While having great technical mastery, Shafran saw technique as a means rather than an end. Although he followed David Oistrakh's advice “to include a virtuoso piece in your daily dozen: the audience likes them as a reward” and he highly recommend practicing the “old bravura works for those who aspire to attain the heights of cello technique”, for himself he felt that above all his music should be sincere, and he aimed to focus on “major music” with the depth for great expression. “I do detest and avoid music which is patently inferior or 'cheap'. When I encounter a work that does not immediately enthuse me, I always seek to discover something that may be hidden in its pages. If the work seems to lack profundity or expressiveness, I strive to compensate for this by instilling it with my own enthusiasm and imagination, and seek out the work's dramaturgic accents based on the general character of the music.