Focus, Part 1: Before You Start

I was living in New York City, playing in a stipend supported semi-pro orchestra on $700 a month, when I received a call from my violin teacher and mentor at Rice University. Ruben had recently moved from the concertmaster position with the Houston Symphony to being the sole concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony.

I’ll never forget the excitement in his voice when he exclaimed, “… and you know what else? They don’t make mistakes! No mistakes! First rehearsal, all the notes are there! It’s incredible!”

Ruben was known for his precision and attention to detail. The cellist in the honors quartet I played in used to call him the “bionic violinist”. Ruben once shared with me how he eliminated errors from his playing.

He explained, “I was the concert master of a chamber orchestra in Rome a few years out of school at the Paris Conservatory. I just got tired of unforced errors. So I developed a system. I started with one page at a time. I worked until I made no mistakes on a page. Then on to the next. After that was conquered, I moved it up to zero or one mistake per movement. Then zero to one error in the first half of the concert. Then the whole concert. It became a habit, then a matter of professional pride.”

He went on, “at a certain point in your career, with enough concerts behind you, you will know that when you prepare correctly, you have the ability to play the notes of any piece. Mistakes must be avoided before they happen! It all comes down to the decision, the choice you make. You demand of your mind a certain level of focus. Most human beings never demand it of themselves, so they do not perform up to their level of ability, let alone make it consistent.

To really do this, David; you must decide going in. It happens in an instant. The decision to play all the right notes must happen on purpose, before you start. Before the first downbeat, before the first note on the next page. You will see many, many pages in your career. It’s not like you don’t have fertile ground to practice.”

Ironically, it was my journey with Carmine Caruso’s calisthenics for brass instruments that I adapted for violin that made flawless playing during a concert possible. It has been extraordinary to watch the transformation of mind and body these simple exercises provide.

I’ll explore how these tools sharpen focus in part 2. Then in part 3, I’ll dig into the insights Tai Chi Gung have brought to focus during music performance. Stay tuned for more, coming soon.

Listen to music inspired by nature by Tai Chi Gung master David Paul. www.MusicInspiredByNature.com