“I think of the bow. It relaxes my whole psyche. I get up there and I think, the bow! That’s it. All of a sudden I am in the same place, you see.” - Pinchas Zukerman
There used to be “colour by the numbers” colouring books for kids. Perhaps there still are. The colours to be used are indicated by numbers inside bordered areas, much like a jigsaw puzzle. By following the indicated numbers precisely a child can reproduce quite sophisticated colouring.
A similar technique can be used to apply the precise bow movements for shaping the dynamics of a phrase. Like the numbering scheme for colours, numbered sounding points can be assigned for different dynamic levels. For example, let’s say you want a phrase to follow a dynamic curve from piano to forte and back down. One can then assign each of 4 sounding points to a dynamic level: p = number 5 (on the fingerboard, adjacent to its edge); mp = number 4 (next to the finger board); mf = number 3 (in the middle between the finger board and the bridge); f = number 2 (next to the bridge). To produce the second half of the curve, the sequence is reversed. Each note or note group requiring a different dynamic level is assigned a specific sounding point, making the sequence 5-4-3-2-3-4-5.
This gives you precise visual reference points for doing with the bow exactly what is needed to produce a dynamic curve. To produce a clear resonant sound at each dynamic level, the other factors that influence the friction of the bow on the string - weight and bow speed - will of course have to be adapted accordingly. This may happen automatically, or will have to be adjusted deliberately. But the main metric in this exercise is the sounding point where the bow hair meets the string.
To do this properly it is essential to memorise the music, so that you are free to look where you are drawing the bow. Consistently assigning a sounding point for a dynamic level is an excellent way to develop precise bow control. If this is done continuously, a strong association eventually develops between the visual information and the kinesthetic “feel” of different sounding points and their resulting sound, eventually freeing the player from always having to look where they are bowing. But then again, even a consummate master of sound production, quoted above, says, “I think of the bow…”, while he regularly looks at his sounding points.
Dorothy DeLay often expressed the critical importance of giving students (or yourself) precise instructions about what to do mechanically on the instrument, instead of high-sounding but vague notions that are not easily translated into the correct actions. “More sound” is vague; “closer to the bridge with more weight” is precise. “Warmer sound” is vague; “wider (or faster) vibrato” is much more precise. She pointed out that great violinists, like Itzhak Perlman, for example, are aware, moment to moment, of exactly what sounding point they are playing.
Playing by the numbers to develop precise sounding point control has been recommended by many great pedagogues through the ages. Make it an integral part of your daily practice and you’ll be surprised by the results.
There used to be “colour by the numbers” colouring books for kids. Perhaps there still are. The colours to be used are indicated by numbers inside bordered areas, much like a jigsaw puzzle. By following the indicated numbers precisely a child can reproduce quite sophisticated colouring.
A similar technique can be used to apply the precise bow movements for shaping the dynamics of a phrase. Like the numbering scheme for colours, numbered sounding points can be assigned for different dynamic levels. For example, let’s say you want a phrase to follow a dynamic curve from piano to forte and back down. One can then assign each of 4 sounding points to a dynamic level: p = number 5 (on the fingerboard, adjacent to its edge); mp = number 4 (next to the finger board); mf = number 3 (in the middle between the finger board and the bridge); f = number 2 (next to the bridge). To produce the second half of the curve, the sequence is reversed. Each note or note group requiring a different dynamic level is assigned a specific sounding point, making the sequence 5-4-3-2-3-4-5.
This gives you precise visual reference points for doing with the bow exactly what is needed to produce a dynamic curve. To produce a clear resonant sound at each dynamic level, the other factors that influence the friction of the bow on the string - weight and bow speed - will of course have to be adapted accordingly. This may happen automatically, or will have to be adjusted deliberately. But the main metric in this exercise is the sounding point where the bow hair meets the string.
To do this properly it is essential to memorise the music, so that you are free to look where you are drawing the bow. Consistently assigning a sounding point for a dynamic level is an excellent way to develop precise bow control. If this is done continuously, a strong association eventually develops between the visual information and the kinesthetic “feel” of different sounding points and their resulting sound, eventually freeing the player from always having to look where they are bowing. But then again, even a consummate master of sound production, quoted above, says, “I think of the bow…”, while he regularly looks at his sounding points.
Dorothy DeLay often expressed the critical importance of giving students (or yourself) precise instructions about what to do mechanically on the instrument, instead of high-sounding but vague notions that are not easily translated into the correct actions. “More sound” is vague; “closer to the bridge with more weight” is precise. “Warmer sound” is vague; “wider (or faster) vibrato” is much more precise. She pointed out that great violinists, like Itzhak Perlman, for example, are aware, moment to moment, of exactly what sounding point they are playing.
Playing by the numbers to develop precise sounding point control has been recommended by many great pedagogues through the ages. Make it an integral part of your daily practice and you’ll be surprised by the results.
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