Purity practice: find the phrase by losing your vibrato (VIDEO)
Vibrato is a good thing. I like it before shifts, after shifts, during tremolo, on pizzicati, over open strings, and even (gasp!) in baroque music!
But vibrato, if left unchecked, tends to take over your brain. You won’t realize it at first. But once your left hand gains enough mental real estate, your right hand wonders why it should care anymore. It draws the bow in predictable fashion, your dynamic range goes down the tubes, and you become a boring violinist.
So what’s the solution? Shift the focus back to the bow! It’s the right hand, after all, that determines nearly everything about your sound. In order to do that, you just may have to lose your vibrato temporarily. You’ll work it back in, but only after putting the right hand back in charge of the phrase again.
I show you how I handle Purity Practice in the video below. And we’ll take a detailed look at the first phrase of the Barber violin concerto along the way:
Have you tried Purity Practice? Was it helpful? Let me know in the comments!
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17 thoughts on “Purity practice: find the phrase by losing your vibrato (VIDEO)”
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Scales: The Road
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Even if you’ve never played a scale before, violinist Nathan Cole of the Los Angeles Philharmonic will guide you through scale routines that meet you where you are, and build progressively alongside your playing.
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Great video and it’s one of the rare ones that I’ve seen describing the sound dynamics in a practical way. By talking about purity and “stopping vibrato” you have exposed sound dynamics in a very subtle and understandable way. I wish you could dig deeper into this subject of sound dynamics cause often people talk about it but do not scratch the surface. A “how to” video would be great..
As for the purity versus vibrato I loved how you took one phrase and drilled through it. I’ve tried it immediately and could see the difference.
Thanks for your great videos… Keep up the good work.
Thanks! Yes, perhaps a video on those “3 variables” of speed, pressure, and contact point?
The cornerstone of my studies with Dorothy DeLay and others with Galamian.
Another great video, Nate!!
Dear Nathan, This is fabulous, and so very helpful. Thank you for your brilliant help. Wonderful!! wonderful!!
Whaaa, sniff, why don’t you move to San Diego? We need you here. Also I want to tell you how much I enjoy your imaginative backgrounds!!! Very inspired, and visually right to the point to enhance your great teaching. Thanks a bunch.
Mary
Yeah, for this one I needed something with contours. I think I just ended up looking like I’m going camping!
What clear and practical teaching, Nathan. All of this makes sense musically as well as technically and I find most of it applies directly to my instrument, the flute, as well.
Thanks for doing these fine videos.
Thanks! Maybe it’s because my parents are flutists!
Thanks so much Nathan! A very thoughtful explanation of how to practice. Thanks!
Great video, Nathan! Thank you!
Thank you for yet another brilliantly elegant way of tackling such a complex topic.
Great video! Works for viola, too 🙂
Your video is what you learn after many years of learning different pieces. This is exactly what I teach my students especially after they want to learn a certain piece and then I play it for them and then comment why don’t I sound like that when I play it. I tell them first, years of practice and then we go through the same things you told us on your video. The only thing I have not touched on so much is vibrato is most of my students have a very difficult time learning the 2 different styles of vibrato. Very good video, really enjoy your way of thinking.
Thanks for that, always great to hear from another teacher that you think along similar lines!
Superb. Looking forward the next one. Thank you thousands!!
Thanks for another insightful video. It’s so easy to think of all the elements of playing as irrevocably linked (and well…you actually need them to be to play!) but it’s important that all the roles (left hand, right hand, whole body) are considered and cared for in their own right. I appreciate your consistent and dedicated focus.
This video makes me recall my studies with Dorothy DeLay and “Bow Vibrato”. Using the flexing of the right hand index finger during a long bow stroke to press (caress) slightly the bow weight dividing the whole bow, first, in half then quarters then triplets then sixteenths, thirty-seconds, etc. Aside from aiding the expressive qualities of the right hand it also has for effect to insure a consistent contact of the bow to the string.
Always looking forward to your posts and hearing you play!
Great comments and I always wish I could have met Ms. DeLay! Akiko studied with her for many years.