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The Joy of Feuillard – A Sequential Approach to Teaching Bow Technique (Part 26 – Feuillard No. 35 – Variations #10-25)

Robert Jesselson

 

Today’s Blog continues to explore the staccato and legato strokes over three strings, with 16 variations that coordinate these horizontal and vertical motions.

Variations #10 –  #13

I asked Zach to play the entire variations #10 and #11 with four repetitions to make sure that he was concentrating well.  But then with Variation #12 I asked him to just do two repetitions in order to save some time in the lesson. Once the students have reached the point that they are concentrating well, and playing with more consistent accuracy, I usually ask them to cut some of the variations in half in order to save some time in the lessons. That will be the pattern in future lessons: doing a few variations full value, and then cutting them in half for a few.

Variations #11 and #12 are tricky because they start with the middle string, and this can be confusing. I liked Zach’s solution to the problem in #11.

 

 

Variations #14 – #17:

Continuing with staccato strokes and string crossings, I am editing this next video to show only the first part of each variation here – but Zach played each one of the variations completely in the lesson. Once again, I feel that it is important for the students to experience and practice the kind of concentration needed in a “performance” situation.

Variation #17 should again be done two different ways (similar to #8 and the earlier variations): Up-bow staccato and Flying Spiccato.

 

 

Variation #18:

Two of the issues that we encounter as cellists and musicians involve the “C-words”: Concentration and Consistency.  Learning to concentrate while playing is difficult, and requires training. Like any other skill we need to figure out how to enhance our ability to concentrate. There are lots of ways to approach this, including Zen exercises, Yoga, and breathing. We also work on building the amount of time that we can focus from just a few seconds, to several minutes, to the length of time required to play the Dvorak concerto, and beyond. Another important aspect of learning technique is finding consistency. Again, we have to discover ways to play with a consistent sound and consistently good intonation.

During this recording  Zach worked on both of these issues and had to repeat the variation several times. The issues here are consistency in the sound of the staccato stroke (“catch and float”), and concentration for memory.  It took a few “takes” to get a good performance of #18, and at the end I asked him again about the two “C” words which he is aware he needs to improve.

 

 

Variation #19 – #23:

These variations continue with the same issues as the preceding ones. Variations #20 and #23 should again be performed both as a hooked staccato and a flying spiccato stroke. With the flying spiccato stroke I asked Zach to “challenge” himself by going faster.

You can see with these variations how Zach has by now internalized the twist motion that we started working on several weeks ago. By constant reminders, and good practicing, he is now doing the twist motion “naturally”. Of course it is a learned behavior, that was reinforced with all the different variations. As a result he is releasing more tension and is able to vibrate more consistently. It is interesting to look back at some of the earlier videos to see and hear the differences in his playing.

Starting with Variation #21 here Zach again played only two beats for every chord rather than four beats in order to save a bit of time in the lesson.

 

 

Variations #24 and #25:

These two variations are to be played legato. One of the issues is to make sure that the upper arm is really doing the string crossings, without trying to bend at the elbow. In other words, the upper and lower arm work as one unit here for the string crossings. Some people have a tendency to try and do the string crossings with the lower arm as the arm goes out towards the tip. Of course the lower arm does extend out as the bow moves towards the tip.

 

 

 

Next week’s Blog will deal with triplet variations across three strings in various combinations, using staccato strokes with  legato string crossings.

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

 

Subjects: Repertoire, Technique

Tags: Feuillard, horizontal, legato, staccato, string crossings, The Joy of Feuillard, veritcal

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 contact information: RJesselson@Mozart.sc.edu

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