Scan 25
The violin : solo playing, soloists and solos, 1905
8 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 9. See the scan on archive.org.
1CHAPTER II.
3SERIOUSNESS.
5THE first requisite in violin playing is seriousness. No improvement can be made without it. It is possible to become just an ordinary player without it, by dint of habitual practice; but there would be no foundation, no results from artistic motives; in a word, there can be no real solid playing. It cannot exist without seriousness. Possibly a teacher has more difficulty in producing this among his pupils than in anything he tries to accomplish, but until he can succeed in this, he is doubtlessly wasting his time and labour. When once, from any cause indefinable, a spirit of carelessness or frivolity has taken hold of the mind of the pupil (with regard to practising only) it is next to impossible to institute serious ideas into that mind. Such a transformation is scarcely to be, except by persuading the pupil to hear some great player, or for him to witness the success of a rival pupil, sufficient to make a complete change in his ideas. It is then a case of Ambition on the one hand and Jealousy on the other.
7One would expect that either would not fail to excite the most serious apprehension and concern; but this is not so. There are countless violinists who are thoughtless and careless, who scamper over everything they attempt to play, who never get beyond a certain degree of playing, and who resist the force and importance of serious application. They will not allow any of these reflections to enter into their thoughts.
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