How to Fix Broken Chords

Ugh, that awful, percussive scratch that hits the ear, the body-slamming second punch that follows, these are the sure sign of truly broken chords.

Let’s turn them into pillars of strength and beauty; harmonic powerhouses that enliven the spirit.

But beware, it does take energy, commitment, and focus. And here’s how it’s done.

For the sake of argument let’s imagine you have two consecutive four-note chords, a down bow G minor chord and an up bow A major chord. Preceding the first chord is an eighth note pick-up, let’s say it’s D, third finger on the A string.

Point number one, get right to the frog, right under the hand with the D pick-up.

Number two, while you’re playing the D see yourself initiating the G minor chord in your mind’s eye. Don’t anticipate it physically, mind you, stay with the D eighth for its full value.

Number three, think horizontally. The up bow D is pure, horizontal motion and the down bow chord is pure, drawn-out horizontal motion.

Number four, the bow change and string crossing to catch the bottom notes of the chord happen simultaneously.

Number five, and this is important, avoid whipping the bow from the bottom two notes to the top two notes. I hear this kind of aural whiplash with regularity. If you’re playing 20th century music you can sometimes be forgiven for this. In fact a little scratch and angularity is good in Bartok, for example.

In Bach it’s dreadful.

The point is, if you want strength and fullness of tone right through the four notes you want to think of an arc that hugs the curvature of the bridge.

Number six, edge the bow hair slightly, don’t play with it flat on the string. This will allow you to really get into the string deeply and ‘bend the bow’, as I like to think of it.

These things apply to both the down bow and the up bow.

As you’re drawing down the bow on the top notes of the G minor chord visualize the motions and feelings associated with the up bow A major chord. Keep the bow edged, flex the bow with arm weight, and follow the curvature of the bridge with the upper arm.

Key to everything is the controlled yet relaxed use of the upper arm. From it comes the weight to ‘bend the bow’ as will as the smooth, arched movement from lower to upper strings.

Get control over your upper arm and you’ve gone a long way toward mastery of the bow.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop