A few weeks ago I was trying to teach myself spiccato, which no one so far has been able to teach me, and no one has been able to figure out why I can't do it. Now I can--or I almost can: I just need some more mileage to get it consistent.

Anyway, while I was trying everything I could think of to get myself "in the zone" for spiccato, I discovered a way to consistently get the kind of bow-to-string contact I wanted without losing the loose left hand finger technique I needed. It's a different feeling than thinking "finger, bow, go" in Suzuki, though it achieves the same result. Try this:

1. Put on Sandwich #1 and Sandwich #2
2. Now, with your bow on the string (try the A string first), balance your right arm and your bow so that your bow feels like it is exactly in the same plane of balance as your left hand. Use the balance you feel in your left hand and try to match that plane in your bow.
3. Let your bow balance sink slightly lower than your left hand balance--just a touch!
4. As you play: now that your bow is balanced, its work is done. Your loose left hand fingers are now in charge--let them tell the bow when to go.

This sounds really simple, but there's something about thinking about it this way that has made a number of my students suddenly have a perfectly focused, relaxed sound.