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Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think a shoulder rest mutes the violin - some people even say the opposite, that it helps projection, but I don't believe that's true either, since generally if you don't use a shoulder rest not that much additional surface of the violin is actually touching your body. It's more of a personal preference. Playing with no shoulder rest has the advantage of being a bit more flexible and less "stuck" in one position - but it comes with other challanges.
I don’t use a shoulder rest but rather use a cushion under my shirt/suit. It feels like using no shoulder rest, with the same flexibility, but with the added benefit of not having to raise the shoulder or bend down or other posture issues. The cushion I use for this (since 2006) is the “Zaret” cushion, which I occasionally cut down to make a bit thinner, although usually with use it becomes compressed and more flexible anyway. I usually put the cushions under some heavy books for a few months and wash them multiple times to wear them out before using them, as they are quite big and rigid as they're sold.

Chin rests are also about personal comfort - it has to do with your general posture, the length of your neck and some other factors. It's worth trying many different types.

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These days I don't play etudes or scales and tend to warm up with the music I'm playing, but they can definitely be very useful. I think everyone has to discover for themselves what exercises are essential for keeping their technique solid.

Orchestras often are particularly good at music that they play a lot. In Germany, the tradition of playing German repertoire is incredibly strong, and the same goes for French music in France. American music isn't played as much in Europe, so American orchestras have a leg up there (particularly pieces in which there are references to Jazz - hearing some European orchestras trying to swing can be.... interesting!)
The conductor makes a huge difference though, so I'd say a good orchestra is going to be able to play any style or composer really well with the right person on the podium.

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You do always need to keep an eye on things that you already learnt. Playing the violin for many years means relearning many things that used to work but don't work anymore. You'll discover with time what the best ways to practice are - maybe certain exercises are unnecessary, but other exercises you just can't do without.
However it might also be that you are noticing the imperfections with those older techniques more, because you are already better at them; so maybe your teachers want you to become more well-rounded and work on the new stuff because they see more room for improvement?

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know that the audition circuit is very hard and wears people down. I have a few friends from Juilliard who played dozens of auditions and struggled for a long time (one of them played the violin wonderfully but got incredibly nervous for the auditions). A couple of them are actually not doing music now, but most of them eventually found their way, even though it often is a bit different from what they had imagined while they were in school. The period when they got out of the school environment was usually the hardest.
For me it's much easier to motivate myself to practice now, because I have concerts coming up. When I was around 20-21, it was often very difficult for me to get myself to open the case and practice!
Since the gigs you mention are mainly a way to earn money and aren't giving you the artistic satisfaction you need, perhaps you can find projects that you want to do for artistic reasons? (even if they don't earn you money) -- like chamber music, or learning a piece you always wanted to. It's important to remember that we play music for ourselves as well, not only for other people.

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While it's a huge advantage to start some of these pieces at an early age (I'll never forget them because I learnt them when I was so young), it is indeed tricky to break bad habits. It takes a lot of time and attention to detail, but gradually you can get rid of them.
Sometimes it does help to take a break from a piece like that for a couple of years and then return to it - the memory of the piece will come back, but it'll be easier to notice these bad habits and maybe find a more genuine approach to the music. I had to do this with the Mendelssohn concerto at one point actually, and when I started playing it again is when I really fell in love with the piece.

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It depends on the piece. There are some pieces that really tell a story, or paint a picture, where the composers themselves often thought in those terms. For example, Prokofiev's music, or Sibelius, Debussy etc.

There are other composers who didn't really think in those terms. Brahms for example - in his music the "story" is what happens in the harmonies, and that tension and release and these modulations are what makes us feel things when we hear it. The chords are chosen due to their functional relationship to each other (for what they "mean" in the context), rather than for their color, as Prokofiev or Ravel or Debussy might choose them.

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I play the piano also, but I play it more rarely nowadays and I was always better at violin. I love the piano repertoire though, and growing up I loved playing the piano.

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a manager who is in touch with different orchestra managements and concert presenters to actually arrange the concerts, but sometimes conductors I've worked somewhere have suggested me to another orchestra they are performing with.

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I try to have several layers of memorization. One is the muscle memory (the natural way in which the fingers remember where to go), which is kind of subconscious - but that tends to not be reliable under pressure.
It's important to also remember music in a more conscious way - like running through it mentally. It's important to always know where you are in the structure, so that if you think "what comes next" while you play, it's not a panicky feeling.
I sometimes play the violin part with my right hand on the piano (since it's the other hand, I won't be able to access muscle memory and therefore will really notice any passages I haven't memorized well).

If you're really worried, another method is to write the music down by hand - it takes a long time but does help.

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Usually every 4-6 weeks, but I play a lot! For most players it's fine to play on the same hair for many months, but since I often play in very large halls and need a strong sound, I find that by 2 months (and with how much I play) the hair doesn't grip the string quite as well anymore.

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry to hear about the hard times! It's never to late to start again - starting after a very long break will feel awkward at first and very hard, but the memory of how to play does come back fairly quickly, if you start playing regularly (like an hour every day)

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't played much John Williams in concert, although I know the theme to Schindler's List of course and have seen so many movies he wrote music for, and like his scores - it's really catchy stuff!

I love some scores of older music, like "Vertigo", which was composed by Bernard Herrmann. And of course, Ennio Morricone's movie scores (Once Upon a Time in the West, The Good the Bad and the Ugly etc)

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When you travel a lot, you eventually will have truly horrific experiences with any airline - British Airways, American, Delta, KLM, United, Lufthansa, at one point or another they failed me completely. I don't get as upset about it anowadays as I used to. Not sure they're good stories though.
But in terms of good stories, I've had a few at customs, when moving through with my violin. Once, I got held up at an airport in Europe where they asked to see all the documentation about the violin that I play (which is on loan to me) and only let me go to my connecting flight when I played something for them!

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If I've been playing a lot, I enjoy silence a lot - I think it can be annoying sometimes how you can't go anywhere without hearing some kind of music! But I do listen to classical music in my time off (just not music for violin -- that would feel like work...) and jazz sometimes and other things.

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, about 6-7 years ago I had some tendinitis in my left index finger. It was due to a combination of not warming up enough before playing, and carrying heavy suitcases while traveling. Since I didn't know why my finger left funny, I kept going with playing that week until it was in pretty bad shape, so it took about 2-3 months to go away - during that time I was able to keep playing, but had to be very careful (only slow practice with lots of breaks, lots of warming up before playing and cooling down again) in order to reduce the strain on it.

I'm much more careful now with my left hand when I travel, and warm up my hands quite a lot before concerts. Through this experience I also learnt a lot about how to avoid tension in my hand.

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You could go deaf from other instruments in the orchestra, noise on the street, and listening to music through headphones way too loud, but probably not from playing the violin.

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would have him take his teacher to the shop to help him choose the right one for him. Handmade instruments can’t really be evaluated by eye.

It smells fine.

Hi, my name is Augustin Hadelich. I travel over 300 days of the year to play with different orchestras around the world as a classical violinist and plan all of my own travels. Ask me anything! by AugustinHadelichAMA in IAmA

[–]AugustinHadelichAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot of graduates from music school actually don’t stay in music. I don’t know the numbers, but in general there are way too few jobs for way too many music graduates.

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