Zimbalist Tango Breakdown - The American Viola Society

DEFINITION OF TERMS:
WB – whole bow
HB – half bow
LH – lower half of bow
UH – upper half of bow
*rtk* – retake
Medium/resonant lane or “md lane” – one in which you can most comfortable produce the most naturally warm, ringing sound with ease
Away – near the fingerboard
Tug – pull of the bow “in,” toward the bridge
Imaginary string – an imaginary line which runs up and down the fingerboard between the two sounding strings when playing double-stops
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A CAUTIONARY NOTE:
What you will find here is what I call my personal “skeleton” of Zimbalit’s Tango. That is to say, what I have written down in this document
is a record of all of the technical directives which I have spent hours in the practice room slowly ingraining into both my mind and body
(muscle memory) – until every motion and thought has become habitual. However, since performing a piece EXACTLY the same way every
time one plays it is never the goal for any musician, this state of ‘habit’ is meant ONLY to be a stable foundation upon which one can fall
back upon during any performance for physical comfort and ease along with technical confidence and consistency. Please note that it is
the conscious, purposeful, and delightful(!) deviations FROM this foundation which can make a performance come alive and breathe. The
purpose of developing a safety net of a solid “game plan” is merely to help lend the confidence needed to take those risky deviations in
performance and ultimately to enjoy creating a version of the piece which is unique to each performer.
I gladly offer whatever of these technical directives that any reader would like to take in and make his or her own, but I also challenge
readers to take the time in the practice room to create their own personal, unique skeletons – as each violist is built differently on so many
different levels (physically, mentally, musically…).
ONE FINAL GENERAL THOUGHT: Overall, the three BIG technical ideas that help the most in playing this piece are…
1) Thinking, hearing, and visualizing intonation AHEAD of the right hand. That’s right. You know EXACTLY where those notes lie
on the fingerboard, so give your brain a head start and NAIL them every time!
2) Staying balanced in the right arm and keeping bow arm motions simple - moving back and forth along each string’s horizontal
plane (or imaginary string’s horizontal plane if it’s a double stop), and therefore eliminating extraneous motions which can
lead to tension and therefore inaccuracy.
3) Bow division (or ‘bow planning’) within these horizontal planes in order to remain relaxed and released – and therefore
comfortable whilst creating a vibrantly resonant and expressive sound. When the brain has a plan, it gives up the need to
panic during any ‘hard spots.’