Violin Video Lesson: So There's a Wall in Your Way, Now What?

Violinists spend years refining technique, interpretation, and precision in the practice room.

Most of the time, we approach this with structured, metronomic, step-by-step thinking.

But what happens when that direction isn't working, and we hit a wall? When that happens, what if we change the way we approach the problem? This is where lateral thinking, a concept coined by Edward de Bono in 1967, comes in.

Lateral thinking challenges rigid patterns by making unexpected connections and exploring alternative solutions.

Instead of following a direct path, lateral thinking, or what I call lateral practicing, invites us to approach challenges from different angles.

So how does this apply to us as violinists? Well, say we have a problem with a passage in a piece.

What if we reimagine the problem by practicing the passage backwards, or altering the rhythm? Could this open up new possibilities for finding a solution? Or what if we have a memory slip during a performance in panic? We practiced in a structured, vertical way, but we can't seem to find our way back into the music.

Hindsight's tough, but could lateral practicing have given us a better way to adapt in that moment? Of course, vertical practicing is essential.

It provides the foundation, the methodical approach we need to build precision and consistency.

But relying solely on it assumes that performances are always linear, which isn't always the case. Lateral practicing challenges these assumptions. Instead of focusing only on what's expected, it pushes us to explore what might happen.

It invites questions like, what if we change the fingering just to see where it leads? Or, what if we altered the bowing? What would that do? So by practicing both ways, we build a kind of Mary Poppins bag for violinists.

Full of strategies, ready to pull out when needed.

And just like that, the next time we hit a wall, we can look inside our bag to find ways around it.

Automatic video-to-text transcription by DaDaScribe.com

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