Sound

Sound!

This is what it’s all about in the beginning and the end. As a kid it was what attracted you to the instrument, as an adolescent it was what kept you going and as a professional it will define your success. Whether people would want to listen to you or not.

Intonation, rhythm, articulation and such are only tools (which need to be fine tooled, of course) but when people come out of a concert they do not say “Wow, that was really in tune”, they say “that sounded fantastic”. With an attractive sound this is who you really become: attractive, and people will be more open to your sense of style and musical input as well as more forgiving for an occasional mistake.

A bad sound is bad news indeed. Correct me if I am wrong but sound is the only form in art which penetrates the body. A loud sound can damage you and an ugly, screech like sound produces a physical reaction of aversion.

So how come so many students neglect to work on their sound?

Perhaps it is because we get used to our sound and do not question it or maybe it is too much of a basic concept for people to question.
Yet sound is everything and it’s the canvass and the colours we use to create the images and emotions we want the audience to experience.

Most of the sound comes from the bow, and the rest from the use of vibrato. Yet most students would work on intonation playing scales and other forms of technical workouts but not think about the sound they would be producing.
The same for working on a piece. You must have an ideal for the way the piece should sound and work on any specific line until the it sounds the way you want.

So many times students come into a lesson saying “I only worked on the notes this week, trying to learn the fingerings and such…” it is a complete waste of time!
What is musicality if not an application of movements? Fast. Slow, heavy, light, condense, whispery, timing, energy… all of these translate to physical movements one must apply to the notes on the page. If you do not learn them straight away you would not apply the right movement or use the correct placing of the bow