Leslie Dawn Knowles

Early on.....

 I was born in Hollywood, California (no kidding!)  and raised in what they call "the Valley". The story goes that I started picking out tunes by ear on the piano as soon as I could reach the keyboard and loved to sing too. My parents realized early on that I had not only some talent but also perfect pitch.  I learned to read words and music at the same time when I was about 3 and enjoyed writing little songs. My parents both enjoyed classical music and my earliest memory of hearing the violin was a recording they played of  Scherazade by Rimsky Korsakov. I am sure I wore that record out, I was so enthralled at the violin and the fantastic musical story this great work tells. I begged for a violin and as soon as I was big enough to learn, when I was 4, I got my wish and started lessons with a Mr. Albert Iverson. He and his wife (Jean I think her name was) had a little storefront music studio on a small sidestreet in Canoga Park. Jean gave singing lessons and I used to love listening to her work with her students too.  I came along quickly and was soon playing little recitals here and there. I will admit I liked not only the music but also wearing the pretty dresses and having flowers in my hair :-) My dad was a professional musician, a classically trained pianist who branched out into jazz. He was always my accompanist for my classical repertoire but also taught me about improvising from the very start. He would practice mostly classical music during the day then go do his  piano bar gig at night. He was an amazing and versatile entertainer who taught me to appreciate just how important music was in people's lives. I am forever grateful that I was fortunate to have not only my classical training but also gained experience very early on at improvising through my dad. This is very unusual for someone on what looks like a classical path but has been a key element in helping me to expand my musical horizons.

Los Angeles is a wonderful place to grow up as a young musician with many training and community orchestras to play in. I was soon into my first one which met on Saturday mornings at a local university. I was by far the youngest kid there and it was a thrill for me to be able to play with the older kids. Although we mostly played easy arrangements I really loved the sounds  all around me and loved being a part of it.

Most any musician can tell you of several musically life altering moments. My first big one came when I was about 11 and was taken to my first American Youth Symphony rehearsal to sit in and see if I was ready to play with them. This group did not play arrangements, they played the real stuff and their conductor was no less than Maestro Mehli Mehta, Zubin Mehta's father. To say he was dynamic and inspiring is an understatement. As  the sounds of the cello section floated out into the hall in the first bars of Dvorak's Eighth Symphony,  I had what I can only describe as an epiphany where I knew in my heart that this would be my career. I felt very centered and I knew that I was home. I played and learned in that orchestra for years, eventually becoming Principal 2nd Violin. Maestro Mehta was a pretty tough taskmaster,  demanding eye contact virtually all of the time which meant that you pretty well had to memorize your music. Fortunately I didn't find this difficult, and it had the effect on me of really teaching me to focus which has been an indispensable help. 

As I progressed, the time came for me to change violin teachers so I was switched from Mr. Iverson to a wonderful gentleman by the name of Joachim Chassman who was a top studio player. He was one of the high profile teachers in town and for good reason. I remember him as a dear sweet man with what seemed like unending patience and always had a way to solve problems.

I was now playing in a few community orchestras and even earning a bit of money. Balancing this with High School was sometimes tough especially because I liked cutting and going to the beach instead of class but I did manage to graduate. By that time I had joined Local 47 and was supporting myself freelancing and still studying with Mr. Chassman.

About a year after I graduated High School I had the opportunity to attend the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara where I studied with the great Berl Senofsky for the summer. I was so taken with him that in September I packed up and left LA to move to Baltimore where he taught at the Peabody Conservatory. I wasn't able to attend school and the musical freelancing scene there was not at all like LA so I worked in an office, toured with the Goldovsky Opera Company, and took my lessons privately until the following year when I was fortunate in being given a scholarship and bursary as a Special Student there.

During my third year in Baltimore, I received a call from the personnel manager of the Baltimore Symphony asking me to come in and sub there. Things went well there and several months into it I took their audition and to my great surprise (I guess I thought I would be a student forever) won the job. I was once again the youngest one in the group and thrilled. Through one of the violinists there I was able to continue my violin studies with renowned teacher Dorothy DeLay until I left Baltimore in 1975 to join the first violin section of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Around the time I started playing....

Below is something which should help get the kinks out to get you set up well.         I really believe it's all about being relaxed and about balance - not strength so much.

• Standing up straight (but not rigid) with feet shoulder width apart, get balanced over your feet trying not to lock your knees.
• Take some good deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. At the end of your exhales, purse your lips as if you are blowing out candles - this does two good things, gets rid of that "old" air and also enables the muscles in your chest, shoulders, and back to relax completely. Try to remember how this feels, it really helps.
• With your arms hanging by your sides and hands relaxed, notice  the slight curve to your fingers and pay attention to where your thumbs naturally fall opposite your fingers. You will notice that you could probably loosely cradle a round object in your hand without gripping it if you wanted to. This is pretty much your best natural hand position for both hands.
• Start swinging your arms in front and back and let natural momentum take it's course. The motion will become larger and you will notice that your hands begin to feel very heavy as gravity and centrifugal force do their thing.
• Once you have gotten to where your hands are swinging up to about eye level, try turning your hands both a bit to the left or counterclockwise so your left palm and right back of your hand are facing up when your arms are in front of you.
  
• Once your hands are turned, all you have to do is bend your elbows a bit and let your hands  "land" where they would go if you were holding your violin nd bow. This is your proper natural playing position.

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Basic Sound Production
Pick up your violin and bow now and place the  middle of the bow on the D string about half way between the bridge and end of the fingerboard. Find that place on the bow that feels right in the center and remember what this feels like. Now draw some long open tones and listen. Hold your bow as loosely as you can without dropping it - this will help let the sound naturally come out and will enable you to get a better feel for what you are doing.  The weight of your arm and the bow will pull the sound out  especially in the lower half of the bow where gravity more than assists. I keep my little finger on the top of the stick and use it to keep the tip of the bow from dropping down when I am in the lower half of the bow. Once you are past the middle of the bow going towards the tip you need to pull a bit and turn your right hand slightly more counterclockwise to put some pressure on the bow and keep the sound even - your ears will let you know how much is too much. Experiment with different speeds of your bow and see what happens. It's all very interesting! Eventually you will learn to automatically find the "center" of your sound and how it feels to make different types of sounds. Keeping the violin so the strings are level and your bow at a right angle to the string are important for smoothness and purity of sound - helps to look in a mirror to check this.

• Most important, once you have found what works - you have tackled only part of the equation. Now you need to make sure to repeat doing it "right" - many, many times. The reward of course is being able to have music come out sounding like you want it to. And don't get discouraged by those days where nothing feels right or it seems like you can't get anywhere. It happens to everyone and you have to trust that your work will pay off. If you get stuck, ask for help  ;-)

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