Calvin Sieb Violin Techniques

8/8/2019 Calvin Sieb Violin Techniques

1/7

Calvin Sieb

The Development of a V iolinist

Photo by Lois Siegel2004

Violin Techniques

The Opposing Techniques of Hans Letz and Ivan

Galamian

Letz had the conception of a 'light', "chamber music" kind of sound. The idea of chamber music

w as really in a chamber - a chambre (French). The chambre was probably a salon of a rich

person who could afford to hire a small group of musicians to play in a private salon for an

evening of special entertainment for a select and elite audience. It w as a more delicate approach

to a sonority that would be pleasant in a relatively small place.

Letz also insisted on a German bow hold w ith a high wrist at the frog.

7


2/7

He avoided flat hair bow , and emphasized a very small use of vibrato.

In order to avoid a rough sound at the frog, one w as taught to lift the right wris t and turn it

slightly clockw ise as you approach the frog so that the wrist was taking the weight off at the frog

and the bow was tilted so that only part of the hair was in contact with the string.. Of course if

you lift the w rist and let the hand hang, there is no pressure, thus no scraping, but there is also

no control by the fingers or the hand in that w ilted flower position. One doesnt turn a doorknob

to open a door w ith the hand in that position.

I discovered that if I used my strong back muscles to lift the weight of the arm at the frog, I could

play a light pianissimo at the frog w ith complete doo r knob position control. Thus I could play

from the E string to the G string at the frog by just tw isting my hand (opening and closing the

doorknob). The motion is technically called supinationand pronation. The bow stoke is controlledby suspending the bow arm from the strong back muscles. To feel that back muscle lift, try the

following:

1. Pl ace your arms in front of the chest, the elbow s bent at 90 degree angles and fingertips nearly

touching.

2. Lift your arms keeping that arms/ hands position

3. In same starting posi tion take a medium deep breath.

4. Same thing but this time, take a very deep breath and let your arms rise up as you breathe in.

I teach my students to use their right arm in w hat I call a P osition of Force in order to achieve

complete control in rotation of the bow hand That is, if I make a fist with my right arm as if to

push something w ith much force , and then rotate that arm clockw ise and counterclockwise, as if

turning a doorknob back and forth, I arrive at the hand/ w rist/ forearm position that gives me the

most amount of control w here it counts , that is in the bow arm fingers, hand and w rist.

7


3/7

Galamian used a solid "gutsy" sound that projected well in a large hall. He insisted on a solid

right hand bow grip and strong sound, using more flat hair position. He explained how to

produce a much w armer vibrato on notes long enough for vibration. He used a larger, slow er

wave of sound.

Vibrato

Vibrato is an embelli shment of the sound that imparts an emotional color. This enhances the

music. An ordinary sustained note that does not vary is very plain and w ithout warmth. Vibratocan be considered as a w ave of changing intonation w here the note to be vibrated is played,

descends in pi tch slightly, returns up again to the note, and continues this undulating movement

for the length of the note. The distance from the top and the bottom of the wave may vary

betw een an 8th to a half of a tone below the note.

A round, roll ing vibrato requi res a soft, plaint pad, as opposed to a finger that is comparatively

firm for clear articulation. Low ering the left hand can place the fingers in a low er, flatter and

softer attitude, more or less on the fingerprint. This posi tioning o f the flat finger on the string for

the vibrato is the same as the finger posi tion the cellis t uses to create vibrato. The cellis t uses the

more fleshy part of the finger.

The vibrato is created by the finger roll ing, oscillating, not sliding , back and forth on the string.

The motion, from the point on the string that marks the intonation of that note, is always dow n in

pitch and back again to the original pitch of the note. The sound repl icates the natural vibrato of

the human voice. As w ith the human voice, the amplitude and the speed o f each wave is d ictated

by the emotion of the singer/ player...slower for calmness and faster for excitement.

There are two techniques used to produce this rolling o f the finger on the string:

1. The motive force is the arm:

The movement of the forearm, passing through a straight wrist, moving the hand back and

forth

while the finger remains, osci llating, on the string.

7


4/7

7


5/7

2. The motive force is the hand alone:

The hand, in a movement as if 'knocking at the door,' moves the hand back and forth through a

flexible w rist, thereby rolling the finger back and forth on the string.

As a musical line develops and changes in intensity, the vibrato should also develop

simultaneous ly, in the same way, becoming an integral part of the phrasing. I have devised apreparatory exercise in order to imagine and then to contro l the type, shape and intensity of the

vibrato that, ultimately, wil l enhance the musical line.

7


6/7

7


7/7

Suggested steps:

1. On any single note, place the finger that produces the best, round vibrato

2. Pl ay the note w ith a small, round vibrato and begin to think and to sing to yourself the

musical phrase to which you w ish to add vibrato.

2. Without changing the pitch of the note, mentally 'sing' the phrase, continuing the vibrato on

thatsame note. As you 'sing' (think) the phrase, you can change and shape the vibrato to

correspond

w ith the intensity of the melodic line in your mind.

This procedure w ill help you define more clearly the kind of vibrato you w ish to use to color any

specific phrase. Aside from varying the speeds and pressures in bow ing a phrase, the most

important tool used in expressing the emotions of a phrase is the vibrato.

The vibrato does not basically change the original music, but rather it adds color to the music in a

way that is similar to the addition of maquil lage (makeup) to a face...not changing the essentials

but heightening the effect.

Bow Techniques

Web Page Design by Lois Siegel

Documents

Calvin Sieb Violin Techniques