Ray Chen Violin Masterclass at SFCM

hi everybody hi everybody that is uh out there uh in in the interwebs i'm jonas wright dean and chief academic officer here at the san francisco conservatory of music we have a really exciting guest for you today and um amazing artist uh ray chen taiwanese australian violinist is joining us this evening uh first place winner in the menu and competition and the queen elizabeth competitions um and performing uh at davey symphony hall on sunday night uh let's welcome to the stage ray chen hi everyone it's a pleasure to be here for those of you who are in the back feel free to come on down to the front um if you're having trouble yeah hearing we can be we can be a little closer okay so um yeah pleasure to be here uh i'm excited to hear some of the students play today we'll be introduced to a few new pieces well one of them especially but um yeah really really happy to be here um also wanted to leave time at the end for q a so if you have any questions be sure to keep them in mind and we'll make be sure to address them as well and i'll um i'll get to those but a quick intro about myself i uh i don't know for some of you might already know i i was uh born in taipei moved to australia when i was about four months old uh i don't really sound australian these days sounds like why um okay well these days i don't really sound like this but um when i was back at home yeah for the first 15 16 years of my life i studied in australia and um yeah that was where i grew up and then i moved to okay now i can't stop uh i moved to the states when i was uh 16 15 16 uh to study in philadelphia and uh on my own so that was pretty intense but i managed to learn to be quite independent uh from that process and uh and always um you know sort of had a nice career trajectory quite traditional but always had a focus on uh combining the three elements of performance community building and also education so that's always something that um has been really important to me so uh yeah happy to talk more after the class is over all right enjoy [Applause] hmm [Music] hey [Music] mm-hmm [Music] hmm [Music] uh [Applause] come on [Music] foreign so foreign um [Music] um [Music] so [Music] my [Music] um [Music] [Applause] [Music] hmm [Music] hmm [Music] um [Music] uh [Music] wow [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] wow that's wow that's wow that's a delay a delay i always wanted to play pokeball kind of by myself okay it's gone all right never mind the chance is lost so how do you feel good it was fun was it the first time you're performing in front of like i mean at least as large of a crowd as this oh that's great how long have you been working on this about a month earlier in the year the past few weeks wow okay cool this is uh thank you for introducing me to this a new piece i honestly just had never heard of this piece i'm sure like like it's it's honestly like not played that often but which is so cool so um and yet it's so like in that tradition right the viennese waltz so um i think that i was i was trying to get more of a sense of what the in such a large space you know what the sound sounded like because it sounded very different from when i was sitting basically like right underneath you um to when i was even halfway out there in the hall and i think that um the impression that i got was that yeah the it you need to the articulation in some notes so like for example let me see if i can [Music] i i just changed strings it's not because i haven't practiced but for example [Music] like there's there's a sense of sorry this is getting in the way um there's a sense of like uh that there is a start to the no right that enunciation articulation like should be there because otherwise it sounds like you know and then so so i think just a brighter like more intention behind each note i think what you're doing is great just figuring out how to get more intention without forcing it and i was looking technique-wise so here are some actionables um like i noticed that well two things i noticed one is that your your shoulder rest is like directly like against the back of your instrument right you're not using a shoulder as it's kind of like a pad so a lot of your sound is being absorbed into this pad okay so that's one thing a second thing um i noticed is that like you're also spending a lot of time like like here sounding point wise like when you should be like you know play so [Music] you know i'm kind of like at least give us that yeah do you want to try that just uh oh you're welcome just do it yourself yeah [Music] [Applause] [Music] can you just tighten your boat just a half just yeah that'll be good yeah try again oh and then watch your sounding point as well and and remember that liam [Music] like that that you're you're you're looking at your bow right so you should be observing exactly where it is in terms of the location yeah because the second time you did it it was like a little bit like fluffier yeah it wasn't as intentioned [Music] yeah that will probably make you make you feel like you're like trying harder and it will natural out it'll it'll become more natural but it's like kind of like how we're talking right now like if i was if it was just the two of us like i'd be a crazy person to talk to you this loud right but it's because i want them to all the way at the back there to be able to be a part of our conversation so it's really about including everybody and that's why i have to you know speak a little bit slower a little bit clearer and also in this way so maybe if you were playing for yourself in just a small room it wouldn't be like that that would sound kind of like just as crazy as if i were talking like this with in a little room but so think about that perspective whenever you're on the stage all right that it's it's got to be different depending on the space the space is also part of your instrument okay cool so um the trick is to try making it sound natural right okay so um yeah why don't we start from there and then let's let's work along with it [Music] okay and and just one one quick question like in there like what are you thinking of in terms of phrase like because i can hear that like hbar is its phrase but in terms of overall more like two bars yeah two bars [Music] like that a little bit of that lilt right so uh can i try it this would be the first time thank you hmm yeah i think that you can think about different parts of it yeah it's actually really hard so like that i was like whoa easier said than done go for it okay i think what's happening is you have the right intention like i can hear you like for example and then you do do a re you do start it again but it's just not enough like so that's what i'm i'm not hearing or rather i'm hearing so you're even there you know it needs to have like your bow is that's why i asked you to maybe tighten it a little bit because it is going down like i'm literally seeing the bow go down but it's not like you're not actually getting enough of that where i can where certainly like i'm straight training to hear it from here they're not gonna hear it out there [Music] okay i think you're getting confused with like what i just said let me try to rephrase it's like it's not the sustain of the note it's the the a note has a beginning which is the articulation the middle which is like does it swell does it go down does it go up and then the end the tail which leads into or finishes the next note right so now you're focusing on the middle part and that's where most people focus because the first part happens in a blink of an eye right and then you're already into the middle so then you're like oh yeah here i am and then most people forget about the end as well so i need you to focus on the beginning and the end of the note right so the beginning part i'm trying to get you to like think about which note is more like if you were to just sing this out and think about it in a way that was like with that's the intention [Music] i'm thinking about the beginning so that's phrasing from the beginning with that's phrasing the intention right and then you think think about just think about that let's start working from that [Music] okay so you said it was two bars though right you said so is it is it like that what you just do it yourself what would you like okay now now we've got to think about the end of the note we've got the beginning you got it [Music] the end of the note goes into the next right so you got this that that there that's like an end of a phrase that goes into a next note [Music] yeah so there's a lot a lot to think about right now it's not just you got the swing but now you got to think about which notes fit where in the swing right so it's like [Music] [Applause] hey [Music] you know that yeah i i need to study this but you you that's like i'm thinking about where with intention that's what i mean by intention the beginning of the note and then where does that note go to and where does it know lead to right so and being able to do that like naturally and and so you have to go through the piece and and do that okay so that's what you got to do in the beginning um the next part uh let's work on some e-string stuff uh because i think that could maybe help with the uh let's start from here the mice so let's just skip to the end and then there's some middle part but i want to get to this first so just start there [Music] uh [Music] so [Applause] [Music] okay yeah like that's when you're working really hard and i think like the can i try your violin actually [Music] okay i'm gonna try once with with it on okay [Music] i'll just leave that there like that [Music] i don't know did that make a difference yeah i see but i can't tell from here right so but i'm just trusting my knowledge of acoustics to know that if you stop wood from vibrating it's it's gonna yeah it's gonna stop it from vibrating so um just something for you to think about i know it's hard to like switch uh from that but it's just it's and also it depends on what you want right if you want projection you you should definitely not stop the vibration in the instrument um because i used to not use the shoulder s2 and so i actually start i made my own because of like i was just so frustrated i didn't like the fact that you know shoulder rests also clamp aside and so it's a whole thing but and also the one thing about not about playing without a shoulder rest is that you you have to learn the benefits of playing without a shoulder rest the whole point of playing without a shoulder rest is that you get to have the 360 motion right that you don't have to move your whole entire body for that then you can just go it's actually a german term called giganbavegel it means playing against the bow right so you think about not just going down like this but you think about going up against the bow as well like if i'm just going instead of or this [Music] like i'm literally like 1.5 x'ing my effort that way i don't have to like er like this all the time yeah so think about that i i know we have to two minutes oh okay um so yeah can you is that okay i'm sorry i took it off and no no yeah okay cool um so so try that just right there again [Music] [Applause] [Music] yeah i mean i think it's a pretty substantial maybe like 30 difference yeah like 30 so enough obviously you know like i'm not saying you should just play without it you could find something compromise but yeah for sure it's much the sound is much more brilliant it's brighter it's like just more engaging as well so just something for you to think about all right thanks so much yeah [Music] but then you know it's like your shoulder versus like all of this right like so trying to find a different sort of yeah kind of thing like that's why i went with this because i i actually use my shoulder to play against the ball like like that if i don't use my shoulder [Music] like that's that's yeah but that's my style yeah all right thank you cool um so yeah i mean i think that it's important to find mateo was just asking well how do you prevent the shoulder from coming up and and i mean i just frankly i use my shoulder a lot i i actually the it's it's i find like my i want to help the sound with the intention if i if i just lock everything then it's not free right but if [Music] like there's there's just this intention and like yeah that that that that's very important in a in a big hall yeah so um oh i think our next person's ready hi welcome welcome oh man [Music] [Music] so hey [Music] ah [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey [Music] [Applause] hey [Music] oh [Music] um [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] um [Music] so [Music] do do [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] all right well done how'd you feel ah oh yeah are we gonna take the mask off no oh okay um well it's it's pretty it's pretty tough i i i know i i've personally been through that um yeah definitely out of breath right yeah okay um but you did a great job despite that i think there are a few things that i want to address in your playing that um i think can improve just the overall impact that you make i think okay in the in the first section um we'll start from the beginning think of it it is a cadenza all right it's by yourself you got four and a half minutes of just solo think about how you're going to tell a story okay so that's a big picture i was like well how do i tell a story think about like how do you react to what just happened before immediately before and also if it comes again for example it starts [Music] and then later on has right that's different from but it's like double layered right and then within so that's like between different sections and then um what happened reacting for example [Music] where are you going [Music] here [Music] you know so you react to different things and then you can really like there like this you know those are the kind of the emotions that should be that make it sound like impromptu that make it sound like in the moment right um what i find with your playing is that there's not enough expansion it's sort of always around this like mezzo forte forte area right when you you and and this is like there's so many moments for you to get wild especially like in the end as well you know we're like you know [Music] but you never just you use this kind of like [Music] and i i like that's such a a wasted opportunity you know for this piece yeah so um you know if you're gonna if you're gonna do something i like to say you gotta do it you know 100 right so um so let's start on the reacting part okay so think about the first there's lots of rests of this so you got to think about the rest not as breaks starting with that not as breaks but as a reaction so if i said like and then someone's like oh what like that or how would they react would they act react scared that is one one one way or would they react like scared and then be like what what was that you know like kind of thing [Music] [Music] hmm you know anything just just decide on anything right so please uh [Music] okay wait a second it was good i think i got a little bit too many like i think of i think there's too many like uh up until you did something that made me feel like you went like this a few times in a row like you went hi like and it was just like like maybe and then give me one more note before you expand right like otherwise like a plate plate again [Music] yeah so what what is the emotion here yeah what is this what is this what is the emotion like sing it or like act it okay anticipation right what uh what's this it sort of moves forward like right a little bit like that right so but you're kind of you seem kind of like you're scared like you're moving backwards that's why i'm confused and that's where i i cannot relate right so [Music] and then try to come in earlier like maybe on the rest [Music] like yeah maybe like that [Music] um [Music] okay like there's a lot of the same articulation going on here you're going like that there's a you can lift the bow from the string [Music] yeah that's better like try again um from here [Music] and also think about like okay you're doing like because you're doing a softer sound you're going which is fine and then you're kind of doing more [Music] but whatever you decide you're gonna you you have to like commit to it 100 right right because right now i'm sort of getting a huh i guess the second one does sound maybe it could work if it's louder you know i tend to go [Music] then i kind of [Music] and then what happens after [Music] so i know like i'm playing with people's i'm listening to myself on play i'm imagining myself out there and what i would want to hear like what i would want to react out of and then i'm giving the to the audience as they want it with the occasional like 80 of the time and then 20 of the time i'll do something that they don't expect that's how you manipulate the audience the listener and how you can like that's how you play like a like a melody you know like especially something like this yeah so so from a da da da try to imagine yourself listening to yourself out there [Music] [Music] see i i think that that was great that was good and then you did the rest you did after the [Music] uh see like if i just do those two notes it doesn't it's like oh i could start anytime but if i um [Music] that that that drawing right i'm listening to them listen to me so i know when to draw out the maximum amount of pause in between and i can feel the sound as it dissipates and i'm pulling and imagining that thread and then i come in exactly as small as that thread and then i come up does that make sense yeah so listen to the i know it sounds weird listen to the listener listening to you yeah so [Music] some somewhere anywhere there please yeah yeah sure [Music] [Music] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] that was good that was actually pretty good yeah yeah you totally like connected the whole phrase together and yeah it it i liked it yeah it was good well done well done yeah so um and then that's the that's the feeling of like it all being together and then you can sort of do different things that that can anticipate like precipitate or like you know after what we think it's supposed to be so um [Music] hey [Music] you know i'm actually like i am drawing out the sound to a maximum amount because i would actually i i like this face is huge actually um it's really big it's got big reverb so what i'm thinking about like that inevitability to there is like what you need to give the audience that feeling so you gotta like play the rests right there like that and create that like in silence right pianists do it all the time right to connect from one note to the next right how do they do that how do they make a crescendo right like it's it's it's magical so you gotta think about it as well from that point of view like it's like that and then you play that so [Music] [Music] i think it was a little early right did you feel that yeah cool do it again [Music] okay the timing was good but you didn't hit it hard enough for it to be that timing right so now you can hear like now that you're really focused and listening to what is expected of the music then you are in service to the music right that's what it is that's what you have to be and you have to that is the reason why you must become a better violinist why we all have to be better musicians technicians so that we can serve the music better right every time that's like what drives me to like get better at this instrument because i know that i need whatever if i don't have the technique that i'm going to practice until i get it that's the approach to becoming a good musician okay so um i'm going to move on to a little bit of some technical things in this moment where you have the you really have to think about rhythm because the next section with the orchestra or uh with the pianist here you're you're a lot of times you you don't have the pulse and it's causing you to just go ahead you would never rush if you had the pulse you wouldn't have the time to rush so let's let's uh this is one this is one little spot here right right so can you just practice that [Music] [Applause] [Music] see that was good you're together all right next part just start right there or you can actually do a few bars [Music] [Applause] okay what's your emotion what are you trying to what are you trying to say happy sad wow or like you know what what else what if you were a character for a person humorous like funny funny person funny person okay [Music] i i think of it like with someone with has a little attitude you know sort of like a like a not not i don't think of a like yeah it has a humor about them a little dry a little sarcastic you know it's like [Music] and i think you're trying to get about that that's why you're doing this jerkiness but the jerkiness comes between the notes not not a little like at the ends of the it's it's though the whip around the notes that are where the attitude is it's the flourish of the sleeve of the cravat of the coattails you know that's where it is that's the end of the note not the in the middle that's a little weird right okay so try it [Music] there there i i just don't feel like that's like [Music] you know that it doesn't have to be so short that sounds more like to me like we are making a point you know in a very like kind of more aggressive way like like a aggressive intention way but this is more like a like a little bit of a joker jokester right like you said so so it shouldn't be like like you can be i mean it's on the [Music] it's that kind of hungarian uh like kodai right like tara tata and so it's it's like that but not like retaking retaking retaking yeah it's not there's no connection that way [Music] okay that's that's better just be careful of some short notes we have to finish soon but i want to work on your pizzicato real quick can you pitch a little further down on the fingerboard oh okay have you okay the thing about you need a milk if you're going to hold on to the the fingerboard like that you need to have more rotation [Music] and you need to like it's like doing clicking your fingers and then you got to like have more more rotation otherwise if you're just going like like that's too small you're never gonna get a large enough sound that's why i just don't even do that i just got [Music] it i mean you're only ever pizzicating one string anyway with the with the right hand so accurate you're not doing all this kind of stuff so you don't really need this and i actually use my sorry middle finger so so because it's a little bit more uh it has more like a it's a longer finger so it can go do that [Music] and then it has it has a better that kind of thing yeah you can try it um but whatever happens you gotta you gotta make it sound a little louder okay um including here as well as well [Music] so i go i actually hold my bow like like this like yeah and then i like that [Music] or you can hold like [Music] um and then here as well [Music] think of what you're trying to say it's like a dreamy place right it's it's the same melody but it's a different person it's like our different scenery here is like [Music] right and then [Music] then you you gotta that's that's what's hard about this piece it's not the notes itself it's like getting the intention the right intention the right emotion and being able to like not like get yourself into a car wreck right like you gotta get the notes too okay cool so definitely at the end let's hear you play this um and this part this part i know like this [Music] see how i'm like making these like pulses and accents it's what makes it interesting so you trap like um like maybe not even have the pulse in your mind [Music] foreign [Music] i'm gonna tell you it's too fluffy yeah it's too fluffy like out there it's not the wrap it's gonna it's true or like this you have to [Music] okay so try try a little bit more from here [Music] okay it sounds like you what do you think like the sound is pretty toothy right but like out there it's starting to sound like i can i can like kind of hear the texture the articulation right especially more in the back i mean you just have to clean it up and stuff but like it's definitely like oh i can i can hear it now yeah so that's another thing like what you hear under your ear and what's out there it's totally different totally different so you know you have a great hall here try to spend some time get get your friend to you know be out there and and and play and and listen to each other and then come up over here and listen to them and then go back there and then realize how much of a difference you have to be you know [Music] it's like pretty intense right you're like in shock you're an absolute shock as i walk away you're like oh that's a nice sound and then as you come closer you're like right but that's just how it is that's just that's just what it is i yeah now you know okay cool thank you so much yeah great yeah it's it's one of the first things that that i think makes the it it's like people always ask the difference what's the difference between like a really really good student and a professional um and that's one of the first things is realizing that a really really good student is really used to playing in studios and not concert halls and so that's the first thing second thing is uh the amount of people that you play for which is closely related to the first thing whether or not you're used to playing but but it's very different it impacts the way you think and the way you have to uh approach a piece as well and where you take time and um yeah and the perception of yourself but that's those are those are two of the main points that uh ones should start thinking about uh even when they're in school it'll it will help you a lot um so we we have the final one ready great awesome welcome thank you [Music] so [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] uh [Music] so [Music] hmm [Music] yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] do so [Music] me [Music] so [Music] hmm [Music] [Music] wow very nice very beautiful really nice piano playing too yeah that's wonderful uh you're a really natural player i really like it yeah um i think that yeah like it was immediate in the sound like you could just hear you have a good sense of the space um very very free it's very good i think i was like for the first few minutes i was like man what am i going to tell this guy but but then i i thought okay no there's there's there's a few things that that will just get you to that like ultimate next level and it's it's it's the it's really hard but it's it's like the care for every like no and to to and it's a lot of this experience too but so the just the awareness of your like when you play a soft part like just let's take the end for example you were you like this all just these notes but you had already you had already like signed out you already clocked out like in those notes but you can't that's the difference like like that that kind of little bit of care will really make all the difference um [Music] you were you were great here and then so [Music] you know that that that's the difference like you've got to make people care as well like because if you just like already like yeah but that's that's only because like you probably just don't realize that um that it's coming off like that i'm sure it's not intentional so that's something that um just do you wanna just play those few notes like yeah just [Music] all right yeah okay one second i think it's also okay another thing can we uh switch for a second i just want to try your violin well that is a tall shoulder oh my gosh i didn't know you had such a long neck man [Music] man you're making this thing sound really good i mean no offense or anything but yeah you definitely deserve a better instrument [Music] with this with your violin you have to like just a little bit sink in a little bit more because when you play the the the big stuff like even the beginning [Music] [Applause] is when you get soft here [Music] yeah you gotta just to exhibit a little bit more care okay you want to try this okay sorry so really oh we got a really short [Music] you need your hands too [Music] have a go with that it's really really nice bro [Music] so so you see it's like like like when you're playing like [Music] i just want to hear a little bit more more care you know [Music] you know you you should be able to make people cry with that with that with you know your expression and and it's just the one thing is just like it's just the care in between the notes it's like i keep talking about the in between the notes because it's like you trying to think about what would be a good analogy it'd be like you don't cr you might cry in front of a person you love but it's when they're not there and you miss them that's the time apart that you've like you're that that kind of that feeling of like oh like that's that's the feeling like you're you're you you have the crying in front of the person but it's like the crying away from the people that's the saddest that's the most that's the loneliest and that that emotion like you know how old are you you're 20. yeah you're so happy and you're so like you know but you you're no you're already mature like don't get me wrong like you got maturity and you're playing but like just that that that's what you like just it's just a little bit you know here i'll leave can i change back or no you don't want it whatever whatever you like whatever you like you you wanna you wanna work on that a little bit yeah okay okay okay so try and try and like get that feeling don't don't just like yeah because i think you you already have if you can do exhibit that kind of into the string care and a lot of it's just like not already passing on to the next note try try that let's try that i don't know what it is like how to unlock it but just let's try that yeah just just yourself yeah or you can play the first corner it'll get you in the mood it's just like no i don't i don't know yeah just try just try some stuff just try like the caring part [Music] no no that don't let's try a different thing now so once it doesn't work just move like that's that's not the right thing that's not the right mindset try a different one [Music] hmm let me try [Music] i think i think i'm thinking about i think you're getting distracted a little bit by the instrument right now like you actually sounded better on yours i know it's hard to yeah here okay let's just let's just switch back for a second but no because i want i want you to hear can you hold this and then i'll get this and this okay it's like yeah then this and then this okay cool cool yeah but but try and focus on on the on the yeah right yeah and like it's a smile but it's a smile it's a lonely smile that's why like before when you're trying on mine i think my instrument is just brighter it's just like ah it's like [Music] okay when you play when you build [Music] you're here keep going and then you have right you have somewhere to gently fall then right i feel like a lot of the stuff like in your espressivo moments like you can lean into the ball try you know what aim for right now you're playing the way you are so i'm trying not to change change anything but like i'm i'm that's why i'm deliberately being like i'm not touching your technique but try [Music] uh playing you're playing on the string now try like try like playing and you got a good like against the bow kind of thing going try to play like to your elbow like think about where the bow is and like to the elbow just think about your elbow like that the bow passes through the instrument to the elbow [Music] hello [Music] [Applause] okay that that's better it's better you got to keep reminding yourself to like like go sink a little deeper in then we like kind of like get captivated more as well like those you're you're doing it already so like just do everything just to imagine like whatever maybe like a heavier a heavier bow you know what i did actually i i switched my bow technique to russian bow so that i could just not have to change too much except for one thing and then i just went like so the difference was like to like this [Music] just everything's a little bit more intentioned i have to like it's it's a little clumsier actually right russian bow is not easy but because of its clumsiness i have to manually like focus a little bit more and that's just enough that's enough it was like the secret to unlocking like just my my my potential right so you can think about that there's all these little things that you should try and you should try all of them like playing with or without shoulders because you never know you could unlock something that's like that just works for you right so i that's what i learned i learned with shoulders side shoulder wrist middle shoulder rest you know over the the different shoulders like a chin rest sorry and then different shoulder as i've tried like every single shoulders there is i've like switched around even the pegs on the instrument just everything all the different strings there are you know different woods to match the instrument did you know that like i mean there's like ebony rosewood boxwood and pernambuco those are the four main types of woods right for both your pegs your your accessories basically any sort of accessory and they can change vastly change the sound so uh ebony is a brighter sound um rosewood is a darker sound so if your instrument is already too bright you might try rosewood it's heavier it's sort of i wouldn't i don't know if i'd go for that but uh ebony is like brighter only bright but if you go puerto buko it's zingier um and uh boxwood is sort of warmer yeah so those are that's like a general sense and then you could you know there's also the the this thing uh that the tail piece the thing that wraps around the tailpiece i don't even know what it's called but it's the thing and people use plastic or kevlar don't use kevlar it's very um it absorbs sound um uh your bridge your bridge is like like you know how high how thick um thinner bridges that's a pretty thin bridge for the height i would say that you know yeah that could that could be a change um yeah yeah different different things can change different things you know i mean this this instrument it's a modern instrument i'm sure you realize that by now it's just maybe 2008. so you know but it sounds like i make it sound like it's the best instrument right because i've trained it i've like done all these things to it right but it's like it's because you i've spent so much time on it that's what a great instrument has compared to modern it's the time that's been spent on it right all the care over the hundreds of years like but if you put enough care you can accelerate that process yourself as well a lot yeah it's like and you know your instrument better than you know my instrument right when you start playing mine it's like oh like it was like kind of oh like it was great it was fun but it was like not as good as when you play your instrument so you gotta remember that believe in your own sound too a lot of it is belief when i was starting to play on a modern regularly i was like always nervous are people gonna find out if i'm playing a modern or not my strad you know and then i just enjoyed it so much because it made me feel like it's my sound right no one can take that away from me so that's that's something i mean always try different instruments too because you can learn from them but try to learn from them take take the sound so that you can produce it on any instrument right like when i try your instrument like there's not as much of a difference like as when like we like when you switch and you like you know because you're not used to diminishing but yeah so that that's something um i know this is all deeper level stuff but it's because i think that you know you're ready for that um i don't know man any questions um i think 10 seconds yeah sure just gonna [Music] oh yeah i've thought something like when you play this scale stuff [Music] i think you can can you play it just once yeah i i it's obvious i've never performed this piece in my life but like you know just so you you do it for me and then let's let's work on it okay yeah yeah just go from run [Music] oh yeah i think like what i found was a [Music] you don't have to like like on every bow change so maybe like just the first one but your intention has to sustain throughout the entire journey yeah you're kind of like and that was like a a way of like sort of making sure that we could find out where the the but that's not a solution you should [Music] like it should be like that [Music] yeah i mean you have a great last note but like it's like you got to use more bow and the rest of it too cool all right i think our time's up this is great it's a pleasure to hear you thank you ray so we still have some time for some questions i hope there are a lot of but we already have end up trying to ask look at that um are you ready for questions absolutely great so i'm going to come to you so we can hear you i just wanted to ask you anything that you do to get yourself a good mindset for recording and like multiple takes and long sessions and just being in a good mindset for a fresh cake each time good so you're about to record it's like for audition tapes or competitions stuff like that um what are some good ways of getting into it so like you mean for the first time or when you're like halfway through the session okay for the first time well the first time i just try to like a take you know get it through once that way i know i can then have i've got one version and it's usually like a pretty safe version it's like i did my best yeah like that that but that's good now you can spend time focusing on oh yeah let's try and get a like a really like take some risks kind of thing so usually that's the approach that i do because if you burn out in the first one and you try to get at the second one and the third one then you're gonna burn out so approach it for safe first is a psychological game right it's not like really like you'll get the best take later so you the first one is just to warm up safe just go safe and then second one like liven it up a little and maybe you and then you'll naturally probably you might you know mess up a little bit or something oh i'm sorry but you know you already it's the knowing that you already have a take that's the that's the that's the key yeah and then you can just then then you won't run out of inspiration because you're the running out of inspiration comes when you're like on a deadline you have only like 30 minutes left that means you can only record this two more times like you know that's that's where it kills inspiration yeah so hopefully that helps i it helps me yeah great thank you any other questions anybody always back with what's my favorite piece oh i have so many of them like i i i really enjoy playing pieces that are well so there's pieces that i enjoy playing and then there's pieces that i enjoy like listening to or practicing like i like practicing it without the pressure um because maybe i just don't feel like i'm super comfortable for example like i really love practicing i'm just playing the brahms violin concerto but when i'm playing it i don't know i just feel like it could be a great night or it could be like a okay night like very easily like i get very like because i have such a like it's like it needs to be this way vision so i have high expectations for myself when i play it so when i meet those expectations it's like yes but then like when i don't it's like uh so it's like very easily disappointing myself but then i love there there are some other pieces that like say bailey is finally controlled then i like i know i'll like sound like the the bar is like the the worst i can sound on it won't be that bad right as long as i get those arpeggios in the third movement like it'll be okay and my g string i've changed it recently so it doesn't wolf too bad it'll be okay like and i'll enjoy it so i think it's like actually it's really a psychological game that you're playing at that at that point um yeah i mean i what else do i love i love i love lala symphony espanol oh my gosh [Music] you know it's just like this is like so sexy you know it's great sorry you didn't see that because you could have taught what do i do to release my muscle tension oh after practicing so i have this like really like like a really ball like about it's the size of like like about it smaller than the tennis ball just just a little bit smaller it'd be like the tennis ball without the fluff and then it's like really hard and then i like kind of go against the wall and like like like like here like these two right here that's very i i build up like a little bit of tension there just from traveling you know being in the car and looking at the computer it's like looking at your phone all the time yeah yeah oh by the way i was supposed to tell you guys talk to you a little bit like mostly people are students here right as you see him yeah um so uh david specifically asked uh me to talk to you guys about this which is you know how my journey from like i recently started a startup a tech company and it's called pocket conservatory you might have heard of it um we just started it though like so maybe you haven't heard of it i wouldn't blame you if you did it's um we started in july and basically it's like helping people practice it's like uh so imagine you can open a virtual practice room it's just audio only and then you you can either open a private one and just ping your friends to come and listen or you can open a public one knowing that anybody could at any time pop in to listen and you know it tracks your practicing in a journal but it basically helps bridge that gap between practice which is very lonely by yourself uh and performance and so you don't get like it helps with performance anxiety anyway there's other apps other parts of the app that it that is also fun like we do master classes and stuff like that but anyway that's what i've been working on and by the way you're all welcome to join um but that's not the point of what i'm what i'm saying here um the point is like i guess you know and that's that's that's taken over my life like i'm taking it very seriously this is not just another project this is like this is you know the next five to ten years a commitment and so like why am i doing this um and how did i come to like try like to want to do this like let's become a ceo of a tech company right it's like we're in the middle of our seat raise seat financing i'm sure you guys are from san francisco you know all about that kind of stuff like you got to talk to vcs and there's all sorts of like you got to pitch to them and and prepare and then you know you gotta it's completely different like social media is one thing uh but this is like content creation even but this is like a completely different animal but i guess like so i want to share with you why it's important i mean not for you guys to start a tech company but to at least think outside of you know your instruments and i think that it does come back it does reinspire um oftentimes i like to compare it to we're so close to it where it's like wearing a maze but wouldn't it be nice to get context it's like when you're in a maze there's no way you know where you're going and that's so often times what it feels like right like i know because i've been there and so wouldn't it be nice to get like the google maps like at least you know oh this is the way so taking a step back doing something else that you as closely related is very very helpful for providing context to what you're doing and inspiration re-inspiration another thing i want to share with you is also um like i'll get back to the sort of community building but it's also a talent a lot of people talk about talent as if it's some mysterious thing and you're sort of it's like the role of a dice you either have talent or you have less talent that is so not true well maybe you might start with a certain amount of talent but i'll break it down for you talent is really simple to understand it's basically when you and it's entirely quantifiable it's when you can learn something faster and forget slower than other people right that's what talent is that's the secret so learning things faster you can learn we both start from zero i get to two we both get to two or maybe that person gets the three that person has more talent than me but if i can retain and be tomorrow starting at two and that person goes all the way down to 0.5 i am now in the lead right so how do you learn quicker learning quicker is uh being able to understand what is stopping you where the friction within you is so it's like oftentimes you don't know how much like pedaling and breaking you're doing at the same time the breaking part is to like when you're like oh i must allow myself to grow like am i allowed to do this am i allowed to do that because yeah i don't blame you like for years your teacher has been like no you can't do this you can't do that that's not mozart this is not the option you know you feel like your musical limbs are being hooked up right that is why you're in this place that's also why you got here but it's also why you'll have to unlearn that real quick if you want to become an artist and to learn faster so figuring out where your friction is and where it will release the bottleneck quicker that's how you learn faster right five lane higher eight lane highway versus one lane okay so that's how you learn faster with removing the friction with from within maybe i like and and sometimes it takes going to a therapist to solve that for some people it's totally fine that is very important whatever it takes do it to unlock your full potential okay so that's learning faster for getting slower for getting slower is equally if not more important than learning fast right so for getting slower how do you forget slower most people think it's memorization it is not it is obsessing about something you know when you're like you can't like that person has just annoyed you so much you're like why didn't you like you're in an echo chamber and you're like ah you're obsessing you can't forget you can't forget what that person has done or said to you that's obsessing if you apply that same mindset to music to whatever it is you need to learn you will retain that information you'll be learning while your instrument is in the case that is so important so that's how you forget slower so when you combine the two that's how you accelerate and that's that's very important so that's just what i wanted to leave you guys with thank you so much for having me here [Applause] you

Channel: San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Views: 18,740

Keywords: San Francisco Conservatory of Music, SFCM, violin, master class, masterclass, cello, viola, double bass

Id: jDiP-VAO3JA

Length: 116min 9sec (6969 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 08 2021