Posted on May 17, 2008 by Abigail McHugh-Grifa in Left Hand Agility/Articulation - Left Hand/Arm

Practice without pushing the strings down to the fingerboard, as if every note were a harmonic, while maintaining normal bow weight and speed. This technique sounds absolutely horrible, but is great for training the left hand to be soft and relaxed. Have the student play for quite a while like this (perhaps an entire week) until this softness becomes a habit. Then little by little, add arm weight, without any opposing pressure from the thumb, so that at first the string is half-way to the fingerboard, then 3/4s of the way down, then all the way down, but only far enough to get a normal sound, no farther. The student will likely be surprised (if the teacher points it out) how little pressure is really needed to get back to a normal sound, because most students use way more force than necessary.

Because this practice method sounds so awful, most students are inclined to lighten the bow as well, which should be strongly discouraged. Keeping the sound big is an important ingredient for separating the two hands. Otherwise, the left hand will only learn to be light when the bow is also light, and in turn will likely squeeze whenever the student tries to get a big sound. Practice this way on anything and everything, but especially in fast passages and wherever vibrato is a problem.