Practicing Sound Points in Music

The next step is to practice notes, phrases, and entire passages from pieces on different sound points.

Understanding Sound Points

• Obviously, when you play the passage normally, the bow won't stay entirely on one sound point.
• After practicing on each sound point one at a time, there's always a remarkable new quality of tone and expression.
• You will also experience far greater control of the bow when you return to playing normally.

Speed and Variation

• You obviously can't play a varied phrasal passage at the same speed at the bridge as you can at the fingerboard.
• This is no problem. Simply play the phrasal passage faster near the fingerboard and slow down as much as you need to play it near the bridge.

Exploring Sound Points

• Yes, but you know, John, that's already a range of sound points.
• Can you stay right on one winding of the string in one place?
  • Well done. Great.

Sound Point Analysis

• Now, let's move to sound point four.
  • Well, that looks like five to me.

The Concert Mindset

• The secret of all of these things is to imagine you're playing a concert.
• Play expressively. Don't just rely on bare mechanics.
• Pretend that you must play this in a quartet or whatever.
• Focus on this phrase, this part of the sound point, this part of the bow in a quartet or a concerto.
• Play it as tellingly as possible, and you'll find that it all works much better.

Depth and Coordination

• Yes, really go deep into the string here now.
  • That's it. It's got enough to take it.
• And again, that was a coordination thing, not a bow stroke.

Pushing Limits

• Okay, now number two, well done.
• Push the limits. See how near the bridge you can be on that sound point too.
  • Still two, not one; needs to get slower. That's it, great!

Accepting Limitations

• There are plenty of passages that you can't possibly play on the bridge, even if you quarter the tempo or play even slower.
  • So, fine, don't play them on the bridge. It's just fine.
• However, you can do those passages on sound points .5, 4, 3, and 2.
  • It's perfectly acceptable.