practicing hard I am out with my camera, taking pictures; for I have
become what is known as a 'camera fiend.' And just now I have a new car,
which I have learned to drive, and which takes up a good deal of my
time. I have never believed in grinding. In fact I think that if one has
to work very hard to get his piece, it will show in the execution. To
interpret music properly, it is necessary to eliminate mechanical
difficulty; the audience should not feel the struggle of the artist with
what are considered hard passages. I hardly ever practice more than
three hours a day on an average, and besides, I keep my Sunday when I
do not play at all, and sometimes I make an extra holiday. As to six or
seven hours a day, I would not have been able to stand it at all."

I implied that what Mr. Heifetz said might shock thousands of aspiring
young violinists for whom he pointed a moral: "Of course," his answer
was, "you must not take me too literally. Please do not think because I
do not favor overdoing practicing that one can do without it. I'm quite
frank to say I could not myself. But there is a happy medium. I suppose
that when I play in public it looks easy, but before I ever came on the
concert stage I worked very hard. And I do yet--but always putting the
two things together, mental work and physical work. And when a certain
point of effort is reached in practice, as in everything else, there
must be relaxation.


THE DEVELOPMENT OF A VIRTUOSE TECHNIC

"Have I what is called a 'natural' technic? It is hard for me to say,
perhaps so. But if such is the case I had to develop it, to assure it,
to perfect it. If you start playing at three, as I did, with a little
violin one-quarter of the regular size, I suppose violin playing becomes