Stop sounding like a dying cat!
“I sound like a dying cat!”
This is a frequent complaint of adult violin students, especially in the very early stages of learning. When I hear a student say this, I immediately know they are referring to their tone. Tone is the quality of your sound (not to be confused with intonation, which is the pitch of your notes). Developing a beautiful tone is a lifelong journey, but here are some common issues beginners face and how to solve them.
Here are the four main reasons why your tone is…shall we say….less than desirable ;)
You are pressing too hard.
This is the number one tone killer, by far! In order for our violin to sound full and pleasing, we want the instrument to vibrate as much as possible. When you press too hard, you are eliminating the majority of the vibrations and effectively squashing the sound. See just how soft and light you can be with your bow hand, and notice how your tone changes. When you want to play louder, you need to add more arm weight to the string, not pressure. Check out this video to learn how to do that.
Your bow is not straight.
I know what you might be thinking. What does a straight bow have to do with my violin sound? Well, each spot between the bridge and the fingerboard (called contact points) creates its own unique tone. If your bow is closer to the bridge, your tone will be louder and harsher; and if your bow is closer to the fingerboard, your tone will be softer and wispier. Don’t believe me? Try it out for yourself! Draw your bow close to the bridge and then close to the fingerboard. Notice how the sound changes.
If your bow is not straight, you are changing the quality of sound during a single bow stroke. While this is not inherently a bad thing, it should be done with a purpose behind it, not just because you can’t keep the bow straight. Check out this article where I describe how to get a straight bow.
Your bow is not properly balanced on one string.
This is the main cause of “noisy neighbors” (ie hearing other strings sound besides the one you’re playing on). Noisy neighbors happen when your bow accidentally hits the neighboring strings while playing. To eliminate this, first, be sure that you are performing string crossings correctly and are using the right elbow levels for each string (which you can learn about in this video). Then, be sure that your hand is moving in a steady plane of motion as you draw the bow. This can be achieved through simple open strings practice.
Your bow hand is stiff.
When bowing, the bow hand should be as soft and light as possible. This not only helps with the tone, but also ensures that there is a soft enough touch to bring out nuances in the sound and perform advanced bow strokes. Check out this article for bow hand flexibility exercises that will help loosen up the bow hand and thus improve your violin tone.
In order to stop sounding like a dying cat, identify which of the above applies to you (it could be more than one!) and incorporate these practice suggestions into your routine. You will not sound like a dying cat forever!
