June 2011

Teacher Talk

A series of teaching-articles in the Strad Magazine

What is the most power­ful exer­cise you ever use that brings the quick­est, biggest change, in any area of tech­nique?
Jake Strauss, New York, US
Boris Kuschnir: Many stu­dents play rico­chet by throw­ing the bow on the string so that they have no con­trol over the sound of every note and can only play a very short rico­chet. My advice is to move only the wrist with a very quick kick down­wards – not with the fin­gers, or the elbow. This exer­cise imme­di­ately makes the rico­chet longer and improves the qual­ity of each note.