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Fischer Tone Production

1) The document discusses techniques for developing good tone production on the violin as outlined in Fischer's method book, including bow tilt exercises and exercises for achieving a true legato sound. 2) Bow tilt exercises involve alternating between using the full hair of the bow and just the tip to transition between sounds, starting slowly and increasing speed. Exercises for legato involve fingering passages on one string while bowing smoothly on another. 3) To support students, the author recommends using a metronome for bow tilt exercises and providing a visualization to learn the motion, as well as having students practice legato passages with their left hand off the fingerboard to reinforce relaxation.

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506 views3 pages

Fischer Tone Production

1) The document discusses techniques for developing good tone production on the violin as outlined in Fischer's method book, including bow tilt exercises and exercises for achieving a true legato sound. 2) Bow tilt exercises involve alternating between using the full hair of the bow and just the tip to transition between sounds, starting slowly and increasing speed. Exercises for legato involve fingering passages on one string while bowing smoothly on another. 3) To support students, the author recommends using a metronome for bow tilt exercises and providing a visualization to learn the motion, as well as having students practice legato passages with their left hand off the fingerboard to reinforce relaxation.

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Volz 1

Fischer: Tone Production


A. What is the Central Topic?
The central topic for Part B of Fischer is tone production and various techniques to
produce good tone on the violin. Along with techniques there are also explanations of why
certain techniques produce good tone and how performing in a different way might produce not
so good tone.
B. What ideas did I gather for my own playing, what did I learn and apply, how can I go further?
There is an excellent point in part b that discusses resonance and how it plays into our
tone and intonation. Playing in tune will produce resonance that rings on after the end of the
note, for example playing third finger G on the D string. Suzuki calls this resonance the true
sound of the string. It is important to listen to the background resonance and the overall tone of
the note, if you are not playing in tune or do have the right bow stroke the note will not be as
resonant as it should be and the tone suffers. There are a few techniques to practice a resonant
sound which include alternating pizzicato and arco on up bows and down bows to produce the
same ringing sound, playing very short notes and listening to the ring in the background, and
playing repeated notes and listening to the sounds constituent parts such as the actual note, the
sound of the hair on the string, and the background ringing. I found it interesting to focus
specifically on every individual part of the sound including the hair on the string which is
ignored sometimes. Opening up my ears in the practice room for the entire sound I am making
on my violin helps to improve my overall sound as well as intonation because when I hit pitch
centers frequently I will hear plenty of ringing and openness, depending on the key I am playing
in. I would be curious to see how this resonance could be listened to on dead notes such as C#
or Ab.
C. 1-3 Ideas for Current and Potential Students
There was an interesting section about bow tilting exercises which I have never
considered. Bow tilting is used to lighten up from the strong and full sound of using full hair.
Transitioning between the two strokes and exercises for the transition is an aspect of bow tilt I
have never really considered. It is approached in the same way as vibrato might be approached.
While holding out one note, the student is to switch between tilted hair and full hair on a certain

Volz 2

rhythmic subdivision such as 2 half notes and will repeat until comfortable and good tone is
produced. Once the student feels comfortable, they move on to the next subdivision which would
be 4 quarter notes alternating tilted hair and full hair, followed by quarter note triplets, eighth
notes and so on. I liked this exercise because it trains the student to change to a different sound
with speed and comfort in the same way they might use vibrato and change it where they see fit.
Another exercise I liked was practicing a true legato sound. To achieve this, Fischer
suggests bowing on an open string while performing the fingering for the passage on the string it
is meant to be played on. For example, if the passage is 4 quarter notes on the A string (A, B, A,
B) then the student would do a long bow on the D string. Once the student is drawing whole
bows that sound even and solid, bow the passage as written and do not let the fingers impede the
smooth sound achieved beforehand.
D. What have I gathered from other authors and teachers who have developed exercises,
analogies, ect. for these ideas?
For practicing resonance on the violin, many exercises are variations on bow strokes but
all have the same end check of listening for the background ringing noise. There were three
exercises in the book, one was an alternating pizzicato and arco stroke and the goal was to match
the resonance of the pizzicato with the bowed stroke. The challenge in this lies in placing the
bow in the right place and producing a good sound right away in rhythm. The next exercise is
more lenient with the rhythm of execution but the point was to play varying note lengths from
16th note followed by a long pause to half notes and whole notes followed by a pause. The
exercise also suggests using various sound points.
As stated previously, the bow tilt exercise is essentially the same learning process as
learning vibrato. The practitioner must switch between tilted hair and full hair in rhythm and
move through various rhythms and increasing the subdivision. It is also suggested to play three,
four, six, and eight tilted-flat combinations in one bow as well as switch by starting with full hair
and then going to tilted hair.
Many of the exercises for a true legato were essentially the same as well. The goal is to
finger a passage on the string it should be played on while bowing smoothly on another string.
The point is that when the bow and the fingers are united on the same string, the even and

Volz 3

smooth bowing should not be impeded by the addition of the fingers. The goal of these exercises
is not to mirror the passage on a different string but rather give the violinist the sensation of
smooth bowing while performing different actions with the other hand.
E. How might I support my students engagement with this topic?
To support my student with learning the tilt of the bow I would certainly use a
metronome and show them how they might practice tilting the bow in rhythm so they can
practice correctly at home. Another idea would be to have them practice the motion without the
bow in hand. For visual aid they could imagine holding a door knob (a pretty high one in this
scenario!). They are standing next to a door, left ear to the wood, and want to silently open the
door to sneak in. To do so, they must turn the door knob slowly away from them and once the
door is open they must turn the knob back because they cant release it suddenly or they will
alert the others. This gives the student a scenario in which they are creating a slow and controlled
movement that will be used in the same way on the violin. This base movement can then become
more rhythmic and increase in velocity.
Another level I might add to the true legato sound would be to have the student move
their fingers off of the fingerboard and have them bow smoothly while thinking about the
passage. The reason for this would be to have a more wholesome experience of relaxation. One
of the reasons why the students tone may be suffering with the addition of the left hand might be
because they are using too much left hand pressure. Taking the left hand off of the violin will
solidify the feeling of relaxation that should be preserved to the fullest extent when the left hand
is reunited with the violin.

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