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"After all, there are only two general principles in violin playing, the long and short bow, legato and staccato. Many a teacher finds it very difficult to teach staccato correctly, which may account for the fact that many pupils find it hard to learn. The main reason is that, in a sense, staccato is opposed to the nature of the violin as a singing instrument.
I practise them in various touches, but oftener in legato, as that is more difficult and also more beautiful than the others. I practise technic, when possible, an hour a day, including Bach." Sigismond Stojowski considers that scales and arpeggios must form a part of the daily routine.
A poem does not lose its meaning or its strength by being associated with music, and to this end the singer must deliver the text with the same understanding and appreciation of its meaning as would a public reader. Now from the above we infer certain principles. The demand for continuity means that the singer must have a pure legato.
This bowing is played badly on the violin more often than any other. It demands constant rapid changing and, as most pupils play it, the legato quality is noticeably absent. Too much emphasis cannot be laid on the truth that the 'singing stroke' should be employed for all bowings, long or short.
Unfortunately, this school invented as well continuous legato, which is both false and monotonous; the abuse of nuances, and a mania for continual expressio used with no discrimination. All this was opposed to my natural feelings, and I was unable to conform to it. They reproached me by saying that I would never get a really fine effect to which I was entirely indifferent.
I know that when playing for him, if I came to a passage which demanded an especially beautiful legato rendering, he would say: 'Now show how you can sing! The exquisite legato he taught was all a matter of perfect bowing, and as he often said: 'There must be no such thing as strings or hair in the pupil's consciousness. One must not play violin, one must sing violin!
Thus encouraged Aaron persevered with his practice for some months; but, despite the patient instruction of his brother Louis the garment cutter's wrist still handicapped him. "That's a legato phrase," Louis Shellak cried impatiently, one night in mid-February. "With one bow you got to play it." "Which phrase are you talking about," Aaron asked "the one that goes 'Ta-ra-reera, ta-ra-reera'?"
"The best thing I've ever heard said of octaves was Edison's remark to me that 'They are merely a nuisance and should not be played! I was making some records for him during the experimental stage of the disk record, when he was trying to get an absolutely smooth legato tone, one that conformed to Loeffler's definition of it as 'no breaks' in the tone.
Difficulties vanish like mist before the sun. It becomes a delight to dash through the sparkling passages. Clear, clean cut, vivid and sharp, like cut glass, the music stands out in bold characters. Not a note slighted or blurred. No obscurity or doubt about the most intricate passage. Curious little effects of staccato mingled with the most linked together legato.
It appears, therefore, that he could not, if he would, have succeeded on more conventional technical lines. Gradually he developed great strength and intense activity in the middle joints, which enabled him to play with a very close, often overlapping, touch, and to maintain extremely rapid tempi in legato or staccato with perfect ease and little fatigue.
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