Mind Over Finger

Technique is conception - Zvi Zeitlin

con·cep·tion: noun \kən-ˈsep-shən\

a) the capacity, function, or process of forming or understanding ideas or abstractions or their symbols

b) a general idea : concept

c) a complex product of abstract or reflective thinking

d) the sum of a person's ideas and beliefs concerning something

e) the originating of something in the mind

“Technique is conception” my beloved old teacher Zvi Zeitlin would often repeat. When not shouting at me, or laughing at some clever remark he had just made, he loved to point out how everything about violin playing originated first in the mind. Of course, as a young and naive pupil, it took me years and countless hours of mindless/useless practice to fully grasp the importance of thi