Hard violin skill

Playing double stops on the violin is tough. 

To sound like two violins playing at the same time, you have to play two strings at the same time. It’s like walking on a tight rope.  If you play one string too hard, you’ll crush your sound. If you play the other string to lightly, your sound will squeak.

Some violinists will spend hours every day trying to master double stops. And never do. 

My teacher, Mr. Rosenblith, could play them as easily as he could breathe. Instead of using brute force and practicing double stops all day, he would spend a short amount of time. But he would have targeted practice sessions every day.

He’d break down the motions and work on micro-goals to build momentum. Like taking medicine, he’d work on the minimal effective dose. Unlike medicine, he created silly little games to make practicing fun.

Next time you’re tackling a tough problem, how might you be more like Mr. Rosenblith?

Thanks for caring!

With gratitude,

Anwell Tsai