Violinists: How to REALLY use a Mirror to practice

[@alexsaldarriaga8318]

I’m not exaggerating when I say this is one of the best violin pedagogy videos on the internet. The quantity and quality of information here is astounding. And to think that this is all free to anyone who values this great teaching is simply too hard to believe. Thank you for sharing your hard-earned wisdom with us!

[@DanielKurganov]

I'm so glad you like it, Alex! I love sharing the things I have learned and am learning. Your support and enthusiasm is very inspiring!

[@Skinny_Karlos]

I agree with you wholeheartedly !!

[@DanielKurganov]

It seems simple, but the level of richness of information from visual self-analysis is vast. The points in the video are just the start of understanding and developing patterns and modes from a visual standpoint. I owe a lot of my progress to good mirror practice. I hope you will all start/continue to discover little gems using the mirror! And please share them!

[@Hans-tr6dx]

This is actually stupidly amazing. Man. Also the Brahms Concerto!! just absolutely amazing!

[@BillAlpert]

Revisiting this after 2 years, and still great. The captions at the end move so fast it's a challenge to take it all in!

[@tullochgorum6323]

I was fortunate enough to study with the great yogi B K S Iyengar. As a young man, his teacher wasn't very competent and he was forced to rely on his own resources. He found the ability to watch himself so helpful that he would talk about "my guru, the mirror". i find that the mirror is equally helpful for working on the fiddle. It's more important that you can feel what's going on internally, but without the mirror you can't calibrate the way you're interpreting your physical sensations with the reality of your actual movements. But this video takes it to another level - so much here that I have never thought to explore!

[@DanielKurganov]

Wow! Thank you for sharing. Yes, the mirror helps us achieve what should be our ultimate goal -- to be our own teacher.

[@soooofiiiiiaaaaacarnelli]

Para mí sos el Mejor🙏 GRACIAS ❤️✨

[@garysimkins2179]

I neglected to mention that all of the content of this master class video has been of enormous benefit to me, and I am most certain to many. Once again. Bravo and thank you.

[@stevenwoodham8098]

I have shared this with all my advanced level students. Excellent video!

[@chipcurry]

Thanks again. I am a Bluegrass Fiddler, but we all struggle with the same things: tone intonation, sweetness, ability to create beautiful music. I have incorporated many of your techniques from other videos into my daily practice. My audiences thank you!

[@road2acoustic99]

Everytime you publish a new video, I have a dopamine rush 😁 thanks a lot Daniel and take care of you for 2021!

[@DanielKurganov]

💉💉💉

[@debiethredge3020]

An enormous amount of material is one vid. Very helpful...how to do and how to check!

[@garysimkins2179]

You bring to much to this concerto, that it brings tears to my eyes and a flush of goose bumps. Thankyou once again for such a wonderful video.

[@Miarchieve]

I'm violin noob who take lesson for a month 18:00 That's the best idea that I ever heard. Not only having private lesson, watching your video expand my views. Thank you for making video.

[@mushroom4713]

That's a great point about watching the plane of the bow on each string and checking it in the mirror. I also wish I could listen to your full version of the Brahms violin concerto! Loving the examples!

[@DanielKurganov]

Thank you! I would love to perform it when concerts start up again...

[@marinathr4890]

idk why I never considered turning to the mirror with the head of the violin and not the fs but after seeing this vid i did. and it immediately solved like 30% of my problems xD my sound is much more clean and precise now and even intonation is suddenly better! thanks a lot for your videos ♥️🙏🏻

[@darlenerivest148]

Excellent video, Daniel! Lots of great tips about new ways to use the mirror for self teaching and assessment. Thank you so much!

[@DanielKurganov]

It’s a tool of endless depth! It’s easy to only pay attention to the more obvious things, but there is so much there. One should never underestimate the degree to which what we see affects how we play!

[@lilitnahapetyan8842]

This is by far the best educational video I’ve seen so far. Probably needs to be watched 100 times to absorb all the info provided and incorporate this in a daily practice! Thank you! If possible, could you please in one of your future videos discuss a problem of a ‘bouncing bow’. [On the down bow, somewhere in the middle part the bow gets a bit out of control]

[@DanielKurganov]

Thanks! I am addressing the shaking bow as part of a video I’m doing on bow hold/sound production 👍🏻

[@jorgevallin2983]

Super… I loved it… Thank you

[@verak2924]

thank you, Daniel, for a helpful videos!

[@lumilumi9395]

Starting to fell like its the best violin channel. All videos are brilliant

[@DanielKurganov]

I appreciate it, and am very glad the videos are useful.

[@nicholashill9302]

Thanks for this just at the right time. Been working on shifts. And also realised I need to work on better bowing. You are a star!!

[@DanielKurganov]

I’m glad to hear that! There is so much depth to mirror work. I’m always discovering new patterns.

[@dominiquemiletti6685]

Excellent, generous,helpful, beautiful ! Thanks so much

[@benjaminlau666]

I found you are a great pedagogue and I owe you million and now keep playing like the way you teach me! Thanks me in Herr !

[@benjaminlau666]

Thank you mein Herr!

[@laureleroch35]

Excellent video 👏👏

[@ALEX2578PLEASESUBSCRIBE]

Love this video!!! Can you do a video about how to find the perfect violin and bow and what you should look at when buying a violin and bow?

[@basiaszendrei1603]

Hi, there is plenty of that on YT. You can check out videos from luthiers such as Ask Olaf the Violinmaker or Edgar Russ from Cremona. It all depends on your ability, experience and budget. Good luck!

[@sitosanchez]

Thank you Daniel for this videos!!! I practice in the mirror of my bathroom!! Jaja (acoustic and rever are perfect there!!)

[@BillAlpert]

Well done! I've used the mirror and video recording for many of these points and have learned a few new ones today. Thank you and the concerto sounds wonderful!

[@mbradley5683]

Thank you for the tip about the bow angle direction, there’s rarely things from these tips that I’ve NEVER heard before, but that’s one of them right there👍👍 I think you’ll know what I mean when I say it’s one of those tips I KNOW will help my when practicing without having tried it out yet😂 nice video

[@edwinbarreno]

Amazing! Thank you! Please talk more about the leading/dropping wrist (right hand)

[@DanielKurganov]

It will be in one of my upcoming videos. I will do a whole deconstruction of the bow hold and basic strokes.

[@lu0844]

Thank you so much for this video, thank you for sharing all your wisdom. I too practice in from of a mirror, but you have expanded my view to other angles and possibilities!! Keep bringing such great content plz!!

[@paolamannu6973]

Bellissimo video👏👏👏👏

[@DanielKurganov]

Grazie!

[@Violinna]

Fantastic video, Daniel!! The part that is the most eye opening for me is the importance of consistency of the angle of the bow when playing on the same string for a better detache. Also watching the tip in the lower half. Great stuff! And you sound amazing!

[@damoonchaghomy]

thank you master

[@aoifebyrne2097]

I have watched quite a few of your incredible videos -- so full of valuable information, and presented with great clarity. But in this one you actually crack a tiny smile, which was wonderful! Perhaps more wonderful because it is a rarity. Thank you for making 2020 a much better year for me than I could have imagined possible.

[@DanielKurganov]

Sometimes I forget to be human. Smile program activated.

[@josepmasca]

This is gold.

[@wendyshell8679]

Thank you ! This is an excellent video!❤️😀

[@kesim]

Great instructions as always! In 2:16 your bridge seems to be leaning backwards a lot, or not?

[@DanielKurganov]

Thanks ! Yes, the bridge is supposed to ‘appear’ tilted back. Actually it’s 90 degrees at the back side, and something like 100-105 degrees at the front.

[@hericklenin]

Awesome. Where I can find the Brahms accompaniment?

[@DanielKurganov]

On youtube!

[@hericklenin]

@@DanielKurganov How do you balance the need to know what fingerings and bow distribution that would work a tempo, with the need to slow down the tempo in order to learn a difficult passage? The slower the better for muscle memory, but it is not clear if one can do what is learned at a faster speed. On the other hand, the faster you practice, the less detail your muscles learn.

[@DanielKurganov]

@@hericklenin One idea is that of chunking. We take an array of individual details and we reclassify it as one thing. So, maybe all of those fingerings and progression of bow distribution that you work on can be classified as a phrase. The phrase has meaning and is almost like a short story. So, the takeaway there is that if you practice smaller chunks and then combine chunks, the picture of the phrase starts to emerge, and you come to treat the entire gesture as one thing, with all technicalities included. In terms of slow vs fast. You’re right that both have a totally different sensation. In essence, the way to address this is to look for ways to trick your body. For example, in the slow tempo we can make a rule that every single motion is fast. So the tempo doesn’t increase, yet each finger comes down instantly and then freezes, every string crossing is very fast and minimal, every shift is light and fast. That is one way of practicing that trains fast movements in a slow tempo. Then when you move to a faster tempo, the movements don’t feel as foreign anymore. It’s complicated further by the fact that playing ‘like a sloth’ in kind of slow motion (the opposite of what I just described) is incredibly beneficial as well. Very often in violin playing (and most other things probably) one has to move between alternating and opposing principles in order to both train oneself on a sportive level, but also understand where the equilibrium is - where is the ultimate efficiency and freedom. Back to slow/fast - there are many other techniques for bridging that gap. I have touched on the topic in some of my other videos, and will definitely continue putting more ideas out there.

[@hericklenin]

@@DanielKurganov Thanks!

[@Miarchieve]

2:30 5:00 9:00

[@scottstarkman6321]

Hello, Daniel. I'm a beginner violinist, and wanted to ask you or others if I buy a tall, full-length mirror to practice proper violin technique, is it better if the mirror is completely vertical (at no angle), or can it be tilted (e.g., leaning with the top against the wall, or on a flat base but with a swivel)? Thank you for any tips.

[@bernardwolff8742]

I didnt know its some "secret" advice to some to practice infront of a mirror. Thats SO basic !?

[@violann1]

Basics are everything. The moment I feel like I am beyond them I lose my core sound.

[@DanielKurganov]

It seems simple, but you don’t appreciate the level of richness of information from visual self-analysis. The points in the video are just the start of patterns and modes you can begin to notice visually. I owe a lot of my progress to good mirror practice. Maybe I didn’t express that point clearly enough in the video.

[@bernardwolff8742]

@@DanielKurganov I'm sorry if its misunderstood. You are 100% right! I just thought that more ppl would know that. Its essential :) ... and your videos are a great help!

[@DanielKurganov]

@@bernardwolff8742 ah, no worries. I misunderstood your comment! Thank you!

[@user-qn4nq4nc4n]

высота правой руки, предплечье. кисть, пальцы: есть проблемы при смене смычка. Мостик слишком высокий, подбородник низкий. Локоть левой руки не заведен как следует под инструмент. Смычок слишком перетянут. Но в общем хорошо