Teaching Technique Musically

But after all the talk about technique and how to do it, the most important thing is actually something else:

Play Musically

To play the exercise and all exercises musically. Countless times I've seen people trying to do these exercises using a sort of detached mental control.

• It's as though I am in here somewhere behind my eyes and between my ears.
• I have a hand; I hold the bow with my fingers.
• I have to put the bow on the string and somehow draw it straight to the bridge and adjust the speed and the pressure.

And it just doesn't work like that.

The Importance of Context

Often you hear somebody play a piece of music with talent and a pretty good range of tone. Then, they try to play a sound point exercise, and they sound like this:

"This simply never works."

Instead, all you have to do is to imagine that this one note is in a piece of music:

• A note in a solo piece
• A quartet
• A symphony

Then everything feels different.

Focus on Sound

• "Watch your sound point. Watch it."
• "That's it. Keep it even heavier, Olivia."
• "Play into the string, Olivia. Very good."

With your finger, would you please press the string near the bridge?

"Do you feel how hard it is? Very hard. So you've got to engage that with the bow. Go deep into the string. Keep it even."

Okay, okay. Very good.

Visualization and Emotion

Just one more thing:

"Would you please imagine that this note is in your favorite piece of music? And you love this bit of the music. And this is the bit where you go, oh, yes, oh, yes."

You can think of other instruments, you can think of a rhythm, you can think of whatever you like. Just imagine.

• Play something expressive and heavier.
• "Very good. And vibrate near the bridge expressively. Heavier. Marvelous."
• "Thank you very much."

Adjusting Technique

Elbows:

"That needs to be lighter, Tim. Lighter and lighter. Well done. Careful there. Add vibrato. Bravo."

Now, senza vibrato:

• "Sound point 3. Use all the bow. Yes, yes."

Make it Musical

You know, there's a fantastic thing you can do when you do exercises like this:

"You can pretend they're a piece of music, because you don't want to just play mechanically like this and go."

Imagine it in a piece, and this is what you have to play, or what you get to play in this piece at this moment.

And play musically, see what happens.

• "And deeply in the string. Be musical, expressive."
• "Well, look at that. That's a better contact. That's right. Bravo. Fantastic."