Structured and disciplined practice was the foundation of his playing. “A small minority of string players can get by without constant practice, but I admit that I am not one”, he noted. Each day would start with a slow cantilena piece for about 15 minutes, “to refresh the reflexes” for tonal beauty. From his father, he learned to play a piece through at twice the written speed, to ensure that all technical challenges were met. “I must work and persevere without pause. And if there comes a time when I feel some element of my instrumental control is slipping, I immediately start exercises to rectify the situation. For the left hand… I execute great leaps over the fingerboard with all fingers, striving for exactness of intonation and purity of sound.” To develop tone control, he would take a piece of moderate difficulty, like Rachmaninoff's 'Vocalise', and play it high on the C-string instead of the A-string.