Double Stops and Chords...the Secret to Good Intonation!

To musicians, nothing is more important than intonation. It should be the one thing in the back of our mind at all times...

As a string player, we should be hypersensitive to our intonation. No one plays perfectly in tune - I don't, my students don't, Yo-Yo Ma doesn't. What we're after isn't perfection, but rather a finely developed ear and quick reflexes so we can adjust before our audience hears something they don't like. 

One of my favorite ways to work on intonation with students - once they get to an appropriate level of technique - is by using chords and double stops. Here we are working on the ending of Musette and trying to fine tune our left hand notes so it sounds very beautiful!