A. REVIEW- How do you hold your violin and bow?
- Practise moving from REST POSITION to READY POSITION in one smooth motion.
- Practise creating your bow hold.
B. DOWN BOW, UP BOW- The directions of the bow
- Down bow- Move your bow from the FROG to the TIP
- Up bow- Move your bow from the TIP to the FROG
C. DRAWING A SOUND- step-by-step instruction
- Put your violin in ready position with your feet shoulder width apart.
- Create a loose, fluid bow hold.
- Place the middle of the bow on the string half way between the bridge and the fingerboard. This is your contact point.
- Make sure your right elbow is parallel with your right hand to begin.
- Make sure the bow is parallel to the bridge.
- Pull the bow back and forth across the open strings. Bow all the way from the frog to the tip and back again.
D. DRAWING A SOUND- the physical factors
There are many things to consider when drawing a sound with the bow. However, understanding a few basic ideas about the physical factors of drawing a sound will make everything easier and you will sound better right away.
- Pull a straight bow: To draw a nice sound, it is important to draw a straight bow. To draw a straight bow, your bow must maintain a path that is parallel to the bridge as it travels back and forth from the frog to the tip. Be sure to pay close attention to the path of your bow stroke.
- Check your contact point: Contact point refers to the spot between the bridge and the fingerboard on which you place your bow. Your contact point has a dramatic effect on the sound your violin creates. As the bow travels closer and then onto the fingerboard, the sound will grow increasingly dull. As the bow travels closer to the bridge, the sound becomes much brighter. You may find that the extremes of the contact point (bowing over the fingerboard and on the bridge) have an unpleasant quality. However, be sure to experiment with the full spectrum of contact points. In doing so, you will know better where to place your bow as you draw a sound.
- Consider your bow pressure: Bow pressure refers to the amount of pressure you apply to the bow when drawing your sound. You can make a light sound by placing no pressure whatsoever while bowing.And the more pressure you place on the bow, the louder and more intense the sound will become. You may find that, as with bow placement, the extremes of bow pressure (as much pressure as possible, or none at all) make for an unpleasant sound. But experimenting with the full spectrum is vital to understanding what the limits of bow pressure are, and how you might use bow pressure to change the sound you create.
- Consider your bow speed: Bow speed refers to how fast you move your bow across the strings. Bow speed greatly influences the volume and intensity of your sound. You can increase the volume of your sound with increased bow speed and vice versa.
E. DRAWING A SOUND- understanding the dimensions
Bow speed is purely horizontal. It concerns only how fast the bow goes from tip to frog. Bow pressure is purely vertical. It concerns only how much pressure you are applying onto the string from top to bottom. Every time your draw a sound, you use some combination of these factors. You might
use lots of pressure and a very slow bow, or lots of speed and no pressure.Usually, your sound will be produced from somewhere within those two extremes. Bow speed and pressure are two-dimensional factors. These factors create the basic dimensions of your sound.Contact point adds another dimension. While bow pressure is a vertical factor (height) and bow speed is horizontal factor (width), contact point is a depth factor. Can you visualise how this might be? Contact point creates the third dimension of bowing. When you think about your contact point, when you consider the range of its possibilities and how you then employ a combination of bow speed and pressure within it, you have created a three
dimensional space in your mind. In that space, you can contemplate possibilities of your sound.
Now you can visualise the three dimensions of bowing, the three dimensions of drawing a sound on the violin. By changing the dimensions of your sound,you create expressive shapes. You DRAW a sound. You might make an angular, bold sound by applying lots of pressure and slowing the bow while utilising a contact point very near to the bridge. You might make a softer,rounder sound by using lots of bow speed, light pressure and a contact point closer to the fingerboard. Do you understand how we employ the three dimensions of bowing to create the sound? Visualise these ideas as you practise drawing a sound.
E. PRACTICE:
- Experiment with the bow. Find the parameters of your sound by completing the following exercises. Interpret the exercises below by using the following symbols. Using this set of combinations will provide you with an advanced template from which to bow the violin.
- CONTACT POINT: Bridge (B), Middle (M), Fingerboard (F)
- PRESSURE: Light (L), Average (A), Heavy (H)
- SPEED: Slow (s), Moderate (m), Fast (f)
2. Draw a sound using each of the following combinations on any open string:
BLs BLm BLf BAs BAm BAf BHs BHm BHf
MLs MLm MLf MAs MAm MAf MHs MHm MHf
FLs FLm FLf FAs FAm FAf FHs FHm FHf
MLs MLm MLf MAs MAm MAf MHs MHm MHf
FLs FLm FLf FAs FAm FAf FHs FHm FHf
