Interesting and informative, thanks. Your explanation of adjusting the bow hair tension isn't something I'd heard before. Based on your explanation, I've been playing with the bow hair much to taut. I haven't used a mirror often to practice bowing but instead I use "Photo Booth" on my Mac while practicing. However, as you said, it really hasn't helped me bow properly when I'm not using it as it's difficult to keep the bow perpendicular while only relying on my vision. Regarding how well the bow hair grips during the tests. Can you talk a little about how much the rosin affects the the grip tests?
That's a good question. While I've never tried the exercise with a freshly haired, non-rosined bow, I imagine it would be harder to feel the grip. That said, I don't automatically rosin before I play, waiting instead until I feel I need to (usually every other day), and haven't noticed any additional challenge with keeping the bow straight with a more lightly rosined bow. I know I need rosin when I find that I'm starting to need to dig in to get sound or when response to articulations feels delayed, so I feel that rosin affects more the pressure component of tone (assuming of course that there's at least some rosin on the bow!). We could probably also talk about new hair vs old hair, which may also make a slight difference. Like needing rosin, when my bow hair is starting to wear out I find I'm digging in more and it takes more to get the same response. In general though, a slipping bow is primarily an angle problem, caused either by a bow that's set crooked on the strings to begin with, or that travels crooked because our joints naturally move in circular motions and without bowing mechanics that cohesively allow our joints to work together to draw straight strokes, all our strokes will be crooked, at least at some point during a stroke. This technique helps us feel for a straight bow and hopefully make corrections to our mechanics long before the point where going off track becomes obvious to our eyes and ears. We can easily overpower the bow, so hopefully we can use the technique to sensitize to the feeling of a straight bow, and through it, also clean up any mechanics like stiff bow fingers or a stiff wrist that cause us to veer off track.
Nice, Laurel! 😊
Wonderful!!! Very helpful to me and I thank you. Gorgeous instructor, too!
Glad to hear it helped you! Thanks for your kind comment!
OMG THANKSS FOR THE TUTORIAL IT REALLY HELPED!!! you are amazing
I'm so glad to hear! Happy practicing!
Interesting and informative, thanks. Your explanation of adjusting the bow hair tension isn't something I'd heard before. Based on your explanation, I've been playing with the bow hair much to taut. I haven't used a mirror often to practice bowing but instead I use "Photo Booth" on my Mac while practicing. However, as you said, it really hasn't helped me bow properly when I'm not using it as it's difficult to keep the bow perpendicular while only relying on my vision.
Regarding how well the bow hair grips during the tests. Can you talk a little about how much the rosin affects the the grip tests?
That's a good question. While I've never tried the exercise with a freshly haired, non-rosined bow, I imagine it would be harder to feel the grip. That said, I don't automatically rosin before I play, waiting instead until I feel I need to (usually every other day), and haven't noticed any additional challenge with keeping the bow straight with a more lightly rosined bow. I know I need rosin when I find that I'm starting to need to dig in to get sound or when response to articulations feels delayed, so I feel that rosin affects more the pressure component of tone (assuming of course that there's at least some rosin on the bow!).
We could probably also talk about new hair vs old hair, which may also make a slight difference. Like needing rosin, when my bow hair is starting to wear out I find I'm digging in more and it takes more to get the same response.
In general though, a slipping bow is primarily an angle problem, caused either by a bow that's set crooked on the strings to begin with, or that travels crooked because our joints naturally move in circular motions and without bowing mechanics that cohesively allow our joints to work together to draw straight strokes, all our strokes will be crooked, at least at some point during a stroke. This technique helps us feel for a straight bow and hopefully make corrections to our mechanics long before the point where going off track becomes obvious to our eyes and ears. We can easily overpower the bow, so hopefully we can use the technique to sensitize to the feeling of a straight bow, and through it, also clean up any mechanics like stiff bow fingers or a stiff wrist that cause us to veer off track.
@@laurelthomsen Thanks for the explanation.
what violin do you use
Made by Northern California maker John Harrison in the 80s.