Kato Havas teaching video on the

"New Approach"

to prevent and eliminate
Physical Injuries & Stage Fright in
Violin and Viola playing

This teaching video is about musicians' injuries, that is tendonitis and similar problems, for violin and viola players, how to prevent and eliminate them. Its teachings are extremely valuable to any player, from beginners, to students, amateurs and experienced professionals (especially to them!).

Have you have ever suffered from any aches and pains in your shoulder, neck, forearms, thumbs, or even serious tendonitis or tendinitis, tenosynovitis, fibrositis, bursitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, etc.? Have you ever heard (I did) of anyone who had to undergo surgery because of physical injuries caused by playing an instrument? I personally know more than one who then gave up playing altogether, despite surgery.

Also, have you ever suffered from serious nerves that prevented you from playing for any sort of audience, as well as you can do when you play on your own?

All these things are interrelated. Maybe you've been told that there is nothing you can do about it, that it's "part of the game", but this is not true, it doesn't have to be so.

There is no point in having rests when practicing, massages, undergoing surgery, taking painkillers to be able to keep playing despite the pain (as some do, the worst thing to do). If you don't address the cause (incorrect use of the body when playing) of the problem, you'll have the same effect (physical injury).

Who is Kato Havas?

Nowadays everybody is well aware of these issues, there are several books written on them and even clinics for musicians' injuries. When Kato Havas published her books, she was well ahead of her time, nobody spoke about physical injuries caused by playing an instrument.

Kato Havas is a violin and viola teacher who, several years ago, was the first one to talk about how to prevent and eliminate physical injuries in violin and viola playing and has been teaching this for about fifty years.

Kato Havas was a child prodigy on the violin and received the traditional Hungarian virtuoso training at the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest. Later she developed the "New Approach", a way to teach and play to prevent and eliminate physical injuries. By teaching it, she realised that it also eliminated nerves, stage fright, related to string playing. This approach was illustrated in her book "A New approach to violin playing", published in 1961. Then she also published other books, "The 12 lesson course" and "Stage fright", and this teaching video which is of great help to understand everything better.

Kato Havas received the “Isaac Stern International Award” in 1992 from the American String Teachers’ Association for “unparalleled results”, her books were praised by Yehudi Menuhin and in 2002 she was appointed OBE by Queen Elisabeth II for "services to music".

"Miss Havas is original in her approach to the violin [& viola] playing because she insists that technique must be reducible to basic motions involving more than the fingertips"

Sir Yehudi Menuhin

“Dear Kató Havas, I would like… to congratulate you on your book Stage Fright... It is the most realistic and practical approach imaginable… it should be worth its weight in gold to every student and many a performer.”

Sir Yehudi Menuhin

Buy "New Approach", Kato Havas teaching video online

Kato Havas developed the "New Approach", a way to teach and play to prevent and eliminate physical injuries (tendonitis, tenosynovitis, bursitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, etc.) and nerves, performance anxiety, stage fright, related to string playing.

The originality of Kato Havas

This issue of musicians' injuries is a lot talked about nowadays, not so when Kato Havas books were published in the 1960s.

What is different in Kato Havas's teaching, compared to other books and studies published more and more often, in recent times, is not only that she was the first one to become aware of this problem about fifty years ago, but also that she teaches how to prevent and eliminates physical injuries from a musician's point of view. Every movement is done not just because it's good for the body, but it has a musical reason, every movement is in the service of music. This is illustrated in her books "A new approach to violin playing", "The twelve lesson course" and "Stage fright". Despite the title, the new approach applies to all string playing.

If you've read her books, you'll find this video great because you can actually see what's written in the books and it will help you to understand it better.

Contents of the DVD

"We all have the same aspiration, that of being able to release the full force of our inherent energy impulses into a powerful musical flow. ... The magic of music is in its transiency... Why is this aspiration, so often, so elusive? What are the causes for all these aches and pains and mental anxieties?"

Buy Kato Havas teaching video @ only £19.00/$29.99 +pp

From this DVD you'll learn about:

The three major causes of injuries
The three preventive and curative answers
A doctor's view
The flying fiddle
Remedies for the hanging weight of the instrument
Optical illusions in violin and viola playing, that mislead us, and remedies for those
How to use your eyes properly
The "no violin/viola hold"
The "no bow hold"
The bow's middle-by-balance
The two "joints" that control bowing technique
How to use imagination to train your left hand to be soft and springy
The importance of singing and miming
The swinging fingers
The natural vibrato
The real length of eight positions
The controlling part of the left hand
The balance between the left thumb and little finger
The high positions and the curve interval swings
The "interval shapes" in your hand and in double stops
The "Japanese fan" exercise

Practical exercises for all of the above mentioned

and once you've got all that, to finish

The ultimate coordination: what coordinates and activates all movements

This DVD is for practical use, don't just sit there watching it, stop it and do what it says.

It's cheaper than ONE lesson and you can watch it tens of times

Buy Kato Havas teaching video @ only £19.00/$29.99 +pp

When Kato Havas published her books, she was well ahead of her time, nobody spoke about physical injuries caused by playing an instrument. Nowadays everybody is well aware of this issue, there are even clinics for musicians' injuries.

Buy Kato Havas teaching video @ only £19.00/$29.99 +pp

(it works on all DVD players and computers)

Learn how to prevent end eliminate physical injuries, anxiety
and enjoy playing again

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