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Instruction, Information & Inspiration for Players of Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass & Fiddle | June 11, 2010

Learn to Improve Your Tone

“I find tone is like someone’s voice,” says virtuoso violinist Jaime Laredo, conductor of the prestigious New York String Orchestra Seminar, “and like appearances, no two sounds are alike.” In other words, your tone is your musical voice, as individual as you are, and you want it to speak for you as clearly and articulately as possible.

The tools of sound production are few, the experts say, but their effects are endless. Sound depends on bow usage, and to a lesser extent, on vibrato. “To make a good sound, there are three basics: speed, pressure, and sounding point,” says Muir Quartet violinist and Boston University professor Peter Zazofsky.

“The variety of each will present you with your best sound. What percentage of each depends on the context, but to find the right balance you have to manipulate each of these three variables.”

To shape your tone, Laredo adds, you need to think about vibrato, the kind and amount of bow pressure you use, and most importantly, the bow speed. “I find that students often are concentrating on getting a big sound,” he says, “but they should look instead to their bow speed. They often forget that they can get many varieties of sound by varying their bow speed.”

A good tone, says violin teacher Emlyn Ngai of the Hartt School of Music, should have resonance. “If we approach the instrument and bow in the appropriate manner, we set the whole instrument vibrating,” he says.

“A good tone should have a core in it for projection and warmth to please the listener’s ear. A good tone should ring like a bell, pure and beautiful, even without the use of vibrato.”

So how do you go about improving your sound?

Concert violinist and educator Ida Kavafian suggests that “warming up on long tones is a really good idea. We concentrate so much on the left hand, we forget to warm up the right. Work on smooth bow changes, loosening your fingers so that they can be responsive.”

In your search for your own great sound, it might be helpful to keep this thought from Kavafian in mind: “In terms of sound, your imagination is the most important component. Keep an open mind and explore every possibility.

“A person’s imagination is his or her biggest asset.”

By Tiffany Maleshefski

For more helpful playing tips, we recommend Succeed as a String Player! It offers advice on making better use of your practice time, overcoming stage fright, breezing through a music school audition, finding the perfect summer music camp, and much more. Get helpful hints from some o f the violin world's biggest names, including Itzhak Perlman, Hilary Hahn, Joshua Bell, and Nicola Benedetti. Order a copy for yourself or a fellow string player today!

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