Professional violin supervision by DANIEL ZISMAN


The idea of Pro-Vision, started to develop due to an interesting observed phenomen: after the Conservatoire years, many musicians feel the handicaps and daily obstacles of professional life, and feel somehow alone in the difficult task of developing their new tools and qualities needed for mastering a completely different set of problems which can arise.

In a certain way, the prevailing feeling is to be baffled: many people don’t really  know that “it’s very tough out there”.

A general feeling of insecurity and frustration can develop and, in many cases musicians start to strongly doubt about their own qualities and even about their technique. It is precisely there, the field in which many problems “corporize” and become physical or/and eventually chronic.

In most cases, all the long years of Conservatoire didn’t bring too many concrete solutions, or didn’t methodically equip the student with the tools “for the future”. It was left to the personal consideration of every teacher, how much, if at all, to reveal what the future could bring, and what professional life really looks like.

On the other hand, the present trend of high-school teaching and training worldwide is rather stressing on the soloistic path, and the personal artistic development, which as a rule is completely right. But it lacks in pragmatic, practical and methodic options for the student in order not only to be able to cope with his/her actual student stuff, but to face professional life with security as well.

During my long teaching experience with different levels of violin students (conservatory, professional, soloists, university, etc.) one symptom seems to be uniform: a huge percentage of the people suffers under the effects of a complex set of musical myths , sometimes creeds, which tend to blurr the whole picture. These myths are to be found at the core of every real difficulty.
One of the aims and assets of Pro-Vision is to present first to the violinist “the whole picture”. In order to do that it requires a thorough revision of everything he/she knows about what is myth and what is fact, in the complex landscape of violin playing.

Once the picture becomes clear, it starts a real accompaning way, in which the violinist is really supervised, not taught, a preeminent basic feature through which the instrumentalist learns by him/herself, and finds the solutions within the range of his/her own capabilities.
The supervision works mainly on the methodic side.

• How to practice, how to train.
• How to use and manage time.
• How to integrate technical work on the instrument with the artistic search.
• How to unify technique and beauty production.
• How to produce effective working scheduling and planning which fit into a rather complicated timetable.
• How to recognize priorities.

As the name of the method indicates, Pro-Vision, (to help to engage into a vision) , Professional Violin Supervision constitutes a real advanced tool for professional violinists and students alike. Read as Provision, means that it can be worked with younger students as well, in order to provide them with the facts required to lead a more objective school/high-school time, and a stronger equipment for the professional years. As a matter of fact Provision also means supply. Something wich belongs in every equipment and which is needed to be prepared well in advance.

The idea of Pro-Vision doesn’t “happen” separately. It is integrated in a normal violin lesson, which looks as usual as a violin lesson does and works with the same material of etudes, methods, and repertoire in general required by Conservatory standards.