When it comes to string playing, everyone seems to have their own acronym for teaching Tone… PAWS, WASP, etc… My approach is The LAWS of Tone: Lane, Amount, Weight, and Speed. Students must follow the LAWS to develop clarity and variety in their tone production.
I often first introduce this concept as The LAWS of Tone and Dynamics because volume can be easier for beginners to grasp. For example, I simplify things by saying “More weight = louder (or forte).” As the students develop their skills, I’ll begin to make the distinction between Dynamics (volume) and Tone (quality of the sound). We will first explore tone using adjectives. I’ll call out a word such as “wispy, strong, creaky, smooth, or clear” and challenge students to adjust their bowing to create these different sounds. This is where the LAWS come into play:
LANE: Many teachers use the idea of lanes on a highway to describe the placement of the bow on the string. Playing closer to the fingerboard will create a light airy tone, while playing closer to the bridge can become gruff and loud. My colleagues and I have taken this a step further comparing bow lanes to a color spectrum – where you seamlessly glide from one to lane to another just like the colors of a rainbow blending from one to the next. Each lane creates a unique “color” of sound, and teaching students to change lanes intentionally allows them to shape their tone more expressively.
Amount: The amount of bow you use will depend on the speed of the music, the rhythm, and the style of music. In addition to using the appropriate amount of bow for various passages, it is important to make sure students are also using the right “area” of the bow. Upper strings for example will often get stuck in the upper half of the bow. When students are stuck in one half or another it is often due to the mechanics of how they are using their shoulder, elbow and wrist joints to draw the bow across the string. They sometimes rely too heavily on one joint instead of exploring their full range of motion. When discussing bow Amount I like to joke with the students – your parents bought the whole thing… you might as well use it!
Weight: It’s crucial to talk about weight rather than pressure when working with string players. Pressure implies tension, which can lead to discomfort or injury. Weight, on the other hand, comes from gravity, allowing students to sink naturally into the string. I like to also think about bow weight as the ‘Goldilocks’ principle – not too much, not too little, just right. Too much weight can create a harsh tone, and too little results in a thin, wispy sound.
Speed: Bow speed directly affects tone, but it’s generally intertwined with the other LAWS. While faster bow speed typically results in louder dynamics and slower speed in softer dynamics, the interaction with lane, amount, and weight can alter this principle. For example, when playing rhythms of varying lengths, like a half note followed by a quarter note, students need to adjust both weight and speed to maintain consistent tone quality. A faster bow speed and less weight on the quarter note ensures it matches the tone of the half note.
Tilt: Once students can vary their tone using the four LAWS, I add one more bonus letter, joking that you’d be LAWST (pronounced “lost”) without bow Tilt. Adjusting the tilt of your bow (stick towards the scroll) is a great way to vary tone by literally adjusting how many hairs are touching the string, thus impacting friction and the quality of the sound.
Ultimately, whether you teach using LAWS, PAWS, WASP, or another acronym, the goal remains the same: to give students the tools to explore their instrument’s full potential. By understanding how their bow interacts with the string, they can move beyond simply playing notes and begin to create music that speaks with clarity, color, and emotion.
By Katie O’Hara LaBrie, with Anne Marie Patterson & Deborah Baker Monday, Co-authors of Getting in Gear: Fundamental Warm-ups for String Orchestra (available March 2025 from Randall Standridge Music)
KatieOharaLabrie.com RandallStandridge.com
