Yin and yang

SIMON ROWLAND-JONES Professor of viola and chamber music, Royal College of Music; chamber music at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London, UK

KEVIN LAITAK

● BORN Colchester, UK

● STUDIED WITH Patrick Ireland, Cecil Aronowitz, Bruno Giuranna

● TEACHES from 18 years old

As a viola player I have spent a great deal of my life thinking about how to create a sound on my instrument that I like, and that best enables me to express myself freely. In turn I have encouraged my students to embark on the process of finding their own sound, which in itself can inspire them to develop their playing more generally.

In my experience I have found that students want to address the issue of sound early on, as so often they feel that there is a blockage, usually resulting from some kind of physical tension. Histories of back or shoulder problems are common, but this is not surprising considering violas are mostly quite big and heavy, and physically challenging to play. To make a better, bigger sound the temptation is to ‘try harder’ by pushing down with the right arm, rather than drawing the sound out of the string. To do this effectively, for a richer and deeper sound, there must be a good balance between the arms – with an upward feeling of support from the left arm to counteract the downward (falling) feeling from the bowing arm. This means that the left arm/hand becomes semi-responsible for supporting the instrument, sharing support with the collarbone, and gaining an enhanced role in the production of sound; not just a means of producing pitches and vibrato.

Too much reliance on the large bracket-style shoulder rest – or ‘scaffolding’ as I sometimes call it – often results in a tighter and more ‘pressed’ sound, especially if the instrument ends up in a fixed position supported entirely by a clamped chin and shoulder. The bracket-style shoulder rest fills the gap between the chin and the shoulder some distance away from the neck. While this undoubtedly provides stability for the viola and a sense of security for the player when shifting, it can be counterproductive to making the optimum sound.

On the whole, for shoulder support I favour a small pad of some sort placed close to the neck. This inevitably shifts some of the responsibility for supporting the instrument to the left hand, creating a good overall balance and connection between the two hands, and therefore a more vibrant sound. However, as a teacher, I respect the preferred set-up of each student, while at the same time I try to nurture the sensation of producing sound with at least partial support from the left arm/hand.

GET THE FEELING

● Start with no shoulder rest on the instrument, Baroque-style

● Relaxing both shoulders, lift the viola and rest it on your collarbone. Support the viola safely, resting it comfortably in the palm of your hand where the viola neck joins the body of the instrument, aiming to share the weight of the viola equally between your collarbone and your left arm/hand.

● Then, leaving the viola resting on the collarbone and without putting the chin on the chin rest, free yourself from the association of clamping with the chin and shoulder by moving the viola around.

Lift the instrument up and down and move it from side to side. Then make circles with the scroll.

● Slip a foam pad (or folded duster or two) under your instrument, as close to your neck as feels comfortable for you. (Once you have found the right spot you may like to use an elastic band to secure it to your instrument.)

● Starting in the middle of the bow, play some open strings, noticing how increasing upward support from the left arm/hand encourages you to allow more right-arm weight to drop into the string, and at the same time leaves both shoulders totally relaxed

● Listen to your sound as you play and feel the connection between the two hands – almost as though you were rubbing them together. Think of this in terms of a balancing of the hands. The more sensitive you are to this, the richer the sound will be. You will begin to hear harmonics ringing!

● Even when you go back to using your shoulder rest, revisit this exercise regularly, leaving a little time each day to play some open strings with no added shoulder support. The benefits to your sound will filter through over time.

EXERCISES

Here are two of my warm-up exercises (exercise 1 and 2), which are best practised without any added shoulder support.

Think of the place where the bow touches the string as a ‘pinpoint of sound’, like a light floating in space that can change in intensity and colour

Repeat each exercise multiple times, depending on how much time you have. In the first, use about a third of the bow starting in the middle, then move incrementally nearer to the heel. Lift the viola very slightly (without lifting the shoulder) to meet the change from up to down bow. Vary the dynamics as you like.

Exercise 2 serves as a good basis for preparing to play chords and arpeggiated figurations, particularly in Bach. Allow extra arm weight to drop into the open-string bass notes; the right elbow needs to be hanging low enough to provide relaxed weight. Meanwhile use your newly experienced sense of balance between the arms to allow them to support one another.

EXERCISE 1 The exercise starts in the middle of the bow and incrementally moves nearer to the heel

EXERCISE 2 This is especially useful for chords and arpeggiated figurations in Bach

REPERTOIRE

Playing the Bach Cello Suites, mostly manageable in first position, is a useful and enjoyable way to explore freedom of sound without added shoulder support. When you use your shoulder rest again you may find that this experience will have informed the way you play.

The opening of the Walton Viola Concerto (example 1, page 83) is one of the best examples of cantabile espressivo writing in the viola repertoire, and here it is essential to produce a free, live and variable sound. The passage demands the ability to vary the intensity of expression by combining the appropriate bow speed with right-arm weight and speed/width of vibrato. Allow for the possibility of increasing the bow speed on the long notes by starting with a slow-enough bow. Developing vibrato from intensely centred to freely open on the long D in the second bar seems a good way to lift the phrase up to the loftier third bar. Make sure that the bow speed of the separate quavers (e) is at least as fast as the end of the preceding long notes (use proportionally more bow on the shorter quavers).

EXAMPLE 1 The viola’s first entrance in Walton’s Viola Concerto’s first movement. The bowing combines the original 1930 Oxford University Press edition’s and my own

IN YOUR PRACTICE

● Begin each practice session with a few minutes of the Get The Feeling section exercise (page 80)

● Include some string-crossings as shown in the Exercises section (page 81)

● After you have done these, free yourself up again by moving the viola around, up and down, side to side, and making circles with your scroll

● It is a good idea to incorporate some basic bowdistribution exercises (including varying the bow speed), keeping that feeling of balance and friction between the two hands

● Reinstate your preferred shoulder rest for the remainder of the practice, but regularly refer back in your mind to that just-experienced sensation of connection between the hands

TIPS FOR TEACHERS

● When taking on a new student, ask them if they are happy with their sound, and if not, how they would like to improve it

● To get a better idea of their understanding of sound production to date, ask how they would go about teaching it

● The first time you ask a student to play without a shoulder rest, there is a tendency for the shoulder to lift along with the left arm. Ensure that both shoulders are relaxed as the left arm lifts.

● Ask your students to examine their shoulder support:

● What are they using it for?

● Do they really need it?

● Is the right type?

● Is it in the right place?

● Understanding how to produce good sound is an ongoing process. Encourage students to get a taste for it early on, as any improvement is exciting and a great motivator.

● We are all built differently, but whatever a student’s preference, incorporating some support from the left hand will feed through into their sound in a positive way. Note: It seems to make more sense for students with long necks to use a higher chin rest rather than increase their shoulder support.

● If students have the time, and no impending repertoire exam, it may be beneficial to focus on these basic ideas for a few weeks; the longer-term benefits will be worth it.

INTERVIEW BY NAOMI YANDELL

FURTHER MATERIALS

Ivo-Jan van der Werff and I both studied with Bruno Giuranna; Ivo’s resourceful book, A Notebook forViola Players, includes some invaluable exercises that Bruno devised for his students.

The Huber Non-Slip Violin Shoulder Pad Kit (the same for both violin and viola) is one excellent solution for shoulder support, as it offers a simple and flexible way to assemble a shoulder pad to suit each individual.