"Another thing that I don't like to do is show too much how it goes. I do it once in a blue moon. Sometimes there are lessons when I don't pick up a violin at all"
About this Quote
Perlman describes a teaching philosophy that resists over-demonstration. As one of the worlds leading violinists and a revered pedagogue, he understands the seduction of simply showing students how a passage should sound. But when the teacher plays too much, the student often turns into a mimic. The ear locks onto the master performance, the hands copy the gestures, and true musical thinking atrophies. By picking up the violin only rarely, he shifts the lesson from imitation to inquiry. The student must listen more keenly, imagine more vividly, and articulate what they are trying to achieve rather than borrowing it wholesale.
This approach centers the students agency. Rather than competing with an unattainable benchmark in real time, the student learns to diagnose problems, experiment with solutions, and develop an inner model of sound. Perlman often conveys ideas with words, imagery, and singing. He might shape a phrase by vocalizing it, conduct a line with his hands, or describe bow articulation in tactile terms. Such strategies cultivate internal hearing and conceptual clarity: phrasing, color, timing, and character emerge from intention, not from a mechanical copy of someone elses technique. Paradoxically, this often strengthens technique, because choices about bow, contact point, and left-hand release are derived from a vivid aural goal.
There is pragmatism here too. With a teacher of his stature, constant demonstration can intimidate and short-circuit the students confidence. By staying off the instrument, the focus remains on the students sound, not the teachers. And yet he leaves space for selective demonstration when a physical motion or sonority truly defies explanation. The phrase once in a blue moon acknowledges that modeling has its place, but as a tool of last resort. What he advocates is a musicianship-first pedagogy: the ear leads, the mind discriminates, the body follows. In that order, students become independent artists who can solve problems in the practice room and make interpretive choices onstage without needing a guiding hand beside them.
This approach centers the students agency. Rather than competing with an unattainable benchmark in real time, the student learns to diagnose problems, experiment with solutions, and develop an inner model of sound. Perlman often conveys ideas with words, imagery, and singing. He might shape a phrase by vocalizing it, conduct a line with his hands, or describe bow articulation in tactile terms. Such strategies cultivate internal hearing and conceptual clarity: phrasing, color, timing, and character emerge from intention, not from a mechanical copy of someone elses technique. Paradoxically, this often strengthens technique, because choices about bow, contact point, and left-hand release are derived from a vivid aural goal.
There is pragmatism here too. With a teacher of his stature, constant demonstration can intimidate and short-circuit the students confidence. By staying off the instrument, the focus remains on the students sound, not the teachers. And yet he leaves space for selective demonstration when a physical motion or sonority truly defies explanation. The phrase once in a blue moon acknowledges that modeling has its place, but as a tool of last resort. What he advocates is a musicianship-first pedagogy: the ear leads, the mind discriminates, the body follows. In that order, students become independent artists who can solve problems in the practice room and make interpretive choices onstage without needing a guiding hand beside them.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
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