TONE COLOUR

Tone produced with much bow and little pressure gives a light loose character
Tone produced with much pressure and little speed is dense and has a more concentrated sound
Bowing with the sounding point nearer the bridge has a brighter color
Bowing nearer the fingerboard the color is more pastel
Different vibratos will give different coloring

Qoute:Once the student has conditioned his ear - that is, his sense of tone colour- he will find innumerable passages in his repertoire the fingerings of which (some of them by well-known editors!) will no longer satisfy him. This is as it should be. Joseph Szigeti- Szigeti on the Violin Dover Pub.

Qoute:Character is the general color given to the expression of the composition. It is chosen by the composer to bring out his intention in a way that will seize the soul of the listener by making him feel the sentiment that the composer wanted to portray. Pierre Baillot The Art of the Violin Northwestern University Press

Sheila and Milly Mouse are enjoying some parlor music
Below are Sheila's favorite parlor violin solos
Sheila Mouse is practicing making different tone colors
These are her favorite short violin solo works

Romanza Andaluza Op.22
Pablo de Sarasate's Spanish Dances
Dance I Malaguena,
Dance II Habanera Op.21,
Dance III Romanza Andalusa Op.22
Dance IV Jota Navarra Op.22,
Dance V Playera Op.23,
Dance VI Zapateado Op.20 Legende
Wieniawski op. 17
Wieniawski married Isabella Hampton
He dedicated the Legende to her
Melodie from Orfeo ed Euridice
Christoph Willibald von Gluck
transcribed by Fritz kreisler
from the opera Orfeo ed Euridice
Dance of the Blessed Spirit
The Fritz Kreisler Collection I Chaconne
Tomaso Vitali
A favorite for violinist's repertoire

Salut D' Amour
Edward Elgar
Masters Music Publicatins, Inc.
Three Pieces for violin and piano Introduction and
Rondo Capriccioso
Camille Saint-Saens
Carl Fischer - International Music
Rumanian Folk Dances
Bela Bartok
Boosey Hawkes Songs My Mother Taught Me
Antonin Dvorak, Op.55 No4.
Transcribed by Fritz Kreisler
The Fritz Kreisler Collection II
No.4 of seven Gypsy Songs Op.55

Tone Color essay posted on the Corner Violin BBoard used with permission from Chi-Bong Chan

To me, the term (tone color) is really just a colorful expression (ok, so that's a bad pun, sorry) for basically what's really a form of musical expression. One of the very special things about the violin (or its cousins the viola, cello, and bass) is, unlike basically all the other instruments, you can make so many different _variety_of_sounds_ on a violin. This variety is what I think of as tone color. One of the most wonderful part about the violin is the same note sounds different when played on different strings! It is things like this that makes the violin such a musically flexible instrument.

If you think about it carefully, it's really amazing how many varieties of sound you can make on the violin. Besides the obvious things like arco vs. pizz vs. con legno, dynamics, legato vs. non-legato, etc., you can:

1. vary the heaviness of the note by both bow speed and the amount of pressure, making your violin sing in a deep, dark voice, or in a lighthearted, airy voice. Making the notes sound like they're floating on air, or they're treading heavily on soil. Whisper the musical phrase delicately, murmur it, or to push and punch it out with conviction.

2. vary the articulation of the note by various degrees of on- and off-string bowings, making your notes flowing like a river, dropping down like little raindrops, or like big heavy pieces of hail; marching maestoso-ly or skipping across the strings lightly and happily.

3. vary both the speed and amount of vibrato, thereby enhancing the musical phrase's ability to wail, moan, plead; to sing with joy, or with grief; to meditate, to reminisce, or to tremble with anger and contempt! Keep in mind that since the physical distance between pitches gets shorter higher up on the strings, the same (physical) amount of vibrato sounds very differently on lower vs. higher positions!

4. the placement of the bow on the string. Place it closer to the bridge and you're get a brighter, more projecting sound. Place it closer to the fingerboard and you'll get a softer, more subtle, more subdued sound. Sul Tasto is fingerboard to the extreme, resulting in a mellow but fragile sound lacking in substance; and ponticello is bridge to the extreme, resulting in a dry, edgy, almost icy sound.

5. the string your note is played on, as well as the position. The E-String makes bright notes that sounds like sunshine. The A-String makes a mellow, sweet kind of sound. The D-String is also mellow but sounds almost somewhat sentimetal. Finally, G-String is rich, has a deep, masculine, noble sound. The four strings are almost analogous to the sound of soprano, tenor, alto, and bass in a chorus. Also, the position affects the tone of the notes too. In general the higher positions sounds more expressive, they tend to have more "emotional impact" for lack of a better term. On the other hand, on the ultra-high positions the notes, especially on the lower strings, sounds dryer, and brighter on the higher strings.

6. Accents. This is related to the articulation. Violins are wonderful with accents because they are so many ways you can do them, each sounding differently. You can attack from the air, sweep the bow, bite on the string, or a combination of those three. Unlike, say, the piano, an accent doesn't mean your note have to sustain loud; in fact a fortepiano is essentially a quick accent (often the sweeping type) tag onto an otherwise soft note.

7. shifting/"schmaltz": Nothing does that better than the violin and other string instruments. It can be used strictly as a brilliant effect, or it can be done more subtly (portamente or something like that) to heighten musical expression and the melody. A skillful violinist should be able to control the shifting, no matter how far apart the notes are, so that it's almost absolutely clean with no slide in between, or with various degrees of "audible shifting". It doesn't have to be uniform in speed; it might linger on the first note and then quickly move to the second, or vice versa.

8. Harmonics. Isn't it lovely that you can actually make a violin sound almost like a flute?! Harmonics, especially the artifical kind, always reminds me of babies, or of gazing at the stars at a peaceful night. Harmonics are so delicate and peaceful! They can also be used to put a lingering ring to certain notes, and sometimes as a brilliant effect (especially the open-string variety). A skillful violinist can also put a small vibrato on artificial harmonics.

9. Other "special effects": Those include pizzacato, either the more harp-like "right hand variety", or the shorter, dryer, spunkier left hand type; col legno (mostly for orchestral purposes); fast glissando, chromatic scales, arpeggios (the kind where each note is on a different string), harmonics. Double-stopping with an open-string, especially the E-string, is also a popular violinistic effect, allowing a sort of bell-like sound. Sometimes even trills are used as effects. It's amazing, but the violin really can imitate, within certain degrees, other instruments quite well.

I really am not exaggerating. Notice that for each variety of sound I try to couple it with a mood or moods that it evokes. _Mood_ is the major reason for tone color. Thus tone color considerations should be integrated into the whole idea of the general musical expression of the piece.

And yes, different violins definitely have different tone colors, as well as other characteristics. That's why in principal, the student should experiment around and find the fingering that works best on his or her own specific violin. Of course, usually the suggested ones are pretty good, but sometimes your own could make a difference.

Playing a melody or a line all on one string is usually so that the tone color is kept more consistently within the melody/line. This is espeically true for the E-string because on almost all violins the E-string has quite a brighter sound then the A-string. However, keep in mind that even within one string, the tone color does change as you go up higher and higher on the string.

I have an idea for starting to introduce to students about tone color. I think one of the first things to do, to introduce the _concept_ of it all, is to have students listen to _orchestral_music_. With all that different instrumentation, orchestral music makes for a huge selection of tone colors. Have the student listen carefully, and have them try to explain why certain parts of the piece make sense to be played by certain instruments. Have them see why, for example, replacing a part where the trumpet has the melody by having it played by violins would ruin the purpose. Also at the same time have them think about phrasing, articulation, and dynamics more. Play something with none of that, and then replay it with all that, and ask them to describe the difference. Have them play something one way, and then another way (say, on a different string) and ask them what difference do they perceive. Emphasis on _mood_, because that's what you're really looking at with musical expression. Have them listening to some music, any kind, and ask them to describe the feelings, the emotions, and the mood they feel or they think the music is trying to evoke, and what they think was the key that creates that mood or feeling. After they understand the concept better, start letting them realize how they can control their playing to give different tone colors. In other words, after giving them the general introduction to tone color, specialize it down to how to apply it on the violin. Make them realize how many voices the violin has!!!

And while a good instrument certain helps, many of the basics of tone color are possible even on a dinky quarter size cigar box violin!!! It might not work as well but it's still there if you pay enough attention to it!

Tone color consideration is really but just one part of the many considerations in musical expression. It is something that takes years of experience and playing to mature. It's something the student has to build up bits by bits (perhaps a good reason to re-emphasize the importance of practicing!). Usually the older they are the better they are with it. Also have them listen carefully to various artists' rendition of the piece they're playing, and have them compare the interpretations as well as describing what parts of the interpretation they like and what parts they don't like.
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