Lost Secrets of Master Musicians: A Window Into Genius

In this groundbreaking look into the world of "classical" music, David Jacobson interweaves his educative experiences at the Curtis Institute of Music with his quest to understand how performers such as Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, Vladimir Horowitz, and Glenn Gould achieved such unsurpassed levels of musical expression and technical skill. What were their "secret" techniques and musical insights? Can students learn the principles of musical expression the greatest players used?

   Jacobson has spent many years analyzing the approach of these and other master players uncovering their "secrets" (including how note grouping, "laws of phrasing" and alignment with the meta-pattern of music--MPM-- affect the technique and musical expression of playing) which he explains in clear, precise, non-technical language, supplemented by color diagrams, photographs and annotated musical examples. (YouTube videos can now be played at 1/4 and 1/2 speed at pitch. Go to "settings" and select the speed.)

  His conclusion: the methods, paradigmatic shifts and musical approach of these masters are essentially the same, yet, fundamentally different and often opposite to what is taught by contemporary music teachers and accepted methods--such as those of Ivan Galamian and the Suzuki method (which are both critically examined)--for string playing, orchestral instruments, piano and voice. 
    Jacobson's dissatisfaction with contemporary pedagogical methods, which tend to be based on the personal beliefs of particular teachers, led him to search for a more rigorously researched pedagogical platform (by studying the methods of great masters) that could serve as a fundamental paradigmatic model for the teaching of all instruments and voice applicable to any genre of music. The rediscovery of these techniques and concepts will:

• Provide a paradigmatic pedagogical model for the teaching of all instruments and voice
• Make playing easier and more expressive 
• Improve the effectiveness of teaching; the principles of expert playing are clear
• Develop talent naturally, without impediment
• Create many more outstanding performers and composers
• End the need for a conductor's presence in orchestral performance
• Change our ideas about the nature of genius, talent and our own potential

"Why has the audience for classical music declined? David Jacobson's painstaking studies of the performances of past master musicians support a provocative and original hypothesis: The quality of musical expression has declined over the past century. Important reading for anyone concerned with the future of classical music and the training of classical musicians."

"Musicians become virtuosos in many different ways, and David Jacobson has extracted common principles and codified them to help us all achieve higher levels of mastery. Thorough and engaging."
-- Dr. Daniel J. Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain on Music


"Mr. Jacobson's unique idea, what he has termed the "bel canto instrumental technique," eschews the idea of individual musical talent in favor of exploring--and challenging--how music itself is approached and taught from the most basic level of instruction to the pinnacle of performance."
 
"The unique "Bel Canto Instrumental Technique" as described by master musician, David Jacobson, in Lost Secrets will shift the way we think about the very nature of musical genius and talent."
-- Chanticleer Reviews

"To demonstrate that talent and skill can be investigated, understood and learnt, Jacobson has developed from his analyses a scientific performance approach: "bel canto instrumental technique"...Jacobson's part-autobiographical narrative is logically structured and fluently written...and is accessible to a wide readership. "

"A tremendously enlightening book brilliantly written by a truly renaissance man. Every musician should read this."
--Endre Granat, The Heifetz Scale Book

Contents

Author's Note   ix
Preface   xi
Introduction   xix

ACT I   GENESIS
  Chapter 1    Beginning   3
  Chapter 2    School   9
  Chapter 3    Jake Krachmalnick   17
  Chapter 4    Philadelphia   21
  Chapter 5    Meadowmount   27
  Chapter 6    Curtis   29
  Chapter 7    Center City   35

ACT II   THE PLAY, EDEN, AND THE FALL 
  Chapter 8    The Play   39
  Chapter 9    Eden   47
  Chapter 10  The Fall   59

ACT III  EDUCATIO
  Chapter 11   Confusion   81
  Chapter 12   Opportunity   85
  Chapter 13   New York   91
  Chapter 14   Paradigm Shifts   95
  Chapter 15   The "Secrets" of the Masters   101
  Chapter 16   "Laws" of Music, Visualization, and other Discoveries   119
  Chapter 17   Skeletal, or Compositional, Thinking   163
  Chapter 18   Technique: A Three-Part System   187
  Chapter 19   Religion   217

ACT IV  POWER AND IMPORTANCE
  Chapter 20   Instruments and Violin Dealers   227
  Chapter 21   Mentors and the "Importance" of Importance   235
  Chapter 22   Conductors   247
  Chapter 23   Agents and Soloism   261
  Chapter 24   Composers   269

ACT V  TEACHING--VALUES CREATE CULTURE & POTENTIALITY
  Chapter 25   The Suzuki Violin Method   277
  Chapter 26   Galamian   309
  Chapter 27   Responsibility   351
  Chapter 28   On "Feeling" in Music and Life   365
  Chapter 29   Altered States   371
  Chapter 30   The Development of Intelligence and Talent   383
  Chapter 31   Return to Curtis   403
  Chapter 32   Can We Change?   409
  Chapter 33   Some Answers   417

Appendix   425 
Sources   443