Exploring Just Intonation Through Double Stops

As classical music includes so much one-on-one teaching, many of our skills are learned practically through oral tradition. Because of this, many teachers assume that their students will “figure it out” with enough practice, time, and experience. Intonation, and especially Just Intonation, is one of those subjects. Several books have been written about Just Intonation, but they mainly focus on the theoretical. For these reasons, I created a practical guide so that musicians can apply and hear the concepts of Just Intonation immediately.

While this workshop is about tuning, it’s actually about more than that.

It’s about deep listening, exploring the edges of resonance, and increasing your awareness of what you hear and feel while playing. It’s about developing a deep and focused sound, which is so crucial for good viola playing.

This session will be experiential, and I will recruit 4 participants (most likely students) in advance from the participants of the AVS festival. I will lead them through experiments with sound production, explore what gets in the way of good sound and good intonation, and systematically go through tuning intervals and chords.

Those who are not playing will also be able to hear when intervals and chords achieve maximum resonance.