| Q & A Who is this book written for? Answer:
It is primarily written for the many violin students who struggle to progress from the higher grades to diploma levels. It also defines a specific technique of active listening, which solves the ongoing problems associated with intonation and co-ordination security. This problem affects all levels. Traditional violin pedagogy has produced the world’s best players. Why question it at all? Answer:
It is well known among examiners that traditional pedagogy has produced both brilliant results for a minority and persistent plateau for the majority, it is legitimate to examine what is missing rather than what is successful. When the same technical failures are observable for decades, someone eventually has to stop admiring the success stories and analyse the failures. Why haven’t elite conservatoires already codified these ideas if they are so fundamental? Answer:
Because their historical pedagogical process is built on reputation, auditioning, talent searching and a turn over of student numbers to cover the attrition rate. Their systems prioritise selection and refinement of existing ability, rather than universal technical remediation. Isn’t this just a personal teaching philosophy inflated into a “theory of talent”? Answer:
The same technical failures have existed amongst thousands of unrelated candidates examined over many decades. Personal philosophies do not generate these consistent, predictable patterns of failure. Systemic gaps do. My work is not about outperforming past masters, nor correcting them. It is about observing where modern students fail after those traditions are applied. Book Teaser | ThiDoes this book replace traditional teaching? Answer:
No, it is only a supplement. It has been written to help students understand why their teacher’s instructions sometimes work and sometimes don’t. The Principles of Talent does not propose a replacement for traditional violin pedagogy. It proposes an explanation of techniques that tradition often leaves implicit. Most violinists fail not because they lack ability, discipline, or good teachers—but because the final layers of technique have never been explicitly defined. What is different and how can intonation and co-ordination be guaranteed? Answer:
It applies logic. All violin techniques take time, this means that every technique can be placed into a timeline where something must be done before a guaranteed result is obtained. For instance, a note is tuned before the audience hears it, not after. The bow does not play a new note while the left hand finger is still in the air. If the finger is in contact with the string (not the fingerboard) and already tuned at the exact moment of the bow change, then co-ordination and intonation are functionally guaranteed. The timeline explains how this is done in exact detail. The book also introduces many totally new techniques of string crossing, directional momentum, invention, etc. Where is the experimental, peer-reviewed research validating these claims? Answer:
This work does not claim biomedical validation, but demonstrable repeatability under external adjudication, as shown in my competition results page. These students were judged by classical music examiners, performers, and professors. Historically, performance disciplines have always advanced through empirical refinement before academic formalisation in a thesis presentation. This book is not greater than traditional pedagogy.
It simply stands at the edge, where tradition stops explaining. |
