Image Training

Yes, image training. Do you ever make up a story when you play a piece of music? I watched Maxim Vengerov giving a master class on TV. He comes up with all sorts of stories according to the pieces the students are playing. I think it is very useful and effective especially for young violinists (or older students as well). For example, for Kreisler's Tambourin Chinois, he tell a student to imagine a fat Chinese chef cooking in a busy kitchen, then off to bicycle in the streets of china and the falling from the great wall of china with an umbrella. What a story! I've been telling my son to create his own story when he plays a piece ever since he started playing violin. Part of it is because it is hard for a grown-up to explain to a small child a subtle nuance in melody, but if you tell him in a story, it's easier to relate. There are so many different kinds of sad feelings. Sometimes, it is frustrating sad, almost mad sad, regretting sad, etc. When you have a story in mind according to the piece you are playing, it create a totally different sound. All of the sudden, the melody comes alive. Like Maxim Vengerov, it doesn't always have to be the same story... I wonder what kind of story my son will have for his new piece, Wieniawski's Legende?