASTERCLASS
24
down all in the same bow. Speeding it up creates lot of energy.
a sense of urgency and usually creates a small
crescendo, or increase in sound. Slowing it down SHIFTING AND GLISSANDI: Shifting involves
can create almost a sighing effect, or an effect of the left hand traveling up or down the fingerboard
dying away; as the bow slows, it usually creates a for a note. Sometimes it’s necessary (when the
decrescendo, or decrease in sound. only way to play a particular note is to shift to it),
and sometimes it’s optional (when you shift simply
BOW PRESSURE: Sinking into the string with to create a sliding effect). This sliding effect is
the bow as you play creates more volume and called a glissando (the plural is glissandi). A glissan-
grit. Letting up on bow pressure creates a wispier do can be subtle, where the listener barely hears a
sound. slide in between notes, or it can be a very obvious
and slow slide up or down to a new note.
BOW DIRECTION: When you change direction
with the bow, you can slow down and use your Tone is your particular sound as a violinist. It’s a
wrist to cushion the change, creating a smooth combination of the violin itself and the way you
transition and more vowel sound (as Mr. Perlman use the bow and your left-hand techniques to
demonstrates). Alternatively, you can press with bring out the quality of the sound of that violin.
the bow and change direction abruptly, marking If you want to get a sense of beautiful tone, Mr.
the change with a more consonant sound. These Perlman enjoys listening to recordings of Luciano
are only a few of the ways to use bow direction Pavarotti, violinist Fritz Kreisler, cellist Emanuel
for expression. Feuermann, and guitarist Andrés Segovia.
THE COLOR GAME
Try your own version of the “Color Game.” Pick a simple melody that you already
know how to play. Try to make it sound “intense” by making your vibrato fast
and maybe even unsteady, with a little more pressure in your bow, rather loud.
Try making it sound “passionate” by using a fast and wide vibrato and generous
bowing, keeping the warmth of sound and using more slides. Try making it sound
“relaxed and laid back” by keeping the motions easy, the vibrato steady. Make it
sound more “elegant” by decreasing the speed of vibrato, using less pressure in the
bow and increasing the speed of the bow. Make up your own emotion to try, and
MASTERCLASS
experiment with how to use the “color” techniques that Mr. Perlman has described to 25
make your violin convey that emotion.
The students featured in this segment and winning national and international competitions,
throughout Mr. Perlman’s MasterClass are young winning honors and awards, participating in well-
musicians from around the world who have known festivals, and securing fine instrument
already distinguished themselves with impressive grants—and at least one has performed with a
achievements. Most of them started playing violin rapper. Take some time getting to know these
as toddlers, and beyond the honor of being chosen remarkable young artists—who knows, they may
for Mr. Perlman’s studio, they have accomplished be soloing with the symphony in your city one day.
things such as playing as soloists with orchestra,
ITZHAK PERLMAN THE COLOR GAME
RANDALL GOOSBY started violin at age seven SEAN LEE is a recipient of Lincoln Center’s
and first performed as a soloist with an orchestra Avery Fisher Career Grant, and his debut album
at the age of nine with the Jacksonville Symphony. reached the iTunes top 20 classical bestsellers list.
At age 13 he was the youngest recipient ever to In 2018, Lee released his second album, Songbook,
win the Sphinx Concerto Competition, which and continues to draw attention to his educational
led to two appearances at Carnegie Hall. He also YouTube series, Paganini POV, which uses modern
performed with the New York Philharmonic on technology to share a unique perspective on
a Young People’s Concert at Avery Fisher Hall violin playing. Lee has appeared as a soloist with
at age 13. He has continued to play as a soloist many orchestras, and his recital appearances have
with prominent orchestras. He is on faculty at taken him to Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall, Tel Aviv
Opportunity Music Project, a nonprofit organiza- Museum of Art, Festival di Carro Paganiniano of
tion which provides free lessons, instruments, and Italy, and Vienna’s Konzerthaus. A top prizewinner
mentoring for children from low-income families at the “Premio Paganini” International Violin
in New York City, and he gives performances Competition, Lee embraces the legacy of his late
through Concerts in Motion, another NYC-based mentor, violinist Ruggiero Ricci, as one of few
nonprofit that provides private house concerts violinists who dare to perform the complete 24
for elderly and otherwise homebound patrons. Caprices of Niccolò Paganini in recital. Lee has
Goosby won First Prize in the 2018 Young Concert collaborated in performances with Itzhak Perlman,
Artists International Auditions as well as the James Galway, Deborah Voigt, and members
MASTERCLASS
26
Buffalo Chamber Music Society Prize, Harriman- of the Emerson and Guarneri String Quartets.
Jewell Series Prize, Vancouver Society Prize, The As an artist with the Chamber Music Society of
LP Classics, Inc. Debut Recording Prize, and the Lincoln Center, Lee performs regularly at Lincoln
Sander Buchman Prize, which provides major Center, as well as on tour internationally. Born in
support for his New York debut. He has partici- Los Angeles, Lee studied with Robert Lipsett of
pated in the Perlman Music Program’s Chamber the Colburn Conservatory, and with violin legend
Music Workshop, been featured on National Public Ruggiero Ricci. Moving to New York City at age
Radio’s From the Top, and been honored as Rising 17, he began studies at the Juilliard School with
Star of the Stradivari Society. He was part of the Itzhak Perlman and earned both Bachelor and
Juilliard School’s Pre-College program, continued Master of Music Degrees. Lee is a member of the
at Juilliard as an undergraduate student of Itzhak chamber music faculty of the Juilliard School’s
Perlman and Catherine Cho, and is currently Pre-College Division, as well as the violin faculty
pursuing a Master’s Degree there with Donald of the Perlman Music Program. He performs on a
Weilerstein and Laurie Smukler. Goosby plays a violin originally made for violinist Ruggiero Ricci in
Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù violin, on loan from 1999, by David Bague.
the Stradivari Society.
ABIGEL KRALIK is an American-born, chamber musician, Neubauer was a winner of

Hungarian violinist, who began violin in the 2017 Young Musicians Competition at the
Philadelphia at the age of four. In 2011 she Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and a
entered the Liszt Academy of Music’s Young Young Performer at the Music@Menlo Chamber
Talents Program, and soon thereafter she was Music Institute for five years. Born on 9/11/2001,
accepted into the Perlman Music Program. Neubauer shared the stage with Bernadette
She also studied with Kristóf Baráti. Kralik has Peters and Robert DeNiro hosting a 9/11 Memorial
performed as a soloist with several orchestras, benefit and can be heard leading the audio tour
including the Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra. guide “for children and families” at the 9/11
She won first prize at the New York International Memorial Museum, available as a free app at the
Artists Association, joining the artist roster of App Store.
Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players and being
invited as an Academy Artist at the Verbier KENNETH JOSHUA “KJ” MCDONALD,
Festival. In 2018 she made her Carnegie Hall a native of Santa Clarita, Calif., began playing
debut as a soloist. At The Juilliard School she violin at age six and he currently studies at
studies with Itzhak Perlman and Laurie Smukler The Juilliard School with Itzhak Perlman and
as a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship. Catherine Cho. Since June 2012, he also has
studied with Mr. Perlman in the Perlman Music
CLARA NEUBAUER studied with Itzhak Program. A first-place winner in the 2014 Gail
MASTERCLASS
27
Perlman and Li Lin at The Juilliard Pre-College Newby Concerto Competition, McDonald also
and will attend The Juilliard School in fall 2019 has performed as a soloist with the Antelope
as a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship. She Valley Symphony, Palmdale Symphonic Orchestra
has participated in the Perlman Music Program and Colburn School Chamber Orchestra. Active
since 2017. Neubauer made her concerto debut in chamber music, in 2012 he established the
with the National Repertory Orchestra at the Clemens Quartet (CQ), which was a semi-finalist
age of 10 and her Lincoln Center debut at the in the 2014 Fischoff Competition and performed
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s on From The Top’s national NPR broadcast.
Young Ensembles Concert in 2013. She is a 2019 The quartet also won first place in both the
YoungArts Winner, 1st Prize Winner in the 2019 2015 ENKOR and 2013 California State VOCE
Symphony of Westchester Competition, and 1st competitions. At age 14, McDonald was awarded
Prize Winner in the 2017 Adelphi Competition. Her the “Good Samaritan Award” by the city of
concerto performances have included appear- Huntington Beach for his brave actions saving his
ances with the Symphony of Westchester and the father’s life, after a surfing accident.
Little Orchestra Society, as well as performances
with Music@Menlo, the Mostly Music Series (NJ), PHOENIX AVALON studies with Itzhak
Neue Galerie (NYC), Great Performers Series Perlman and Li Lin at The Juilliard School, where
(Palm Beach), Tenri Cultural Institute, and the he is a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship.
Union Club. She performed as a soloist with The He began his violin training at age three at Santa
Little Orchestra Society, the Dalton Orchestra, Fe Talent Education Suzuki and was a student
and the New York Concerti Sinfonietta. An avid of Carmelo de los Santos at the University of
New Mexico for six years before studying at the to the British International School of Chicago
Cleveland Institute of Music Young Artist Program with The Juilliard School President, Joseph Polisi.
with Jaime Laredo and Jan Sloman. Avalon has Na earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees at
performed as a soloist on the national radio the Juilliard School, where he studied with Itzhak
shows Performance Today and From the Top. He Perlman, Catherine Cho, and Donald Weilerstein.
soloed with the New Mexico Philharmonic, the
Boulder Symphony, the Arapahoe Philharmonic Violinist NATHAN MELTZER is the youngest
and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. Avalon was a ever to win the Windsor Festival International
Third-Prize winner in the Johansen International String Competition, and he has played as a
Competition, and gave a Ted Talk in 2018 about soloist with multiple orchestras, including the
being a classical musician in the 21st century. He Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orchestre national
also has played for various outreach programs d’Île-de-France, the Orquesta Filarmónica de
throughout the country, including with CIM’s Medellín, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Concepción,
Young Artist Program. Avalon plays the “ex-Stern” the Berliner Symphoniker, the Pittsburgh
J.B. Vuillaume violin, c. 1850, loaned by Kenneth Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, and
Warren and Son Ltd. of Chicago. the Adelphi, Bloomington, Charlotte Civic,
Evansville, and Muncie orchestras. In November
DOORI NA started violin at the age of four and he will record his first CD with Rohan de Silva
began his studies with Li Lin at the San Francisco on the Champs Hill label in the UK. Meltzer
MASTERCLASS
28
Conservatory of Music. In 2018 he made his debut studies with Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin at The
with The San Francisco Symphony performing Juilliard School. He began his music education in
Bach’s Double Violin Concerto with Itzhak a second-grade orchestra class in Vienna, later
Perlman, with Michael Tilson Thomas conduct- attending Meadowmount, the Indiana University
ing. Na has played with the Orpheus Chamber String Academy, the Perlman Music Program, and
Orchestra, touring in the US, Japan, and Europe Juilliard Pre-College. Meltzer has collaborated
and performing in venues such as Carnegie Hall with Gilles Apap, David Chan, Augustin Hadelich,
in New York and the Musiverien in Vienna. He is Joseph Lin, the Ariel String Quartet, and the
also a member of Argento Chamber Ensemble as Jupiter Symphony Players. He joined Omega
well as New Chamber Ballet, where he performs Ensemble in 2016. Meltzer performs on the 1734
solo works for dance. As a chamber musician, he “Ames, Totenberg” Antonio Stradivari violin, which
has collaborated with members of the Juilliard is on loan from Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists
String Quartet, Orion String Quartet, New York and Benefactors Collaborative.
Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera and toured
with Itzhak Perlman at venues such as the Kennedy OLIVER NEUBAUER is a proud recipient of
Center in Washington D.C and the Metropolitan the Kovner Fellowship at the Juilliard School
Museum of Art in New York. Na has worked at where he is a student of Itzhak Perlman and Li
the Juilliard School as a teaching assistant to Lin. Neubauer has participated in the Perlman
Catherine Cho and as a coach for the Pre-College Music Program and attended PMP Suncoast since
Orchestra. His school outreach efforts have 2016. Recent concerts include performances
included going to Sarasota, Fla. with the Perlman with the Symphony of Westchester (as a winner
Music Program/Suncoast; to Brazil and the United of their 2017 Young Artist Competition), Parlance
Arab Emirates with Juilliard Global Ventures; and Chamber Concerts, YoungArts Week 2018 (as
a winner of the 2018 YoungArts Competition Gitlis, Gyorgy Pauk, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Yehonatan
and recipient of the Gold Award), Neue Galerie Berick, Michaela Martin, Catherine Cho, and more.
(NYC), and the Great Performers Series (Palm Erlichman has performed recitals in Paris (2009 at
Beach). Neubauer was a winner of the 2017 Young Des Invalides Hall) and in London (2010 and 2012),
Musicians Competition at the Chamber Music a concert at the Murray Perahia’s house in London
Society of Lincoln Center, a Young Performer in 2011, as a soloist at the Israeli President House
at the Music@Menlo Chamber Music Institute in 2012, and as a soloist with the Haifa Symphony
and a member of the New York Youth Symphony Orchestra. She often volunteers to perform at the
Chamber Music Program. In May, 2013 Neubauer Mental Medical Center in Be’er Sheva, Israel.
made his Lincoln Center debut at the Chamber
Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Young A native of Chicago, RACHEL LEE PRIDAY
Ensembles Concert. In addition, Neubauer has began her violin studies at the age of four, and in
performed at Four Seasons Winter Workshop, 1996 moved to New York to study with the late
Summerfest La Jolla, Music@Menlo, Mostly pedagogue Dorothy DeLay. She continued her
Music Series, NJ, Lake Champlain Music Festival, studies at the Juilliard School Pre-College Division
Chamber Music Northwest, Brooklyn Chamber with Itzhak Perlman. She holds a B.A. degree in
Music Society, Music from Angel Fire, and Art English from Harvard University and an M.M. from
in Avila in Curaçao. In 2013, Neubauer made his the New England Conservatory, where she studied
debut with the New York Philharmonic as the with Miriam Fried through its joint dual-degree
MASTERCLASS
29
narrator for Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the program with Harvard College. She performs on
Orchestra. As a winner of the 2013 Artist in You a 1760 Nicolo Gagliano violin. She has appeared
Competition, Neubauer was a Music Ambassador as soloist with major international orchestras,
for the Doublestop Foundation. including the Chicago, St. Louis, Houston, Seattle,
and National Symphony Orchestras, the Boston
RINAT ERLICHMAN studies at the Juilliard Pops, and the Berlin Staatskapelle. She has per-
school with Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin. She began formed recitals at the Mostly Mozart Festival,
studying violin at the age of seven with Irina Musée du Louvre, Verbier Festival, Ravinia Rising
Miskov at the Merhavim Conservatory in the Stars, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, and
Negev, Israel and studied for six years at the concerto appearances in Graz, Austria, Hong
Jerusalem Conservatory Hassadna and for three Kong, Korea, South Africa, and Singapore. She
years at the Jerusalem Academy with Michael has also championed new works, commissioning
Gaisler. Erlichman attended summer music and premiering Christopher Cerrone’s Violin
courses including The Perlman Music Program, Sonata as well as a forthcoming Violin Concerto
the Young Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, by Scott Wollschleger for mixed professional and
Aspen Music Festival and School, and Heifetz non-professional orchestra, Timo Andres’ Three
International Music Institute. Erlichman was an Suns for Solo Violin as well as other new works.
America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship She toured China in 2015, combining outreach
recipient in 2005, and with special distinction in and performances at the Beijing Modern Music
2007-2017. She has participated in master classes Festival, Tianjin May Festival, and Shenyang
with violinists Itzhak Perlman, Miriam Fried, Ivry Conservatory. She has been profiled in The New
Yorker, The Los Angeles Times, Family Circle, and Road Ensemble. In addition, she has performed at
The Strad Magazine and made numerous radio and venues such as the Kennedy Center, Metropolitan
television appearances. Museum of Art, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial
Concert series, and on the radio show From the
VALERIE KIM made her professional debut on Top. Other noteworthy projects include perfor-
piano with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra at mances in Bhutan, Cuba, and Colombia and at
age 10 and shortly after, was selected to attend festivals including Music@Menlo, the Perlman
the Perlman Music Program (PMP) and to study Music Program, the Sarasota Music Festival,
both violin and piano at The Juilliard School’s Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, and YellowBarn.
Pre-College Division. She is continuing her studies Chen is a graduate of the Harvard / New England
at Juilliard with Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin as a Conservatory Dual Degree Program, where she
proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship. Kim has studied with Miriam Fried and Donald Weilerstein.
been heard in recitals and masterclasses across Chen graduated with honors from Harvard in
the United States, Israel and Korea and in the past 2015 with a degree in psychology and served as
year, was invited to São Paulo as a guest teaching the 2015-2016 Artist-In-Residence of Harvard
artist. She is looking forward to returning to PMP University’s Lowell House. Currently, Chen is a
this summer as a member of the Kila Quartet, C.V. Starr doctoral fellow at the Juilliard School,
with whom she has performed at the 2019 Robert studying with Donald Weilerstein, Catherine Cho,
Mann String Quartet Institute and in concert and Li Lin. Stella Chen was awarded 1st prize at
MASTERCLASS
30
venues throughout NYC including Alice Tully Hall. the 2019 Queen Elisabeth International Violin
Competition.
STELLA CHEN has performed as a soloist
on tour in Israel and Jordan with the Harvard- MARIELLA HAUBS’ musical journey has
Radcliffe Orchestra and with the Orquesta brought her to over 30 countries in Europe, North
Filarmónica de Medellín in Colombia, with other America, Asia and the Middle East. She has per-
performances including concerto appearances formed in venues such as the Wiener Musikverein
with the London Chamber Orchestra and the in Vienna, Carnegie Hall in New York, and
Welsh National Symphony Orchestra. Chen was numerous philharmonic halls around the world.
awarded the top prize, Best Performance of the In 2014, Haubs performed at the United Nations
Commissioned Work by Lera Auerbach, and the General Assembly at the invitation of Barack and
Audience Prize at the Tibor Varga International Michelle Obama. Her chamber music collabora-
Violin Competition in 2017. Her other achieve- tors include artists such as Joshua Bell, Lang Lang
ments include being the first recipient of the and Itzhak Perlman. Former concertmaster of the
Robert Levin Award, youngest-ever prizewinner Juilliard Orchestra, Haubs has worked with many
at the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition conductors including Alan Gilbert, Kurt Masur
and 1st Prize at the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s and Michael Tilson Thomas. Haubs has appeared
Bronislaw Kaper Awards. She has collaborated with in Vogue, Glamour, and numerous newspapers
artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Robert Levin, Roger and magazines around the world. Haubs appears
Tapping, Miriam Fried, Paul Biss, Merry Peckham, in the French documentary film “A Season at
members of St. Martin in the Fields, and the Silk The Juilliard School” and HBO’s A YoungArts
Masterclass. Reaching beyond her classical back- recitals in Genoa, London, New York, and Florida.
ground and collaborating with artists from other As a Culture Ambassador of the Lin Yao Ji Music
genres, Haubs performed with Selena Gomez at Foundation of China, Zhu was a featured soloist at
Billboard’s Women In Music event in 2015 and the Harpa International Music Academy in Iceland
on rapper Mac Miller’s track, “Congratulations.” in 2013 and 2016. He has repeatedly been a fea-
Haubs served as “House Band” on Cheddar, a tured artist on BBC Radio 3 and National Public
news network broadcasting live from the New Radio. Zhu is a recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at
York Stock Exchange. Along with her music, Haubs The Juilliard School, where he studies with Itzhak
enjoys acting, singing, writing, and producing Perlman and Li Lin. He previously trained at the
short films. She has written for The Juilliard San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Li Lin
Journal and other publications. Haubs holds and Ian Swensen. Zhu performs on the c. 1722
Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard “Lord Wandsworth” Antonio Stradivari violin, on
School, where she studied as a Kovner Fellow with loan from the Ryuji Ueno Foundation and Rare
Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho. She is also Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors
an alumna of The Perlman Music Program and Collaborative.
the National YoungArts Foundation. Haubs also
is the co-founder of “Concerts for Compassion,” Pianist JUN CHO has appeared as both solo
a project designed to promote communication and chamber musician at major New York venues
between cultures and to bring music to refugee including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, and Alice
MASTERCLASS
31
communities around the world. Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. Cho has also per-
formed as concerto soloist with the orchestras
American violinist KEVIN ZHU began studying of Rice University, The Juilliard School and The
violin at age three. At age 11, he won first prize Mannes School. An avid collaborator, Cho has
in the Junior Division of the 2012 Menuhin performed with renowned musicians including
International Violin Competition, becoming the Ithzak Perlman, Kathleen Winkler, and Toby Appel.
youngest-ever winner of that competition and He has given extensive collaborative performanc-
also winning the Composer’s Prize for the best es at the Aspen Music Festival and the Sejong
performance of a new Chinese work. He won Music Festival, and served as a collaborative
first prize in the 2018 Paganini International piano faculty at the Heifetz Institute. He cur-
Violin Competition, as well as special prizes for rently serves as a faculty member at the Perlman
best performance of a Paganini Caprice and Music Program. Cho received his Bachelor’s and
youngest finalist. Zhu has performed as a soloist Master’s of Music degrees at The Juilliard School
with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, the and currently resides in New York City while pur-
Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow Virtuosi suing a doctoral degree at The Shepherd School of
Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Music at Rice University.
Sichuan Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as solo
P L AY I N G D I F F E R E N T S T Y L E S
Music from different eras calls for different styles of violin playing. To help you get
a feel for these styles, familiarize yourself with the music from three historical eras,
taking into consideration how you can change your playing to best suit each kind
of music.
BAROQUE (1600-1750) ROMANTIC (1820-1915)

—Highly decorative, complex, polyphonic —Expressive, dramatic, programmatic
—Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Tartini —Late Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky,
Chopin, Franck, Dvorak
MASTERCLASS
32
CLASSICAL (1750-1820)
—Streamlined musical lines, elegant character
—Mozart, Mendelssohn, Schumann, early Beethoven
Baroque (1600-1750) attention to the original styles and conventions

As with the highly decorative furniture and ar- of historical eras, and particularly the Baroque
chitecture of the Baroque era, a Baroque melody era, by introducing ideas such as using Baroque
would be enhanced with musical ornamentation bows instead of modern “Tourte” bows; using gut
such as trills—the rapid alternation of two strings instead of modern synthetic ones; and
notes—to decorate the music. The result is a kind even tuning the violin to a lower-pitch “A” (415
of music that is both full of notes and complex, hertz instead of the 440-442 hertz that modern
also frequently using multiple voices (known as orchestras use). In terms of playing style on the
polyphony). Composers of that era include Johann violin, HIP ideals would prescribe less vibrato
Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric (or none at all) and bowings that put stresses on
Handel, and Giuseppe Tartini. down-bows. HIP ensembles use original instru-
ments, such as the harpsichord, in the place of
In the late 20th century, a movement emerged instruments like the piano, which had not yet
called Historically-Informed Performance (HIP) been invented at the time.
or Period Performance. HIP aims to pay more
ITZHAK PERLMAN P L AY I N G D I F F E R E N T S T Y L E S
By contrast, Mr. Perlman prefers to play music the composers of the Classical period include
from the Baroque era in a way that uses modern Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Felix
instruments, including a violin with modern strings Mendelssohn, and Ludwig van Beethoven.
and set-up, acknowledging contemporary tech-
niques that have evolved since that time while still Romantic (1820-1915)
paying homage to Baroque style. Music of this period is more expressive and less
structural. Sometimes it has a program, meaning
Classical (1750-1820) it’s based on literature, art, or philosophy. The
Classical music is less “decorative” than Baroque violinist creates this sense of drama and high
music. In comparison to Romantic music (see emotion with more frequent shifting and slides,
below), its musical lines are more straightforward, a wider vibrato, and using more rubato (a fluctu-
giving it a light and elegant quality. To bring out ation of tempo). Some of the composers of the
this clarity, Mr. Perlman recommends using a Romantic period include Johannes Brahms, Pyotr
more narrow vibrato, a consistent tempo, and Ilyich Tchaikovsky, César Franck, and Antonin
fewer shifts than in Romantic music. Some of Dvorak.

MASTERCLASS
33
Listen to and then compare the same piece of VIOLINIST ELIZABETH WALLFISCH with Tafelmusik
Baroque music performed in two different ways: Baroque Ensemble. What do you hear that is
modern performance and HIP. Start with Vivaldi’s different between the two performances? Which
Violin Concerto in A-minor, first movement. performance moves at a faster tempo? In what
For the modern performance, LISTEN TO MR. ways do the bow strokes sound different? How
PERLMAN PERFORMING THIS PIECE with the Israel much vibrato is used by the soloist? How much
Philharmonic Orchestra from his album Vivaldi: vibrato is used by string players in the orchestra?
The Four Seasons Violin Concertos. For the HIP How is the mood different? In what ways are
performance, LISTEN TO THE SAME PIECE PL AYED BY they similar?
THE PERFORMANCE MINDSET
We all want to perform at our optimal level, but what happens when we get nervous?
After thousands of live performances and a lifetime of on-stage experience, Mr.
Perlman has plenty of wisdom to offer. Here are a few ways that nerves can affect
your playing as well as some strategies for how you can cope.
Performance Nerves Can Cause: • Too much bow speed; superficial connection
• Cold and clammy hands of bow
• Shaking bow arm • Listening in a different way, the feeling that
• Holding your breath; shortness of breath things sound alarmingly different or wrong
• Pressing the left fingers too hard into the • Feeling hyper-aware of all the details
fingerboard • Being nervous in a situation you didn’t think
• Distorted awareness of tempo—playing too would make you nervous
quickly and thinking everyone else is behind • Being nervous despite playing for a small group
MASTERCLASS
34
• Being overly judgmental about mistakes and
missed details
HOW TO COPE WITH NERVES
Preparing for the Performance: • Connect with the music in the practice room so
• When you learn the piece, keep fingerings and you can later do so on stage—this is extremely
bowings comfortable and consistent. important!
• Go through the piece, and identify problem • Find as many opportunities as you can to
spots. perform and make yourself nervous so you can
• Practice technical problems slowly and thor- get familiar with the feeling.
oughly until they feel worked out.
ITZHAK PERLMAN THE PERFORMANCE MINDSET
On Stage: • Let go of mistakes; forget about what just hap-

• Don’t be surprised or judgmental about feeling pened and move on
nervous; instead, accept that it’s going to • Keep fingers light, pressing only as much as
happen on occasion needed
• Breathe deeply • Keep a steady tempo and let things feel a little
• Stay creative and spontaneous in each moment slow
• Take more bows if needed • Feel the connection and friction with the bow
• Concentrate and connect with the music rather • Ignore unexpected distractions in the audience
than “just surviving”—feeling like you’re only or environment
playing it to get through it • Perform the way you practiced
MASTERCLASS
35
PRACTICE ESSENTIALS
If you really want to become a master of your craft, your first priority should be
carving out time every day to practice. But then you need to spend that time wisely.
Mr. Perlman has several suggestions for making the most of your practice hours.
ESTABLISH GOOD HABITS
Good habits start with excellent posture and Choose good bowings and then commit to them.
mechanics. Make sure you’re holding the violin It’s important to know when you will go up-bow,
and bow properly and that the movement in when you will go down-bow, when you will slur
both arms and hands is smooth and functional. several notes together, play staccato, etc. so that
If you practice regularly with a slumped posture you can be confident in your movements. It is
and poor mechanics, then this will become extremely important to choose the bowings and
MASTERCLASS
36
your habit. fingerings and stick to them at all times when
practicing—without any change. If you do not
Cultivate the habit of playing in tune. When change the bowings and the fingerings once you
learning something new, play it slowly enough choose the ones that feel comfortable for you,
that you are playing every note correctly. Once you will learn the piece faster, and when you have
you speed it up, continue to play it in tune by to relearn it, it will also be faster.
choosing fingerings that are comfortable for
your hand. If your fingerings require you to When correcting mistakes, repeat the correct
stretch and strain, you run the risk of landing version more times than you played the wrong
in the wrong place, which itself could become version. If you make the mistake again, that repe-
a habit. Once you choose your fingerings, stick tition doesn’t count. The correct version needs to
to them. become your new habit.
PRACTICE SLOWLY
Practicing slowly is crucial, especially when Keep your rhythms proportional as you slow down
you are learning a new piece. When practicing the music. Don’t practice the easy parts fast and
a particular passage, slow it down enough so the difficult parts slow; instead keep everything
that you’re able to play everything correctly (no the same tempo. That way, when you speed it back
wrong notes, no out-of-tune notes, no fumbling up, the rhythms will be correct and well-ingrained.
with the bow).
Give your brain ample time to soak in new infor-
mation. You can’t hurry good practice.
ITZHAK PERLMAN PRACTICE ESSENTIALS
Use a Metronome A metronome can help you keep a consistent

A metronome is a device that produces a click at tempo so that you don’t inadvertently speed up or
a regular interval of time. You can set how fast slow down.
you would like it to go based on beats per second.
Mechanical metronomes, which have been Start with a metronome marking that allows you
around for several centuries, have a pendulum to play all of the right notes and the right rhythms,
that swings back and forth. You can also use an then gradually increase the speed. This can be
electronic metronome or even a metronome app a long-term project, whereby you increase the
on your phone. speed by one notch of the metronome each day
until you have worked up to your goal tempo.
When using a metronome, it’s important to under-

stand the rhythms that you’re playing as well as
their correct placement in terms of the beat. Mr.
Perlman uses the example of the beginning of the
MASTERCLASS
37
Adagio of Bach’s Sonata No. 1 in G-minor, which
has complex rhythms. Do you know where every
beat falls?
You need to know, otherwise you’ll wind up playing

long and short notes without any real pulse to
the music. As practice, mark where each beat in
the music falls. In this case, you’ll subdivide the
measure by eighth notes. Here’s how the first two
measures of this piece would look:
Go through this entire movement and mark the metronome. Once you’ve practiced with the
beats in this way. Once you understand exactly metronome and learned the rhythms by heart,
where all those beats align with the rhythms, then you can feel what Mr. Perlman called the
then you can practice the music with a “inner pulse” of this music.
PRACTICE IN RHYTHMS
For complicated passages of running notes,

Mr. Perlman recommends practicing in rhythms.
This means that you take that passage and play
it through with either a slow-fast or a fast-slow
rhythm. Here’s what those would look like:
MASTERCLASS
38
Here is a measure you could practice using the

two kinds of rhythms that Mr. Perlman recom-
mends (measure 139 from the first movement of
Beethoven’s Violin Concerto). This is what it
looks like in the music:
This is what it would look like to practice them

with a dotted eighth/sixteenth note pattern (long-
short, long-short):
This is what it would look like to practice them

with a sixteenth note/dotted eighth pattern
(short-long, short-long):
MASTERCLASS
39
Find a passage of running notes that challenges First, learn to read well. That means knowing
you. It can be from a short piece, a concerto, the names of the notes, key signatures, flats and
an étude, or a piece of orchestra music. After sharps, time signatures, and rhythms. When you
several days of practicing with these rhythms, sight read, these are the first things you should
you’ll likely find that the passage comes examine in the music before you begin to play.
together more quickly.
The best way to practice sight reading is to play
Sight Reading chamber music with friends and colleagues and/
Sight reading is the ability to play a piece of or to play in an orchestra, where there are ample
music that you’ve never played before simply opportunities to read new music. You can practice
by reading it off of a page of written music. As alone by reading music you aren’t familiar with,
with anything else on the violin, you have but playing with other people makes you more
to practice to get good at it. accountable—the orchestra is not going to stop
every time you get a little confused.
T H E T H R E E-H O U R P R A C T I C E
SCHEDULE
Mr. Perlman recommends an every-day practice schedule composed of three
elements: scales, exercises and études, and repertoire.
FIRST HOUR: SCALES
SECOND HOUR: ÉTUDES
THIRD HOUR: REPERTOIRE
SCALES AND ARPEGGIOS

MASTERCLASS
40
Scales, which go upward and downward in steps, SCALE-STUDIES FOR THE VIOLIN:
allow you to work on your sound, intonation, (Jan Hřímalý) Two- and three-octave scales and
finger patterns, and bow control all at the same arpeggios for the intermediate student.
time. Arpeggios, which skip up and down the scale
on chord tones, also help with shifting and keeping CONTEMPORARY VIOLIN TECHNIQUE:
your hand frame. Mr. Perlman suggests starting (Ivan Galamian) This contains the rhythmic formula
your scale routine with slow bows, concentrating for Armenian violin instructor Ivan Galamian’s
on getting a healthy sound and good tone from famou three-octave acceleration scales, as well
your violin. Play a different scale each day, and as many different ways to do scales. There is also
take care to play it in tune. Practice various a cycle of three-octave arpeggios as well as dou-
bowings and rhythms. As you get more advanced, ble-stop scales.
you can practice double-stop scales in thirds,
sixths, octaves, and tenths. Here are some popular SCALE SYSTEM:
scale methods and their features: (Carl Flesch) A rather dense and complex set of
scale exercises for the advanced violinist.
ELEMENTARY SCALES AND BOWINGS
FOR STRINGS: DOUBLE STOPS: SCALES AND
(Harvey Whistler) Scales for the beginner. The SCALE EXERCISES FOR THE VIOLIN:
book also contains charts that show violin finger (Simon Fischer) An extremely detailed book that
placement in various keys. breaks double-stop scales down into manageable
steps, focusing on thirds, sixths, octaves, fingered
octaves, and tenths.
ITZHAK PERLMAN T H E T H R E E-H O U R P R A C T I C E S C H E D U L E
ÉTUDES AND EXERCISES (YOUR TEACHER NEEDS TO ADVISE

ACCORDING TO YOUR LEVEL)
An étude, which mean “study” in French, is a 36 ETUDES OR CAPRICES FOR

musical exercise written to practice a specific VIOLIN SOLO:
technique. In addition to scales and arpeggios, (Federigo Fiorillo) Advanced exercises that
they’re an excellent way to learn the patterns and include techniques such as double-stops, string
skills you’ll need for violin-playing at every level. crossings, bowing patterns, and more.
Start with this selection of books filled with études
and exercises written for violin, roughly in order 24 CAPRICES FOR VIOLIN:
from elementary through advanced: (Pierre Rode) Studies that encourage the player’s
facility over the whole instrument.
Études
SIXTY STUDIES FOR THE VIOLIN, OP. 45: 24 ETUDES:
(Franz Wohlfahrt) Often a student’s first book of (Pierre Gaviniès) Études that cover all 24 keys and
études, these address string crossing, bow strokes, a wide variety of techniques.
shifting, and finger patterns. The first 30 are in
first position, while the last 30 incorporate third 24 ETUDES AND CAPRICES, OP. 35, FOR
MASTERCLASS
41
position as well. VIOLIN SOLO:
(Jakob Dont) Études that violinists generally study
36 ELEMENTARY AND PROGRESSIVE after Kreutzer’s études and before the Paganini
ETUDES, OP. 20: Caprices.
(H.E. Kayser) Études that cover a wide variety of
techniques including bowing, shifting, and finger- ETUDES-CAPRICES, OP. 18:
ing. For beginning to intermediate violinists. (Henryk Wieniawski) These work as both technical
studies and concert pieces. The second violin part
75 MELODIOUS AND PROGRESSIVE plays simple harmony to the first violin’s virtuosic
STUDIES, OP. 36: and technical part.
(Jaques F. Mazas) Studies by the French composer
Mazas, who mostly wrote pedagogical studies and 24 CAPRICES, OP. 1, FOR VIOLIN SOLO:
methods for violin and viola students. (Niccolo Paganini) Some of the most technically
difficult pieces ever written for violin, these are
42 STUDIES FOR VIOLIN: often performed as concert pieces. Paganini was
(Rodolphe Kreutzer) These studies are an essential so virtuosic that it was rumored he’d sold his soul
rite of passage for nearly every violinist transition- to the Devil in exchange for his astonishing violin
ing into more advanced studies. technique.
ITZHAK PERLMAN T H E T H R E E-H O U R P R A C T I C E S C H E D U L E
Exercises
THE ARTIST’S TECHNIQUE OF VIOLIN PREPARATORY EXERCISES IN DOUBLE
PLAYING: STOPPING, OP. 9:
(Demetrius Constantine Dounis) Advanced exer- (Otakar Ševčík) Exercises to improve fluency in
cises for use at the beginning of a practice session; double-stops and chords.
they emphasize finger dexterity and shifting.
REPERTOIRE
Once you have played your scales, exercises, anything from a short piece to a concerto.
and études, it’s time to work on your repertoire— Discuss with your teacher.
the pieces you wish to perform. These can be

MASTERCLASS
42
Your teacher should examine your practice sched-
ule. It should include a balance of scales, études,
exercises, and repertoire.
M E M O R I Z AT I O N A N D P R A C T I C E
STUDENT Q&A
MEMORIZATION
Every violinist reacts a little differently to performing a piece by memory.

Mr. Perlman and his students have a few tips for memorizing music and
performing it well:
• Practice not for the purpose of memorizing, a wonderful performance, Mr. Perlman says that
but for the purpose of knowing the piece using music is okay.
• Make sure your fingerings and bowings are fully
decided so that you have a clear plan Preparing for a Performance
• Repeat the music many times so that it becomes • Be so prepared on a technical level that you can
muscle memory let go and play the music
• When performing, trust your muscle memory— • Practice musically; correct the technique in
MASTERCLASS
43
don’t overthink the context of the music. For example, if you
• Keep using the music, even when it’s memorized, are working on intonation, always still play with
so you don’t forget important points a beautiful sound from the bow, and with the
• Break the music up into different sections based proper dynamics and articulation the music
on emotions, colors, or other ideas requires.
• Run through the piece in your head away from • Practice with the same expressive intentions you
the instrument. Try it right before going to sleep would use if you were on stage performing for
• Be able to sing the entire piece of music either an audience, even when practicing slowly.
out loud or in your head • On the day of the performance, rest, and keep
• Go over the fingering for the entire piece of practice to a minimum.
music in your head • If you are concerned about a particular passage
• Be able to start from any point in the music on performance day, practice it, but not too
• Have a scheme for the music that repeats; know much
how each repetition is slightly different or the • Play the piece enough on performance day
same as the others so that you are in the mindset to play it and it
doesn’t feel like new music
Finally, if you find that you can’t perform music by • As you go out on stage, give yourself permission
memory, then use the music. As long as you give not to worry about technique
C O L L A B O R AT I O N
Mr. Perlman has collaborated with many musicians over a lifetime of performing,
and he’s picked up some tips for working with other musicians along the way. Here
are just a few to keep in mind:
WORKING WITH OTHER MUSICIANS IN A CHAMBER SETTING
Timing Working With a Conductor and Orchestra

• Work on synchronizing the beat • Aim for an amicable, not confrontational,
• When you slow down or speed up, come to an relationship
agreement with your partner(s) about how to • Be respectful
do so • Communicate your wishes in terms of
tempo and balance
MASTERCLASS
44
Balance • If something doesn’t seem right, politely ask
• Make sure one instrument is not much louder the conductor, “Can you help me out?”
than any other • Avoid blurting out, “It’s too loud,”
• Know who plays the melody and who plays the “It’s too fast,” etc.
accompaniment at various points in the music, • Use humor
and allow the melody to come out • Know the tendencies of particular conductors:
Some might conduct behind you, others might
Phrasing conduct ahead
• Make sure the group comes to an agreement
about how the phrasing will go
ITZHAK PERLMAN C O L L A B O R AT I O N
WHAT IS KLEZMER MUSIC?

SOME OF MR. PERLMAN’S COLLABORATIVE
Klezmer music is built on PARTNERS FEATURED IN THIS CHAPTER:
traditional Jewish music from
eastern Europe, much of it
dance and celebration music PINCHAS ZUKERMAN, born in 1948, is an
played at weddings and other Israeli-American violinist, violist, and conductor.
special occasions. Mr. Perlman
heard this kind of music in He and Mr. Perlman have known each other since
Israel when he was a child; childhood and have played together since they
much later on, when he was
asked to host a show about were teenagers. Both of them graduated from
klezmer, he found that the the Juilliard School, and, for a time, both lived
style came naturally to him. In
1995 he recorded an album of in the same apartment building on Manhattan’s
klezmer music called IN THE Upper West Side. “It’s a rare thing, two people
FIDDLER’S HOUSE, which
was followed by a documen-
with such effortless rapport,” Perlman said of their
tary of the same name. Mr. relationship in a 1979 New York Times article. They
Perlman loves to play this
have toured and performed countless concerts
kind of music and continues to
perform it today. together over their many years of friendship and
collaboration.
VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY is a Russian pianist

and conductor born in 1937. He and Mr. Perlman
MASTERCLASS
45
started playing together in the 1960s and made
numerous recordings together. “I enjoyed tre-
mendously working with him,” Ashkenazy said in a
2017 interview with Decca Classics. “We discussed
things. Not that we argued, but we discussed
things properly and always arrived at a decision
that was acceptable to both of us.”
Jazz pianist OSCAR PETERSON worked with

Mr. Perlman to record a 1994 album called Side
by Side, which featured favorite jazz standards like
“Misty,” “Stormy Weather,” “Mack the Knife,” “I
Loves You, Porgy,” and more.
A CAREER IN MUSIC
The Perlman Music Program (PMP), founded in 1994 by Mr. Perlman’s

wife, Toby, creates an environment where young musicians can feel
nurtured and supported while also receiving high-level training. Every
summer, an elite group of string players between the ages of 12 and 18
makes tracks for Shelter Island in New York to receive instruction from an
all-star faculty (students of the violin, viola, cello, and bass are welcome).
The kids are also thrown into a choir whether they have a background in
singing or not. The idea is to create community and even a little humility.
Students who are “already stars in their own countries come [to PMP] and
they’re just part of the group,” Toby says. At the end of the day, though, the
MASTERCLASS
46
camp is about fostering connections between campers and encouraging a
lifelong love of music. Here, Toby gives you a behind-the-scenes look at this
unique and thriving program—how it came to be, how it has evolved into
the success it is today—as well as some unexpected advice for pursuing a
modern-day career in classical music.
ITZHAK PERLMAN A CAREER IN MUSIC
ORIGINS OF THE PERLMAN MUSIC PROGRAM
Toby and Mr. Perlman first met at a summer music them out in some way. And in the course
program for young string players. Her exposure to of conversation someone said, “You know, we
excellent teaching at such an early age laid the could have a school attached to the festival.”
foundation for the Perlman Music Program. Without skipping a beat, I said, “A school? Oh,
“That experience—not of meeting my husband, I’ll run a school.” So we got a school. No festival!
but going to that program—gave me a model for But that was the beginning. This conversation
what I would do if I could. And I think that life ex- about the school took place I think in April, maybe
perience combined with, later on, the experiences March, and we opened that August. We started
of my own children who were at various music small—the first couple of years, I think we did a
programs around the country, kind of cemented two week program, and then we went to four
this dream. So when the opportunity arose, I was weeks, and then six weeks, and finally seven weeks.
ready. I never would have done this had the oppor- Then we added other programs to it. So it’s mush-
tunity not kind of landed in my lap. But once it did, roomed into something a lot more complicated
we just went for it.” than I had originally envisioned.”
It wasn’t until the Perlmans bought a house outside Even early on, the program garnered A-list fans.
MASTERCLASS
47
of New York that the school Toby imagined finally “Steven Spielberg, Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder
materialized. were very early supporters of this program.
“Itzhak and I have a house in East Hampton, and They really helped us out. We’re very lucky that
I was contacted by a group of people who were we get a lot of support—we have a whole bunch
interested in having a major music festival there. I of people who really love us. In the beginning
had no interest in that at all, because we had just nobody knew what this was going to be, and
spent ten summers in Aspen and then left, mainly people really went out on a limb and enabled us to
because it got too social and too fancy for us. get started. Steven was among those people. We
So I had no interest, but I thought, ‘I’ll go to the hadn’t proved anything yet, and he really made a
meeting to be polite,’ you know? Maybe I can help difference.”
PMP TODAY
The program is small, but that’s the secret to students. Thirty five is the magic number because
its success. it’s small enough so that you know what’s going on
“I adhere to a policy, and I discipline myself not to under each child’s fingernails and big enough so it
get sucked into anything else. For the program of feels bigger than a family.”
students ages 12 to 18, we take a maximum of 40
ITZHAK PERLMAN A CAREER IN MUSIC
Aspiring students should expect a competitive violin faculty chooses the violins, and so on. It’s a
application process. very difficult process because the level is so high,
“It’s very competitive, so getting in is difficult. and it’s horrifying to have to reject so many kids.
But once you’re in, it’s completely non-compet- This year I think we had 106 violin applicants for
itive. That’s a big issue for us—these kids live in four spots. It’s not fair, but that’s the way it is.”
a very competitive world with crazy parents and
terrible pressure. Once they’re in the program, we The A-list support keeps on coming.
try to get rid of some of that. Students fill out the “Alec Baldwin and Alan Alda are among our
application online, and they make a recording, and fans. These are people who really get it and care
each faculty member decides for his or her own about us.”
studio. So the viola faculty chooses the violas, the
PREPARING FOR A CAREER IN MUSIC
Being well-rounded is as crucial as being well-practiced. go to school. You have to have something in your
“It’s a very different world now than when my head and your heart. One without the other is no
husband started out. In many ways, there are good. If our PMP-ers are choosing between going
MASTERCLASS
48
more opportunities now than there were then. to college and going to a conservatory, I always
On the other hand, I think the path was straighter urge them to go to college. Go to college, take
50 years ago than it is now. It’s a very broad interesting courses—take the modern Japanese
question, and my answer to it is not so much about novel! You’ll never have an opportunity to study
the cultivation of a career but the cultivation of that at any other time. Maybe that’s an exaggera-
the child. And so, what does that mean? It means tion, but not much. Developing skills is important,
that the kid who sits in the practice room eight but developing as a person is equally important.
hours a day and doesn’t go to school is going to That doesn’t mean it’s easy to make a career, but
play like a kid who sits in a room all day and doesn’t usually, greatness doesn’t get lost.”
OVERCOMING BARRIERS
ABILITY VS. DISABILITY
Mr. Perlman has a tremendous ability to play the violin. Yet even as a violinist with
world acclaim, he still finds himself in situations where people refuse to look past his
physical disability caused by childhood polio.
The key is to separate abilities from disabilities. Focus on your abilities. Cultivate them to their
fullest. Share them with the world.
You may have your own disabilities, whether they
are physical, social, mental or emotional. But And when it comes to those around you, focus on
this does not take away from your abilities and their abilities as well. Understand that a disability
your gifts. does not define a person.
MASTERCLASS
49
I T Z H A K P E R L M A N | C H A P T E R 17 | B O N U S C H A P T E R
F O R PA R E N T S A N D T E A C H E R S
One of the best things you can do for your child is to listen to good music in your
home. If you’re not sure where to start, Mr. Perlman has compiled a playlist.
Mr. Perlman’s Custom Playlist • Ask the music teacher at your child’s school for
recommendations
Caprice No. 1 • Ask fellow parents whose children are involved
Niccolò Paganini with music for recommendations
Mr. Perlman says: “It’s a great example of the use • If there aren’t many quality music programs in
of spiccato.” your community, consider looking in a larger
nearby city
Fritz Kreisler plays Méditation
Mr. Perlman says: “It’s an example of a gorgeous At the end of the day, remember this: A teacher
MASTERCLASS
50
tone.” should cultivate a child’s talent, not ruin it.
Emanuel Feuermann plays Dvořák and Popper Some Basic Dos and Don’ts
Mr. Perlman says: “The legendary Emanuel • Allow children to play with friends; don’t make
Feuermann is a perfect example of beautiful tone them prisoners to practice and homework
and extraordinary facility.” • Allow the student to make musical decisions;
don’t micro-manage
Perpetuual Mobile • Help the student cultivate his or her ideas;
Ottokar Nováček don’t impose all of the teacher’s ideas on the
Mr. Perlman says: “Another example of spiccato.” student
• Talk about technique in a way that will make the
How Do You Find A Good Teacher? music come alive; don’t focus on technique to
• Check with your local orchestra or symphony the exclusion of focusing on music
• Check with your local university music program • Leave things alone when they go well; analyze
• Look into local music conservatories when a student’s music doesn’t go over well to
• Look into local Suzuki music programs understand how to change things effectively
I T Z H A K P E R L M A N | C H A P T E R 18 | B O N U S C H A P T E R
ACQUIRING A FINE INSTRUMENT
Not many violinists have the opportunity to play on a Stradivari violin worth mil-
lions of dollars. Chances are, you’ll start with a student violin, then upgrade as your
playing improves and you find yourself seeking more from your instrument. Here
are some pointers for choosing the right violin:
Purchasing a Student Instrument Purchasing a Higher-Quality Instrument

A beginner can purchase or rent an instrument. If you buy an instrument from a reputable violin
Renting can be a good idea for a child who will shop or luthier (violin maker), you will probably be
grow out of his or her instrument. Some shops buying the violin, bow, and case separately. Most
will let you apply part of your rental fees towards violin shops have a room where you can play a
the purchase of an instrument, but you should violin that you’re considering, and most will also
always ask about this ahead of time. allow you to borrow the violin (or several) for
a period of time to see if it is the one you wish
MASTERCLASS
51
It’s best if you can actually test an instrument to buy.
before purchasing it. Seek out the help of your
teacher, if you have one. Most shops will let you Play a variety of pieces on the violin to assess its
test an instrument before buying it. tone, responsiveness, and volume. The tone is
the quality of the sound. The responsiveness is its
It is possible to buy a good violin online, but do clarity in responding to fast passages and various
your research, seek recommendations from techniques. The volume is simply how loud it
teachers and players, and be wary. Don’t buy the is—does it carry in a hall? It can be helpful to have
cheapest violin you can find on the internet fig- someone else play the violin for you and to test in
uring that the quality won’t matter. A low-quality it different settings, such as your room at home, a
violin will frustrate you with both bad sound and church, and a concert hall.
bad functionality, with issues like pegs that don’t
work properly, bad strings, or a bridge that doesn’t If the violin is made by a particular luthier, make
fit the violin. Chances are you’ll spend a small sure to get a certificate of authenticity (it’ll come
fortune making the faulty instrument usable—and in handy if you need to file a claim on a lost instru-
that’s money you could have spent on a better ment or if the day comes when you decide to sell).
instrument to begin with. You’ll also need an official appraisal from the violin
shop or maker so you can insure the instrument
for an amount that’s commensurate with its value.
ITZHAK PERLMAN ACQUIRING A FINE INSTRUMENT
Acquiring a Stradivari or Other Rare Italian A number of universities also own fine instruments
Instrument that they’ll loan to students.
Students at the highest level may wish to play on a
rare Italian instrument, and these tend to be worth Mr. Perlman’s Soil Stradivarius
hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars. Made in 1714 during Antonio Stradivari’s Golden
Here are some of the organizations, institutions, Period, the Soil Stradivari belonged to Yehudi
and competitions that grant instrument loans and/ Menuhin before Mr. Perlman acquired it. Mr.
or connect young artists with patrons who own Perlman fell in love with it the minute he first
fine instruments: played it (at a meeting with Menuhin, who gra-
ciously let Mr. Perlman try it out). Years later, in
• Amati Foundation 1986, Mr. Perlman bought it from Menuhin. It
• Canadian Instrument Bank is called the Soil because it was once owned by
• Chi-Mei Foundation Amédée Soil, a Belgian industrialist. Before that,
• Doublestop Foundation it was owned by a number of people, including
• International Violin Competition of Indianapolis French luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. It is con-
• The Maestro Foundation sidered among the finest of the violins made by
• Nippon Music Foundation the Italian violin maker Stradivari, who made some
• Paris Foundation 1,100 violins, violas, cellos, and guitars. Today,
• Stradivari Society about 450 Stradivari violins survive, and because
MASTERCLASS
52
• Rachel Barton Pine Foundation of their high value, most are owned by wealthy
• Rare Violins in Consortium collectors and institutions.
ITZHAK PERLMAN | APPENDIX
S O M E O F T H E M U S I C P L AY E D
THROUGHOUT MR. PERLMAN’S CL ASS
JOHANN SEBASTIAN “unplayable” and refused help of violinist Joseph concertos in the violin
BACH: GAVOTTE EN to perform it for a sched- Joachim. The runaway repertoire, combining
RONDEAU FROM PARTITA uled premiere in 1879. popularity of the concerto, elements of late-Classical
NO. 3 When it was premiered written when Bruch was and early-Romantic style.
Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas two years later in 1881, in his 20s, dogged him for
were completed around played by violinist Adolf the rest of his life. It proved CADENZA BY FRITZ
1720 after the sudden death Brodsky, critics ripped into more popular than nearly KREISLER, FOR LUDWIG
of his wife. The Sei Solo, it, with Austrian writer everything else he wrote, VAN BEETHOVEN’S
as he called them, were Eduard Hanslick noting with the possible exception VIOLIN CONCERTO
written for the violin with that it “stank to the ear” of his Scottish Fantasy for IN D-MA JOR, OP. 61
no accompaniment, and yet and that “the violin is no violin and orchestra. It also Technically, a cadenza
they’re some of the most longer played; it is pulled made him very little money, is showy improvisation
harmonically complete and about, torn, beaten black- as he had sold the score to by a soloist, played at a
profound pieces of music and-blue.” Yet this con- the publisher for a modest cadence in a concerto. But
MASTERCLASS
that Bach ever wrote, full certo went on to become sum, with no provision for many famous performers
53
of multiple voices and one of the most beloved, royalties. have written down their
counterpoint. There are most performed, and most cadenzas for various
three sonatas, each with recorded concerti in the FELIX MENDELSSOHN: concertos. Beethoven’s
four movements, and three violin repertoire. Even VIOLIN CONCERTO IN Violin Concerto has
Partitas, each with multiple Auer came to eventually E-MINOR, OP. 64 inspired cadenzas by
dance movements. The champion the work, This violin concerto was dozens of famous violinists,
Gavotte en Rondeau, a lively performing it frequently premiered in 1845 by including Leopold Auer,
dance in two, is the third and teaching it to his soon- the violinist Ferdinand Joshua Bell, Ferdinand
of six dance movements in to-be-famous students, David, to whom the work David, Carl Flesch, Joseph
Partita No. 3. violinists Mischa Elman, was dedicated. David Joachim, Fritz Kreisler,
Jascha Heifetz, Nathan and Mendelssohn had Nathan Milstein, Louis
PYOTR ILYICH Milstein, Oskar Shumsky, been friends since their Spohr, Henri Vieuxtemps,
TCHAIKOVSKY: VIOLIN and Efrem Zimbalist. teenage years, and at the Henryk Wieniawski, and
CONCERTO IN D-MA JOR, time David was concert- Eugène Ysaÿe. In this
OP. 35 MAX BRUCH: VIOLIN master of the Leipzig chapter, Mr. P plays the
If first impressions held CONCERTO NO. 1 IN Gewandhaus Orchestra, fiendishly difficult Kreisler
any weight, Tchaikovsky’s G-MINOR, OP. 26 where Mendelssohn was cadenza, which is full of
only violin concerto was Completed in 1866, Max conductor. Mendelssohn’s double-stops and relentless
dead on arrival. When Bruch’s first violin concer- violin concerto, written passagework.
Tchaikovsky presented to was premiered by vio- in close consultation
it to violinist Leopold linist Otto von Königslow with David, is one of the
Auer, Auer dismissed it as and later revised with the most frequently-played
ANTONIO BAZZINI: L A Concerto—now considered used for a popular 1930s JOHANN SEBASTIAN
RONDE DES LUTINS, OP. 25 among the most beautiful song by Mack David called BACH: CIACONNA
Translated as “the Dance and pristine works written On the Isle of May. FROM PARTITA NO. 2 IN
of the Goblins,” this piece, for violin—was met by the D-MINOR
written in 1852 by the world with tepid reviews JULES MASSENET: Written for violin with no
Italian violinist, involves when it was premiered in MÉDITATION FROM THAÏS accompaniment, this is one
a dizzying array of special 1806 by violinist Franz As written in Massenet’s of the most deeply spiritual
techniques: flying spiccato, Clement. One reason may 1894 opera Thaïs, this movements in all of Bach’s
left-hand pizzicato, artificial have been that Beethoven violin solo represents the Sonatas and Partitas, falling
harmonics, double-stop finished writing it just days repentance and spiritual at the conclusion of the
trills, and more. before the premiere, forcing awakening of the opera’s five-movement Partita No.
Clement to sight-read it main character, Thaïs. But 2. A ciaconna, or chaconne,
GIUSEPPE TARTINI: at the concert. Written in the violin solo has had a is a form of variations based
VIOLIN SONATA NO. 3 IN the violin-friendly key of hefty life outside of the on repeated harmonic
G-MINOR, THE DEVIL’S D-major, it begins with a opera, becoming a must- progression. It was written
TRILL movement full of cascading learn piece for students, a around 1720, and historians
Giuseppe Tartini wrote this scales and triumphant recital piece for violinists have speculated that this
four-movement sonata for orchestral writing and of all levels, and an encore work embodies Bach’s grief
MASTERCLASS
violin in the early 1700s ends with a playful last piece for soloists. You can over the sudden death of his
54
after having a dream movement. find hundreds of record- wife.
that he had been visited ings of this piece in every
by the devil, who played PYOTR ILYICH medium of recorded music; WOLFGANG
him the most virtuosic TCHAIKOVSKY: ANDANTE Mr. P particularly loves an AMADEUSMOZART:
and brilliant music he’d CANTABILE old recording by violinist CONCERTO NO. 4
ever heard. Upon waking, This melody comes from Fritz Kreisler. In 1775, Mozart wrote five
he tried to jot down his the second movement violin concerti in rapid
memories of the music, but of Tchaikovsky’s String ERNEST CHAUSSON: succession (he was just
he ultimately felt that his Quartet No. 1, Op. 11, POÉME, OP. 25 19 years old). His first
written composition was written in 1871. By the com- Written in 1896 for the two concertos are seldom
inferior to what he’d heard poser’s own account, the violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, played, but Concertos 3,
in his dream. Nonetheless, movement caused Russian this one-movement work 4, and 5 are staples of the
this was his most famous author Leo Tolstoy to burst is named for a romantic violin repertoire. Though
composition. into tears during a 1876 novella called The Song Mozart was known more
performance. Tchaikovsky of Triumphant Love by for his skill at the keyboard,
LUDWIG VAN arranged it for cello, and the Russian writer Ivan he was a fine violinist, and
BEETHOVEN: VIOLIN a number of violinists, Turgenev. The highly his father, Leopold Mozart,
CONCERTO IN D-MA JOR, including Leopold Auer emotional piece is steeped was a violinist, composer,
OP. 61 and Fritz Kreisler, have in French Romanticism. and teacher who wrote
It’s hard to believe that made arrangements for a seminal violin method
Beethoven’s Violin violin. The tune was even book.
CÉSAR FRANCK: SONATA Petersburg with Anton CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS:

IN A-MA JOR Rubinstein conducting. INTRODUCTION AND
César Franck wrote this RONDO CAPRICCIOSO IN
sonata for violin and piano JOHANN SEBASTIAN A-MINOR, OP. 28
in 1886 as a wedding BACH: VIOLIN Saint-Saëns composed
present for violinist CONCERTO IN A-MINOR this piece in 1863 for the
Eugène Ysaÿe, who was This particular concerto violinist Pablo de Sarasate.
31 at the time. Though the has three movements, as Its Spanish-tinged melo-
composer died just four is typical of traditional dies and thrilling virtuosic
years later, the piece grew Italian structure. The passages have made it a
in popularity as Ysaÿe movements are arranged popular showpiece for
continued to play it over his fast-slow-fast. violinists ever since.
own lifetime. This sonata is
notorious for the demands LUDWIG VAN HENRYK WIENIAWSKI:
it makes on the pianist, BEETHOVEN: VIOLIN CAPRICES OP. 18 FOR
as Franck himself was a SONATA NO. 10, OP. 96, TWO VIOLINS, NO. 4
pianist and organist with IV. POCO ALLEGRETTO The Polish violinist, who
unusually large hands. Written for his patron also taught violin from
MASTERCLASS
Archduke Rudolf, a 1862 to 1869 at the St.

55
HENRYK WIENIAWSKI: pianist, and the French Petersburg Conservatory,
VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 2 violinist Pierre Rode, this wrote eight madly difficult
IN D-MINOR, OP. 22 was Beethoven’s last violin Études-Caprices. This is
Polish violinist Henryk sonata, written in 1812. one of them. Intended to be
Wieniawski was one of the Beethoven makes equal instructional, Wieniawski
most famous virtuosi of his partners of the violin and wrote each first violin part
time. He wrote a number piano, and this sonata has as an étude focusing on ad-
of works that remain in characteristics of both the vanced technique while the
the violin repertoire today, Classical style as well as second violin part generally
including this concerto, the emerging Romantic provides the melody.
which he premiered style.
himself in 1862 in St.

Itzhak Perlman: Teaches Violin

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Itzhak Perlman: Teaches Violin

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ITZHAK PERLMAN

Consider this workbook like an encyclopedia of instrumental

A violinist of the highest caliber. A devoted teacher. A humanitarian. Itzhak

Welcome to Itzhak Perlman’s MasterClass.

THE ESSENTIAL ITZHAK LISTENING GUIDE

The violin is both an object of great beauty and symmetry as well as an

SADDLE TAILPIECE GUT

END SCREW: A screw used to tighten or loosen

HOLDING THE BOW

As a child, Mr. Perlman was taught two ways to

Russian bow grip

When he moved to the United States, Mr. Perlman’s

ELEMENTS OF PRODUCING A GOOD SOUND

When moving the bow from the frog to the tip

Changing Bow Direction

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

the bounce point, and contact point near

TREMOLO: Usually played at the tip of the NATURAL HARMONICS: This is a

slowly, run your finger up the G string, but

QUADRUPLE STOPS: You guessed it:

FIRST POSITION: Beginners start by THIRD POSITION: Using first position as

SECOND POSITION: Using first posi-

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

SHARP AND FLAT

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

Vibrato is a slight fluctuation in pitch that’s used to create a warmth or richness of

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE:

COMFORT AND POSTURE

THE CHIN REST

THE SHOULDER REST

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

COLOR AND TONE

THE COLOR GAME

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

make your violin convey that emotion.

ABIGEL KRALIK is an American-born, chamber musician, Neubauer was a winner of

BAROQUE (1600-1750) ROMANTIC (1820-1915)

Baroque (1600-1750) attention to the original styles and conventions

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

THE PERFORMANCE MINDSET

HOW TO COPE WITH NERVES

On Stage: • Let go of mistakes; forget about what just hap-

ESTABLISH GOOD HABITS

Use a Metronome A metronome can help you keep a consistent

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

When using a metronome, it’s important to under-

You need to know, otherwise you’ll wind up playing

For complicated passages of running notes,

Here is a measure you could practice using the

This is what it would look like to practice them

This is what it would look like to practice them

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

FIRST HOUR: SCALES

SECOND HOUR: ÉTUDES

THIRD HOUR: REPERTOIRE

SCALES AND ARPEGGIOS

ÉTUDES AND EXERCISES (YOUR TEACHER NEEDS TO ADVISE

An étude, which mean “study” in French, is a 36 ETUDES OR CAPRICES FOR

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

Every violinist reacts a little differently to performing a piece by memory.

WORKING WITH OTHER MUSICIANS IN A CHAMBER SETTING

Timing Working With a Conductor and Orchestra

WHAT IS KLEZMER MUSIC?