The Joy of Feuillard - A Sequential Approach to Teaching Bow Technique (Part 25 - Feuillard No. 35

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The Joy of Feuillard – A Sequential Approach to Teaching Bow Technique (Part 25 – Feuillard No. 35 – Variations #3-9)

The next seven variations of Feuillard No. 35 all combine legato and staccato playing in various configurations over three strings. The issues involve coordination, and figuring out how to play smooth string crossings alternating with “catch and float” staccato strokes.

Variations #3 and #4:

At this point, most students are still working with the underlying concepts that we discussed in the last Blog: the twist motion and the release of the fingers while doing these variations. Zach made a lot of progress while practicing these things during the week. Today’s videos demonstrate that he is absorbing the new concepts, compared to the videos in last week’s Blog. At the end of the next video, Zach had a “revelation” about the relationship between the twist motion and the release of the fingers.

It is an important “lightbulb” moment when students put the new concepts into their own words and can verbalize things their own way.

Variations #5, #6 and #7:

These next variations are all continuing to work with the alternating staccato and legato strokes. Besides the bow technique that they are learning, one of the main issues for most students involves their ability to concentrate. Having taught these same Feuillard variations for more than forty years I am finding that nowadays it is more difficult for students to concentrate for a long time on one task than in the past. However I feel it is especially important for us to help this generation of young people improve their ability to focus and concentrate. These variations can help people figure out how to do that. They are like Zen exercises which train us to “be in the moment”. Even though each variation only takes a minute or so to play, it is vital to build up a reservoir of these concentration experiences. When they play four or five of these variations in a lesson, and are able to focus throughout, the students are gaining valuable training towards the concentration that is required for playing an entire Bach suite or a major concerto. There are no short-cuts in this training. So while it might seem “boring” or “torture” to put students through this regime, it is a necessary part of the process for training the brain. That, and their weekly scales and arpeggios, and their etudes. And while some teachers may find it “boring” or “torture” to listen to these – especially one student after another – I think it is important for me to just sit there and listen…

In this next video I am keeping Zach’s full “performances” of these three variations, to show how well he was doing with his concentration. This represents a big step forward for him; it wasn’t long ago – working through the previous Feuillard pages – that he was still having problems with concentrating for this length of time. And the improvement in his concentration is reflected in his ability to learn his etudes faster, and his ability to memorize his Bach suite easier and more securely.

In Variation #7 I needed to work with Zach on the issue of the part of the bow to use (the middle) and the lift that is required.

Variation #8:

Variation #8 should be played two different ways: staccato and spiccato (much like Feuillard No. 33 #12 and No. 34 #37). As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the staccato stroke is called either “up-bow staccato”, “slurred staccato” or “hooked staccato”. The spiccato stroke is called “flying spiccato”. I was pleased that Zach remembered the different techniques for producing these two different strokes from when he did it a few months before in Feuillard No. 33.

So, Up-bow Staccato requires the following:

low contact point
first finger involvement
closer to the middle of the bow
lower arm movement
heavier sound

And the Flying Spiccato requires:

higher contact point
little finger (on top of the stick!)
closer to the frog, depending on the speed
lighter sound
faster tempo

Variation #9:

This variation involves Down-bow Staccato (it would probably have to be very fast to do an effective Flying Spiccato stroke here – so we won’t do that now). Zach remembered the various requirements for this stroke from earlier discussions, on prompting. I usually repeat these questions several times in different variations until it is internalized and “obvious”. From experience I find that it takes a while for that to happen – so in the meantime I keep asking the same questions…

Next week’s blog will continue the staccato and legato strokes over three strings with 16 variations that coordinate these horizontal and vertical motions.

*If you have questions or comments about The Joy of Feuillard, Dr. Robert Jesselson can be reached directly at rjesselson@mozart.sc.edu.

By Robert Jesselson|2019-03-04T04:33:20-05:00March 4th, 2019|Categories: In the Practice Room, The Joy of Feuillard, Teaching|Tags: legato, string crossings, Feuillard, staccato, Teaching|

About the Author: Robert Jesselson

Robert Jesselson is a Carolina Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina, where he teaches cello and plays in the American Arts Trio and the Jesselson/Fugo Duo. In 2013 he was named as the Governor’s Professor of the Year by Governor Haley and the SC Commission on Higher Education.

Dr. Jesselson has performed in recital and with orchestras in Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States, and has participated in the Music Festivals at Nice (France), Granada (Spain), Santiago (Spain), Aspen (CO), Spoleto (SC), the Grand Tetons (WY), and the Festival Inverno (Brazil). His performance degrees are from the Staatliche Hochschule fuer Musik in Freiburg, West Germany, from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Paul Katz, and the DMA from Rutgers where he studied with cellist Bernard Greenhouse. He has been principal cello of the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Orquesta-Sinfonica de Las Palmas, Spain. In 1983 Dr. Jesselson was in China for a six-month residency, one of the first Western cellists to visit that country. During that time he performed as soloist, gave master classes, and taught at several conservatories (including Beijing, Shanghai, and Canton). In December, 2001 he led a delegation of string players and teachers to Cuba to begin professional contact with Cuban musicians. He has also taught at Sookmyung University in Korea, Sun Yat Sen University in Taiwan, University of Auckland in New Zealand, at the Royal College of Music in London and recently in St. Lucia in the Caribbean. His recent CD of new music for cello and piano is called “Carolina Cellobration” and is available on CD Baby and Cellos2Go.

Dr. Jesselson was the national President of ASTA, the American String Teachers Association, from 2000-2002. During his tenure as president he initiated the National Studio Teachers Forums (2000 and 2002), started the National String Project Consortium (with sites now at 44 universities and grants of $3.1 million), and began the planning for the first stand-alone ASTA national convention in 2003. He was the founding Executive Director of the National String Project Consortium, and is currently on the NSPC Board.

Dr. Jesselson is former conductor of the USC University Orchestra and the Columbia Youth Orchestra, and he was the cello teacher at the S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts for 17 years. For 15 years he was the director of the USC String Project, building the program into one of the largest and most prominent string education programs in the country. His pioneering work on this program was recognized in an article in the New York Times in December, 2003. ASTA awarded him the “Marvin Rabin Community Service” Award in 2009 for his work with the NSPC and teacher training. He is the recipient of the 2015 USC Trustees Professorship and the 2010 Mungo Distinguished Professor of the Year, the highest teaching awards given by USC. He has also been awarded the 2002 Cantey Award for Outstanding Faculty, the 1992 Verner Award, the 1989 S.C. Arts Commission Artist Fellowship, the 1995 Mungo Teaching Award, and the first SC ASTA Studio Teacher Award in 2005. Next summer Dr. Jesselson will be teaching cello at the Green Mountain Music Festival in Vermont and at the Cellospeak Festival. He plays a 1716 Jacques Boquay cello.

Robert Jesselson website: https://sites.google.com/view/robertjesselsoncello/home

Articles by Jesselson: http://in.music.sc.edu/fs/jesselson/articles.html

Robert Jesselson contact information: RJesselson@Mozart.sc.edu