Writing Your Own String Instrument Story

When I started playing cello in fifth grade, shortly after my tenth birthday, I had no choice but to play the instrument provided to me by the school. It had names carved into it and the strings were very high off the fingerboard - what string players call “high action.” I believe it’s possible that the chronic tendinitis that I struggled with all my life and eventually ended my performing career was due to the pressure I exerted with my left hand on cellos with high action. The cello came in a brown canvas bag that I was expected to carry close to my body in a kind of half-embrace. This did not prevent multiple instances of kids racing around and crashing into me, causing damage to the cello through the very flimsy case. It might have actually been safer to carry around the cello with no case at all.

I bring up my own early history with the cello as a cautionary tale for all of you who are thinking of having your children start studying cello or another string instrument this fall. Fortunately, the DMV has a wealth of places from which to rent instruments staffed by knowledgeable people. But I would urge you to ask about the action; putting your fingers on the string to produce a note shouldn’t be an effort that causes any sort of muscle tension in the left hand or any pain, major indentation, or major calluses in the left fingers. Make sure the bridge is at a reasonable height and isn’t warped or cracked. Make sure that the pegs aren’t stuck and that tuning won’t be a nightmare. There is no shame in getting an instrument with machine pegs on top for a beginning musician; regardless of the type of pegs, make sure that whoever is taking care of this transaction demonstrates tuning that particular instrument for you. And make sure that the end pin doesn’t have to be fully extended when you first try the cello; your children are going to keep growing and you want to have that room to grow. In deciding what size instrument to get, in general it’s better to err on the side of slightly (but only slightly!) too large than too small.

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There are a few things you can do at home that could work as a kind of physical acclimation to what playing string instruments entails. To start with you’ll need a salad bowl; one of those ones that are perfectly curved, the kind in which you might see a particularly fancy chef rub a clove of garlic all over before introducing the greens. But you’re not making a salad right now; you’re learning how to use a bow.

You’ll be working with your right arm, regardless of which is your dominant side. This might seem unfair, but you always bow with the right hand, because that’s how bowed string instruments are designed. It’s undeniable that left handed players face challenges in learning how to use the bow, but they have the advantage of being able to finger the strings with their dominant hand. Playing string instruments is challenging for everyone in different ways.

Back to the bowl. Bend your fingers so that the top knuckles on the back of the hand touch the surface of the inside of the bowl. Sweep the curvature of the bowl in a straight arc, down one side and up the other. Keep your shoulders relaxed; hunching them will limit your movement. You can work with gravity as you come down one side and momentum as you go up the other; no need to force the issue. You’re not really using your muscles as much as just riding a wave. This should feel less strenuous than ironing.

Speaking of ironing, this is an important point: bowing is not a lateral motion. The popular misconception that one is sawing back and forth on the string is inaccurate. You’re making an arc with your right arm that ultimately begins in the lower back; your elbow comes down and your hand makes an arc as it holds the bow in constant contact with the string. It’s a bit like paddling a canoe.

The fingers on the right hand are also part of this process. To illustrate this point, get a small bottle of water and a glass. As you take hold of the bottle notice that your thumb and middle finger form a fulcrum on opposite sides of the bottle. As you pour the water into the glass notice that the weight of your hand passes through all the fingers and by the time it’s tilted enough that water is pouring out it’s almost all in your index finger. And then when you turn the bottle upright the weight flows the opposite direction toward your pinkie. The same thing happens when your fingers hold the “frog,” or weighted end, of the bow: as you do a down-bow (a stroke that starts at the frog towards the tip) your fingers are doing the same thing as they do when you’re pouring from the bottle, and when you do the up-bow they’re bringing the bottle back up.

There are so many metaphors to describe bowing. What’s important is that the metaphor is of an action and not something that can be done without moving, because, as I mentioned, you’re working with gravity; when you stop moving, your arm should fall naturally to your side and your bow will droop and possibly fall (one of many reasons it’s good to work in a carpeted room.) Using imagery that involves a static pose can be problematic, because in holding that pose you’re using your fingers and muscles in a way you wouldn’t be while you’re actually playing.

It should be noted that you might not be told these things by your public-school music teacher. They’re just trying to get through their class period in one piece. If you’ve got a class of 30 feisty kids there’s no time for salad bowls or water bottles or nuanced conversations about weight distribution. Which is why it’s so helpful if a kid gets the chance to make these discoveries at home. While a private teacher is ideal, it’s also valuable if the parent could learn along with the kid and work on some of these concepts, and there are a lot of great resources online. The teacher at school has to teach in a way that may not yield the best long-term results toward the goal of being a virtuoso, but they give the kids something that might be just as valuable, which is the experience of playing in an ensemble and performing on stage, contributing to a sound that’s more than the sum of its parts.

And the reason why any musical ensemble at any level sounds like more than the sum of its parts is another topic that won’t be covered in most public-school music classrooms: overtones. As you might vaguely remember from an elementary physics class, the sound waves from vibrating bodies seek out other bodies to vibrate in sync with. This is what can make a duet sound like there’s a ghostly third performer, or make a quintet sound like an orchestra, or gives instruments with sympathetic strings (like the sitar) their haunting resonance, or gives first rate, really in-tune a cappella choral groups their bell-like clarity. It’s also what gives string players a valuable tool to improve their intonation - if they know how to use it.

Many beginners put colored tape on the fingerboard to indicate where the fingers of the left hand go in first position. But a more accurate way of determining where the fingers go is to hear the strings resonate with one another. For example, if you put your first finger on the lowest string accurately in first position, the top two strings will vibrate even without touching them. And if you just then shift that finger over to the second-lowest string, you can make the top string resonate. Similarly, if you put the third finger (fourth on cello) in exactly the right place on any of the top three strings the string just below it will resonate. This is something even a child who’s only been studying their instrument a few weeks can do, and doing that - finding the exact sweet spot that causes the instrument to open up its sound in such a beautiful way - is a worthwhile experiment for a beginner to do that will train your ears to internalize what “in tune” really means and what it feels like - true intonation is a physical sensation.

If you’re thinking about buying: it makes little sense to purchase an instrument that isn’t full size because your child will grow out of it within a couple of years (though if you do it might actually make better financial sense to donate it when you’re done with it rather than sell it, and you’d be doing the world a favor.) As for purchasing your first full size instrument, there’s an option available now that wasn’t available when I was a kid.

Back then, the usual “starter” string instrument was one made in a factory in China or Eastern Europe. At one point many of these had a sticker inside that said “Antonius Stradivarius.” These instruments are still around and being sold. If you find one, be advised that you have not struck it rich: it is not an actual Stradivarius instrument; it’s an instrument modeled on a Stradivarius. Today some of these stickers are even found on very inexpensive “outfits” that are made from such flimsy materials that any repairs made on them cost more than the instrument is worth.

The good news is that these instruments tend to be better than the public-school instruments I played on as a kid. But they still may end up being wasted money in the long run.

The most significant development in recent years is the quality of carbon fiber instruments, which I would absolutely recommend over wooden instruments that are less than professional quality. These can be a bit pricey if you’re getting one for a student but they have the advantage of being extremely durable and an excellent investment.

It’s only a matter of time before carbon fiber instruments will be accepted in the major orchestras as legitimate instruments. This seems inevitable as the organic materials used for traditional violin making become scarcer due to climate change. But at the moment there is still no substitute for a finely crafted instrument made by a master luthier.

I once got to play a real Stradivarius for about four minutes. For those four minutes I felt like a virtuoso. I sounded magnificent, and yet it sounded like me. The instrument was so easy to play and responded so well. It was exhilarating and depressing at the same time; I felt like all that was holding me back was a great instrument, but I also realized that I would never be able to own an instrument like that. And, truth be told, you don’t get access to those sorts of instruments unless you can sound like your best self on an instrument that isn’t the best.

But that experience made me think that it would be so helpful if students could get the chance to play on a great instrument relatively early in their development. Their confidence would increase, it would inspire them to practice, and they could no longer hide behind the excuse of not having a good enough instrument.

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Apparently, I’m not the only one who has had that thought. An organization called Strumenti is dedicated to getting great instruments into the hands of up-and-coming artists. Usually how it works is that an already established virtuoso is lent an instrument by a major institution. Strumenti raises money from a consortium of investors who come together to purchase high-end instruments for highly promising students who would benefit from having a great instrument now. They’re in the process of securing a great 19th-century French violin for a 13-year-old student in San Francisco.

This may sound foolish to you, but I believe that a teenager needs that kind of instrument more than an established professional does. Learning on great instruments can help make you into a better player. Once you’re already great you can make lesser instruments sound great. I would be fine if the top-level professional orchestras and soloists all played carbon fiber instruments while the Stradivaris and Vuillaumes were reserved for the young players who need them more.

The world we are leaving for the young is in a precarious state. If we want them to carry on the best traditions of human civilization we shouldn’t make them wait to experience the best that legacy has to offer. They need that inspiration now.

Which is why I hope, even if you can’t afford the best instrument, you encourage your children to make music. It’s the best thing we have to give them.

For inspiration, check out our Classical Breakdown interviews with string musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra.