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The Joy of Feuillard – A Sequential Approach to Teaching Bow Technique (Part 28 – Feuillard No. 35 – Variations #42-51)

Robert Jesselson

 

Today’s Blog will deal with Feuillard No. 35, Variations #42 – #51, which all deal with legato string crossings using the upper arm and the wrist/fingers. As we started working on these variations I first reminded Zach about the Seven Arm Levels that we had discussed earlier (the four open strings and the three double stops), and we reviewed the “Seven Arm Level Exercise”. Then I explained how these variations will involve a combination of the various arm levels and the use of the wrist/fingers to go between the double-stop levels.

 

 

So, the model for these next variations is #45 – using the upper arm on the double stop level, and the wrist moving between the two strings. I often have the students play Variation #45 before the others because it is somewhat more straightforward in figuring out how to use the arm versus the wrist/fingers.

 

Variation #45:

 

Needless to say, all of these string crossings are works-in-progress for evenness, consistency, ease of playing, etc. This is something that we string players work on for our entire lives!

Variation #42:

There are several ways to think about the combination of arm levels vs. wrist/fingers on each of these variations, but I feel that the best one for #42 is to think of the arm going to the G-string level, the D-string level, and then the D-A string double-stop level, with the wrist moving between the two upper strings.

I had to work with Zach on using the wrist to go upwards towards the A-string. Students often find it easier to go down to the lower string, and more difficult at first to go up to the higher string. But with some practice that becomes easier. I also had to remind Zach to watch his bow angle on the upbows (that was the motion I made while he was playing).

 

 

Variations #43 and #44:

So by the next lesson his string crossings were starting to become a little smoother and the wrist motion was becoming more wave-like. For several of these variations I asked Zach to play the open strings first in order to make sure that he was using the arm correctly for some of the string crossings versus using the wrist/fingers for others.

 

 

Variation #46 – #51:

For these variations I will only show a few measures, since they are all so similar. However, each variation calls for a slightly different choreography of the upper arm versus the wrist/fingers. For example, #46 would use two double-stop arm levels, with the wrist going between the G-D string arm level and the D-A string arm level. #49 would use the G-D double-stop string arm level for the 16th notes (with the wrist going between the two strings), and then the A-string arm level followed by the D-string arm-level. It is always useful to play the open strings to work out the arm levels and the evenness of the string crossings before adding in the left hand.

 

Next week’s Blog will present the final variations of Feuillard No. 35, dealing with a heavy, brushy off-the-string stroke and three-note chords.

*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, fingers, legato, string crossings, The Joy of Feuillard, upper arm, wrist

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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