Good morning to all
Last night, my violin professor brought up the question.. are you playing from memory or playing by heart? An interesting idea, considering most of us get up on stage and try not to mess up some turn, trill or part b, what have ya. Just a thought.. think about it
RTB
Canāt one do both! The words āviolin professorā scares the be jeeves out me ā never having any kind of formal training and knowing only fiddlers.
If he means āfrom memoryā and not from heart, then it sounds like rote learning where you just play the notes as given without feeling or interpreation. If āfrom the heartā he means that you are feeling it rather than playing the notes as written, then you must be interpreting it as you feel it. What is it you are trying to accomplish?
Rosin, you didnāt state what kind of music you are playing. Is it a classical piece or ITM tune?
When I have learned the basics of a tune and gather confidence in playing it, then the feeling/interpretation starts ā the ornamentation begins on how I feel at that time and day. Sometimes I play the tune straight ahead, depending on, if (1)I am playing alone or (2)with others, if with others I usually take my clues from them on how to play the tune and how much leeway I have.
Does your professor want āfrom heart,ā or āfrom memory.ā He/she should at least tell you what they mean; if it is a good thing or a bad thing to play either way.
Hopes this helps IMHOP.
MarkB
Depends on the tune. The longer Iāve been at one, and the deeper it sinks into my bones, the more I can put my heart into it because its basics have become pretty well automatic. It was a good question offered to you. Iām suspecting your teacher is shrewd (the good ones always are), and sees that the tune you played in question is so automatic to you that you can raise your level now and make the tune your own. Best of skill (not luck in this case, Iām sure you get my drift) to you. 
N
In 1975, at a Mastersā Recital, I had a memory lapse in front of a lot of people, while playing a Busoni transcription of a Bach Toccata and Fugue. I loved that piece, but it still was a memory - not a āheartā lapse. Even tho I was never prone to crippling memory lapses, I always feared them during the playing of āclassicalā music, by memory. I will never forget the feeling of terror I had at that momentā¦
After discovering the hammer dulcimer and the whole folk/British Isles musical tradition, I realized that all hammer dulcimer music must, by definition, be played by memory, in front of an audienceā¦And so I learned the musicā¦
And there is a huge difference. I have tried to explain it to people, often, who always marvel at the hours and hours of repertoire that I - and my twin hammer dulcimer partner - have āin our headsā. Somehow, I have never had a bit of fear of memory lapse, or āfailureā, while playing the folk music I have come to love. And in more years than I care to count, the actual problems I have had, related to memory, are very few and far between.
I figure this folk/British Isles music is truly part of meā¦While I love and respect the music of Bach, Chopin, Vaughan Williams, and the like, the fear of somehow āfailingā in front of an audience, in that serious music world, has never left me.
Is this what playing from the āheadā, or āheartā, means?
Best to all.
Byll
wow.. this is great to read after a long symphony rehearsal. yes i am a performance violin major. And i know the answer.. to play from heart. Just seems this day, especially even in all branches of music, people are trying for perfectionā¦ One thing i really appreciate about folk music is the sincerety in the performance.. the live ones that is. Perfection can be formulated in the studio, but live.. your just up there spilling your guts. Hopefully. The reason i posted this little message was some time last week someone posted their fears about playing in front of the audience, and how they would mess up this bar with this phrase and so forth. My teacher nailed it on the head i think. Its not about playing perfectly, its totally about the passion of the music and what you have to say about it.
Cheers!
RtB