A s a young string player in central Illinois in the mid-1960s, I attended the University of Illinois Summer Youth Music Camp. Unknown to me, the great string pedagogue Paul Rolland was conducting research at

the camp. My friends were taken to an off-camp location to be video-recorded playing specific music. They didn’t think much of it at the time, but the videos that we in the string pedagogy profession use today to prepare teachers includes the remedial training example of these students. When I show these videos, they bring back fond memories for me.

Fast-forward several years, and I had the great fortune to attend the University of Illinois as a student. The team of faculty who helped Paul Rolland with his work taught my string methods courses, and I had Mr. Rolland himself for String Pedagogy. To have experienced this approach under his guidance was extremely special.

Upon his arrival to the United States, Rolland was struck by the awkwardness he noticed in young string players he began teaching. In his previous experience, his students were quite free in their dance classes. So he began his journey of studying the motion of string players. Through the work of motion study, he shed light on common string player problems—stiffening of the whole bow arm when the right hand is stiff and how clutching the neck of the instrument immobilizes the left hand. To resolve these issues and more, he worked with players to move from a forced, regulated movement to habits that are more organic and natural.

The motion stud-ies are an integral part of how I play and teach. When I present an instrument to a stu-dent, I follow the steps as outlined by Rolland in Teaching of Action in String Playing. The process of

having the violinists and violists stand and lift their instruments up in the statue of liberty pose and then turn the instrument into their neck with the button in the center and rest their head down works every time. Setting the cellists’ sitting posture and then bringing the instrument in toward the body also is effective. The next step of strumming across the strings with the left hand little finger to establish the height of the left arm and hand is fun for the students. The teacher can play a tune while the class develops a steady beat.

When my college pedagogy students first view the videos that Rolland produced of his teaching, they laugh at the children in their movements as they play. Rolland had the students bend their knees during rests, walk in circles as they play, and throw their arms out during rests. His obvious point was to move and release tight postures. His common mantra in class was, “If it is stiff, move it!” That referred to any part of the body.

So after setting the instrument position, large circular strum-ming of the right hand is done to set the angle of the right arm in bowing. Terms used in the holding of the bow included “sponge-like fingers.” He constantly checked the tightness of fingers by having the students tap the bow and turn the bow out to check the bend and flexibility of the bow thumb. This was done on a regular basis through all classes, not just in the introduction of the bow hold.

Left hand setup was based on motion also. After strumming across the strings, students would pluck single strings with their

little finger. This estab-lished arm position and developed some strength in the back-side of the hand. Finger tapping was utilized in the rest or guitar posi-tion of the instrument. The thumb would tap its place across the neck

Organic StringPlaying

by Joanne Erwin

Setting up position from the statue of liberty pose

33Southwestern Musician | November 2013

from the large knuckles. Rolland was not an advocate for a rigid placement of the thumb, as it depended on the individual hand shape. The only restriction was to not have it under the neck stiffly hold-ing up the violin. Cellists would tap their thumb under the neck, however.

Rolland was a leader in setting the pitch of the left hand with the use of the octave instead of open string to the first finger. He found the first finger approach to encourage the grabbing of the neck with the left hand. In Rolland’s classes the stu-dent would place three fingers on a vio-lin string and match it to the neighboring lower string. Cellists would use the fourth finger. After establishing the octave, the student would hug the third finger with the second finger and then pull the first finger back into place. He did not believe in markings on the fingerboard except for the octave placement. This landmark spot is also one that works well when moving into shifting activities. Students would play a tune pizzacato style until the fin-gers were secure, then the bow would be added.

A wonderful aspect of his work was the commissioning of music that progressed with specific technical and pitch place-ment on the instrument. The tunes were written by Stanley Fletcher, a colleague on the University of Illinois faculty. The open string “Hoedown” is one I use regu-larly and find that when the students play it at home it helps them tune their instru-ment. They become accustomed to the tonal sequence of the fifths and know if their string is out of tune. Another early tune, “March,” is useful in establishing the octave. It is played in a strong marcato style of bow with the octave jumps using all strings so it covers the whole instru-ment. Rolland did not stick to the D string for an extended period of time, but rocked the bow across strings.

Bow flexibility was developed in silent exercises such as rock-and-roll and lift-and-place. These large actions encour-aged flexibility in the students’ bow arms. Rock-and-roll highlighted looseness in the bow arm joints. The lift and place would be executed in all parts of the bow; for example, lift at the frog, place at the tip, and the other way around. Some of the music Fletcher wrote utilizes inter-esting bowing techniques such as trem-olo and ponticello to allow the student to explore new sounds with the instrument.

This exploration also leads to more tonal awareness and better bow control. His desire for the organic rather than forced production of sound would be a result of the exploration.

Rolland’s classes were primarily homogeneous. He did prepare material for the cello and bass, but the majority of his work was directed

toward the violin. This was apparent in his use of walking or marching to time. This could be considered a Dalcroze approach

35Southwestern Musician | November 2013

to violin. He believed the stu-dent would have a better sense of pulse and rhythm if the whole body experienced it. Classes were often stepping to the pulse of music with the instrument or without.

Another key principle was that of balance. The posture should be balanced on both feet. The left hand should be balanced on the fingerboard with the elbow free to swing below the fingerboard. The bow arm should be balanced, with the elbow suspended at the level of the stick and adjusting as the stick adjusted. When big motions were made away from the body with the bow, there was a specific reaction just as an athlete makes in response to a large arm motion. To balance the action, the body needs to move away from the direction the right arm went. To develop the extended bow stroke, the student would swing the violin case in a line to feel the opening of the arm joints and the reacting body weight adjustment.

Rolland believed vibrato was estab-lished with the initial placement of the left hand on the instrument. The sliding of the hand in contact with the sides of the neck showed the student that grabbing was not necessary, and the hand would move in that direction later for vibrato. If the hand was balanced as additional notes were learned, vibrato was a natu-ral result. The shifting up to the octave harmonic in the first months of playing also worked on the direction and angle of the arm in vibrato and shifting. The harmonic does not speak unless the bow is straight and firm on the string, so tone is also improved with this technique at an early stage.

I have found that the action studies are a wonderful addition to string classes at

Balanced bow arm

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any level. They free the body and allow for more natural string playing. When done in the early stages of learning, the student establishes a solid foundation. If introduced in an intermediate class, the students find a freedom that may have eluded them in their intense desire to play well.

Rolland’s principles have lasted throughout time and with the develop-ment of countless string players. As teach-ers and players, we have benefited from this scientific analysis for a more free, joyful and organic approach to playing stringed instruments.

Joanne Erwin is Professor of Music Education at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and is the 2014 Orchestra Division Featured Clinician.

Special thanks to Grace Song, a junior at Westwood HS (Round Rock ISD), for demonstrating techniques detailed in this article.

REFERENCESRolland, P. (1974). Teaching of Action in

String Playing. Illinois String Research Associates. Urbana, IL.

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36 Southwestern Musician | November 2013