In this lesson we're going to be learning to achieve the most appropriate intonation as it pertains to Violin Music. Intonation in this context means good, clear and rich sound.
Now, It is frustrating to beginner violinists, when all the pitch they produce come out rough, that is, completely unclear, and thus, indistinguishable...
Just to be clear, intonation is not restricted to the violin, in music generally the place of good intonation is very paramount. Have you ever listened to a song or a piece of instrumental music and wished it was richer, or even softer in tone? Let's bring it home, I've heard some funny comments on poor violin performances like, "Your violin sounds like strangled rat", "Your violin has got some terrible cough...gosh...", "Why does it sound like you're hitting irons together?", and, yeah, that could be very disheartening.
However, when we learn and gain mastery of good intonation, it becomes easy and natural that it just finds its expression whenever we play. So it is very possible to learn good intonation and also to unlearn bad intonation.
How do we go about that? Just stay faithful in practicing the exercises in the next frame.
Get into the how
Welcome to this frame
There are three basic intonation exercises in this frame. Please you might find it interesting or it could even be boring to you, but don't you skip any step, yes! You don't want to make that "coughy" grrhh, on your 1743 Il Cannone Guarnerius Paganini Violin now... Why? Guess you already know that...
Now, this exercises are progressive, and skipping any step would not be in your best interest, since it would only make the next step twice difficult and less productive. So, do learn to enjoy them. Without further ado let's get started
√ Relaxation Exercise
√ Single Pitch Exercise
√ Contact Point Exercise (Sounding Point)
Relaxation Exercise
If there's one thing to avoid in your violin journey, it'll be TENSION. For most violin learners avoiding tension is very challenging, because to them that's the only feasible way, gripping the violin tightly to avoiding dropping it. If you're sure you've learnt the right posture you have nothing to fear about dropping the violin, so get rid of the tension. To learn the proper violin posture click Here.
Furthermore, the tension we're talking about is not just in the hands but the whole body, from the Legs, Torso to the Head has to be tension-free. Tension is very disastrous to sound when it comes to violin music, it makes it scratchy and unnatural, it makes your music soulless. Now, the Wrist should not be locked, it should be very flexible. That's the most technical aspect. To have a free wrist you have to earn it, because it doesn't come naturally. But for this stage don't bother too much on the wrist, but always imagine a flexible wrist whenever you play, it would help when you start learning violin techniques.
Before Practice or Performances, always do some body and finger stretches to help be in a relaxed state, do it until it becomes natural.
Single Pitch Exercise
1. Open String
2. First Finger
3. First And Second Finger
4. First, Second And Third Finger
Contact Point Exercise (Sounding Point)
Between the Bridge and the Fingerboard are the contact points, there are basically three contact points. Near the Bridge, the middle and near the fingerboard. In case you don't know what contact point is, it's simply where the Bow meets or touches the strings.
- Playing close to the Bridge gives a louder and kind of Ponticello type sound.
- The middle give the most natural Violin sound.
- Playing close to the Fingerboard gives a softer sound.
But as a beginner we have to first learn to play the most natural sound of the violin. So the exercise here is, always aim for the middle contact point whenever you practice, learn to make it consistent, until you have to learn advanced techniques.
Conclusion
A consistent practice is the most beautiful thing that can happen to getting that intonation right.
If you have any question you can ask on the Q&A Page.
Bonus Piece
To view the demonstration video lesson click here.