Field Notes 20060119
These are notes from lessons and rehearsal experiences with Dr. Koh. There are some classics, and I plan to add more. These will be good for reliving the memories when I’m 60, but more importantly will refresh the imperative exercises and key points learned in my forgetful, “Alzheimers”-ridden brain. Never forget – one should practice with the brain, not without!
“Do you step on the gas pedal and brake at the same time? What’s going to happen to the car?”
Dr. Koh, about clutching the neck of the instrument with one’s stiffened claws when trying to practice a relaxed elbow-vibrato
Vibrato should be practiced first without holding the instrument, then holding the instrument with the right hand, then with the second finger sliding freely on the string, then depressing the second finger on the string just lightly enough that it position does not wander too much. The range of intonation should vary about a half-note – most importantly not less than this much. Slow oscillation for practice should follow the “knock knock knock (rest)” pattern, in tempo, as if knocking on a door.
“Do you walk around in the supermarket with your hand like that?”
Dr. Koh, indicating a player’s left hand, which instinctively clenches when getting ready to finger a note. It should be relaxed just like it is when we are going for a stroll.
One should have a very good sense of the different parts of the bow. We started cultivating this sense by dividing the bow into three kinds of halves: upper half, middle half, and lower half (closest to the frog). From start to finish, every aspect of practice should be given attention. Before playing, the bow should be placed in the correct place. For the upper half, the downbow starts precisely at the middle of the bow. To produce a core sound, the bow must be at the “sounding point” of the string, roughly equidistant from the bridge and the start of the fingerboard. The inclination of the bow is different depending on the half being played on; it should be at a 45° angle near the frog where there is naturally more pressure. Near the tip, all of the hair should come in contact with the string.
A useful technique is to start practicing one of these halves playing quarter notes, then to close the eyes and keep the bow positioned and moving correctly, using only tactile sensation and extreme concentration. It strikes me that music has never been about sight … so why should we depend on looking at our position to judge whether it is right or wrong? Feeling it with other senses is ultimately more reliable and immediate, if we can get to the point of being conscious of what our bodies are doing. We’re all scrunching our shoulders and need to constantly be aware so we can relax.
“You’re going to Miami, but you went to the gate for San Francisco.”
Dr. Koh, about Judy preparing to play at the wrong part of the bow.
“Do you know a viola joke? First put the left hand on. Then put the right hand up. Then play.”
Dr. Koh, telling all of us that, ironically, we forget these most basic preparations in our uncontrollable urges to start playing. Everything should be ready before we make a sound.
Everyone in an ensemble has the responsibility of cueing and setting the tempo. Before we can start, we have to know what every other person we are playing with is thinking; our thoughts must be synchronized. Otherwise, as Dr. Koh has been fond of saying lately, we are “doomed to fail”. In order to be on the same page, everyone must bring up their instruments in the same way. Everyone has to be watching for the moment when enough tension exists to bind the group’s cueing and downbeat. Waiting is not the right word – we have to be more active than that. We create the tension and the moment with our energy, charisma, and directing ability.
Cueing is like a ball thrown in the air. A parabola. Not a rock dropped from a window. A straight line. Continuing the theme of physics in music, consider finger bowing and the momentum of the bow at the instant of the bow turn. One of Dr. Koh’s favorite metaphors is of the bow arm, from the shoulder down to the fingers and including the bow, as a snake. The snake does not move in a very jerky, solid way. Rather, it slithers to and fro with a wave-like motion. Its head is undulating downwards when the tail is still moving upwards towards some apex. Finger bowing allows the bow to continue traveling up when the bow arm is already moving down. The turn around is twice as fast and twice as clean because, in a sense, the bow never stops.
When we practice tuning, we never practice using thirds or sixths. We use fourths, fifths, and octaves. To tune the first finger, place it lightly on the string. The hand and other fingers should not tense up when any finger is depressed on a string; they should remain relaxed. I found I have a habit of bringing my pinky below the horizon of the neck when playing the third finger. This may be because of a lack of independence between the third and fourth fingers. With the first finger down, play the next open string up to resolve an perfect fourth. We should practice putting the fingers down one at a time, not all together. Trying to place them all at once makes the distances the fingers must stretch to large and promotes tension. The third finger is accompanied by the lower open string to resolve an octave. The fourth finger should be played with the open string that resolves the same note. We can practice by playing a double stop and pressing and releasing the same note while making sure to stay relaxed. How relaxed?
“Completely relaxed!”
How to put rosin on the bow: knowing this will let us distinguish the good players from the bad even before we hear a single note! That’s because good players know how to take care of their instruments. (And their bodies too – they don’t hang around with 1mm fingernails like I do. No siree, you need the fleshy part of the fingers to both get a proper grip on the bow, and to play vibrato with the left hand.) Since the part of the bow closer to the frog naturally plays louder than the part closer to the tip, it needs less rosin. Instead of applying end to end, start at the middle of the bow, and move your way out. A few passes is good enough. Applying too much can cause a film of rosin to collect on and damage the finish of the instrument, to the detriment of its sound.