Violin Bow Hold: Step by Step
January 24, 2007 at 5:07 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentTags: bow, education string, form, hold, lessons, strings, teaching
Violin Bow Hold
by Paula Verdicchio Ailshie
Preparatory Movements
Training starts with preparation. Pay attention to your body, each muscle and joint. Stand comfortably and balanced.
- Hold your arms down to the side of the body and just let them hang and relax.
- Staying relaxed, bring your forearm into a right angle slightly above the stomach.
- Make sure that you don’t change the position of the hand from the way it was just hanging beside their body.
- The natural way that the hand is shaped is not flat, there is an arch, and the hand looks as if it could hold an object, like a small orange.
- Squeeze gently into a fist, then let go. Notice how weightless the fingers feel when relaxed.
The Bow Circle
Be comfortable, flexible and relaxed before moving on.
- While maintaining this relaxed, round hand position, bring the thumb and touch it to the first joint of the middle finger. This is the fulcrum, and center of balance.
- The thumb and middle finger hold the bow. The index finger and the pinky will change the center of balance and direct weight and leverage.
- The pinky finger and index fingers should hover curved and relaxed slightly above the ring and middle fingers.
- Practice rotating your bow circle from its vertical position to almost “upside down” so that the hand ends up with the pinky on top, at a 45° angle to the horizon.
The Pencil Bow Hold
Don’t grasp, squeeze or press. Too light is better than too heavy.
- Starting with the bow circle in the vertical position, gently slide a pencil between the thumb and middle finger. Take care to keep the same relaxed circle you formed earlier.
- The pinky finger and index fingers should hover curved and relaxed slightly above the ring and middle fingers.
- Gently curve the ring finger over the pencil, next to the middle finger. Rest the index finger on its side near the first joint. Rest the pinky on its tip, on the inside of the pencil.
- Practice rotating only your forearm from its vertical position to horizontal. Do not change anything else! When the pencil is horizontal, hand hold should form a 45° angle to the horizon.
Adding the Violin Bow
First, do this over a bed or pillows, so you won’t worry about dropping the bow.
- Hold up the bow stick using the left hand, to eliminate the fear of dropping the bow.
- Follow the first three pencil bow hold steps in order, then let go with your left hand.
- Rotate only your forearm from its vertical position to horizontal, catching the bow in your left palm. When the bow is horizontal, hand hold should form a 45° angle to the horizon.
- Once comfortable, begin doing strength exercises with pencil and then bow, to develop a proper hold without stress, strain or pressure.
TOO LIGHT IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN TOO HEAVY! Don’t strain, stress, press or squeeze!
Violin Posture and Stance
January 24, 2007 at 5:05 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentTags: education string, instruction, lessons, pedagogy, Posture, private, strings, teaching
Violin Posture and Stance
by Paula Verdicchio Ailshie
Your posture should balance your center of gravity, and allow for movement while playing without losing your center. Every body is shaped differently, and therefore each person will look slightly different.
- Place feet about shoulder’s width apart. Stand balanced on the feet.
- Keep your feet parallel, as if on a railway track, or place the left foot slightly in front.
- Stand at ease with an even balance on both feet. Don’t try and play on one foot, and don’t lean back or to the side.
- Your torso should not be twisted.
- Keep the head, shoulder blades, chest, hips and rear all in balance. Don’t let anything stress, strain or stick out.
- Feel the imaginary grounding line pass from the center of the top of your head, through the neck, down the spine, & exit your body throught the sacrum, ending directly between your feet.
The weight of the head (close to a bowling ball) holds the violin on the shoulder.
- Keep head balanced over the spine, and turn it slightly to the left.
- Place the base of the violin under your chin and rest the shoulder rest on your left shoulder.
- Gently rest your chin on the chin rest.
- The elbow should be under the center of the violin.
- Gently rest the neck of the violin between the thumb and first finger.
- Be sure not to allow your palm to rest up against the neck of the violin.
- Keep the hand, wrist and forearm in line with each other.
- Do not allow the left shoulder to add leverage. Keep the posture as you would normally for both shoulders.
- Be flexible and relaxed.
Different shoulder rests and chin rests should be explored to find which combination best fits your body. Try a simple padded cloth, Zaret sponge, Kun or Super Kun, Mach One with grip, Wolf Primo and Segundo and Bon Musica. You should use a system which allows you to hold the violin properly, without twisting the neck too far to the right.
- For nearly all body types, the shoulder rest fills in the gap between the collarbone and violin, making it easier to relax and enabling movement, including finger action, shifting and vibrato.
- A good way to tell if the shoulder rest is “doing its job,” is by measuring the ease in which you can hold the violin steady without your left hand, arm or shoulder helping.
- The button of the violin goes in the middle of your neck, and stays in contact with your neck. You can use a soft cloth to go between the wood and your neck, or any type of chin rest pad or gel rest that you prefer to add comfort.
- Each chin rest will have different concaveness, shape and height. In general there are two major types: one fits on the left side of the instrument, and one fits over the tailpiece, in the center of the instrument.
What you need to know about purchasing a violin
December 30, 2006 at 7:41 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentTags: Ailshie, bow, education string, purchasing, shifting
Note: This article was not written to endorse any shop, but rather to commend the effort and honesty of those in the luthier business willing to explain and help the average person to buy a quality instrument.
Many people ask me where to buy a violin, and how much they need to spend to get a quality violin. Unfortunately, ther is no magical website where you can find “the deal of the century” on a violin, and you cannot in many cases, go to the music store down the street with your credit card an buy “the perfect violin” right off the shelf.
On the other hand, it does not have to be an arduous process either. The time you invest in finding a violin for yourself or for your son or daughter should be exciting! You are finding your new voice! You are searching for a musical companion that will be yours for years to come! You are aquiring a tool to help you earn a living in the music business.
A quote from Reed Bernstein:
“What makes a bowed instrument work well cannot easily be compared by the inexperienced person. They all look alike to some extent, and you can’t compare features like you do with other purchases, such as computer, car, stereo, etc. In the end it comes down to trusting the shop that you work with, and unfortunately there are a lot of unscrupulous people selling instruments who are taking advantage of people, and these include many of the music stores where set-up is hardly addressed, most of the mail order companies where the low cost provider gets the business, and most definitely ebay which is where everything sold gets commoditized. Violins are not commodity items and when they are sold that way, the low cost providers can only provide you with junk.
People tell me that the player is “just a beginner” and I almost want to cry! The beginner needs a minimally well adjusted instrument to even have any idea of what the experience is going to be like. Giving a beginner one of these instruments is like giving them a pen to write with that has no ink in it!”
Please consider finding your violin at a reputable violin shop in your area. Go to a reputable violin shop not just to “support local business,” or “help the little guy.” Go to get the quality instrument you have been looking for set up by a professional who spends all his time doing just that. Go to get the one on one service owning a fine instrument demands.
For more onformation on exactly what to look for, please read this short article:
How to buy a violin, by Reed Bernstein
How to Spend Practice Time
December 5, 2006 at 9:29 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentTags: Practicing, students
Ever heard the expression, “Don’t spend it all in one place!” This applies not just to money, but also to practicing music. If you practice spend all your practice time on the bow arm, the left hand gets neglected. You can’t spend all your time on repertoire, and forget about scales and arpeggios. In fact, it takes a very careful “time” spender to have a productive and efficient practice session.
Young people especially need help spending their time. Think of what a young person might spend $20 on, if given the chance…
As a teacher or parent, you can help the young musician to learn to “budget” their time by using careful planning. Although this will take a couple of weeks to initiate, once the ground work is laid, the habit pattern of successful practicing will be established. In fact, once a routine is developed, it only takes minimal time to adjust it later.
Just like a working out, one day isn’t necessarily enough time to cover all the bases. A daily physical stretching routine musically equates to body warm-ups, bow hold exercises, left hand exercises, and slow bowing exersizes. Twenty-forty minutes of cardio daily can be compared to the one third time spent practicing scales, arpeggios and etudes. For strength training, many people alternate arms and back with abs and legs. In this manner, alternate repertoire pieces, ear-training and singing, composition and improvisation, and listening and theory.
Imperative elements to practice each day:
*Always stretch and warm up while deep breathing
Warm-ups: left and right hand, posture and body, slow bow
Calesthenics: scale/s, arpeggio/s and etude/s
Repertoire Performance: play for an audience, or record yourself
(Don’t stop for anything, and visualize a venue of your choice! Bow at the end!)
Important elements to practice at least 2-3 times per week:
Repertoire Practice: isolate areas needing improvement and drill correctly
Review Performance: play for an audience, or record yourself
(Don’t stop for anything, and visualize a venue of your choice! Bow at the end!)
Creative practice: improvise, arrange or compose with specific parameters
Ear Training: Sing with solfege, Practicing intervals, finger patterns and melodies
Ear Training: Learn, practice and play entirely by ear (start small!)
For a 30 minute practice, incorporate 2 of the important elements per day. Alternate elements each day, making sure to address each element at least 2-3 times per week.
Play slowly until you are sure you’ve mastered the material. Remember, practice does not make perfect. Practice makes permanent. Only perfect practice makes perfect.
By Paula Verdicchio Ailshie
Why is My BOW Shaking?!
November 9, 2006 at 10:23 pm | In Bow Hold, Bow Stroke | Leave a CommentI am constantly reminded to really be aware of my body when playing. It is essential to healthy playing. Incresing your physical awareness not only helps prevent tension and subsequent injuries, it opens up the sense of touch while playing to a deeper level.
An article called The Shaking Bow posted by <!– hr noshade — — — — — — — style=”font-size:78%;color:#116798;”>Jennifer Bogart says,
The key essentials of good tone are as always, optimum arm weight, bow speed and placement between the bridge and fingerboard. In general when one is bouncing off the string, the armweight is being taken out of the string by an involuntary tightening of the bow hand fingers. The “monster hand” as I tell my students. In addition, because of the tightening of the hand, the elbow can become locked so that the bow is shortened. These are ideal conditions for staccato (firm hand and little bow). The problem is that in fixing it one can keep a tight hand and start bearing down on the strings, making the forced tone (bow pressure as opposed to arm weight).
Probably almost everyone has experienced this at one time or another. Instead of being frustrated or feeling anxious about it, DO SOMETHING! Go to this article and employ the techniques Jennifer talks about in your practice at home.
Always be aware of your physical body and its signals.
Preparatory BOW Exercises
October 3, 2006 at 5:35 pm | In Bow Hold, Posture | Leave a CommentRelaxation is the Key!
Remember, movement and flexibility will help eliminate rigidity and tension.
Without the bow:
1. Make a fist. Squeeze! Relax.
2. Straighten the fingers. Tense! Relax.
3. Form the “Bow Circle”
Tip of thumb meets the first joint of middle finger
Thumb and middle finger form a circle
All fingers curved and relaxed
Wrist and forearm straight, not bent
4. Pencil Bow Hold
Form the bow circle, then gently insert a pencil
Hand and fingers will form a 45º angle to the pencil
Thumb will be perpendicular, a “T” to the bow stick
Lightly tap the pinky. Pinky rests just inside.
ide Down!
Posture
September 22, 2006 at 9:09 pm | In Posture | Leave a CommentPOSTURE
The key to great posture is balance. When forming your posture, do not go to the extreme. A rigid militant stance isn’t any better than a slumped one. Good posture is a perfect balance of the weight centered over the spine. It is so very important that several methods have been developed to train musicians and others in the art of healthy playing and posture.
Breathing is an important part of playing that may be easily forgotten. Breathe as you would with any exercise; breathing helps tremendously with posture and relaxation.
Remember, each person’s body differs. Instead of trying to emulate a visual image of the correct posture, address the points below kinesthetically. In other words, learn how a good posture feels. Don’t be afraid to move as you play. Movement releases tension. Free movement, rather than a statue-like stance, not only helps you to relax, it will enable a more expressive performance.
1. The weight is balanced over the feet. (Don’t lean on the toes, insteps, heels or balls of the feet!)
2. The head is balanced over the spine. (Don’t let head fall forward, back or tilt to either side!)
3. The spine is NOT twisted to the side.
4. Shoulders should be as squared as the body allows, BUT must also remain relaxed.
Here are some links to QuickTime video to help you with posture, provided by
violinmasterclass.com:
Straight Bow Geometry: Triangle, Square, Triangle
Use these demonstrations as a guide.
Video Credits: Violin Master Class is underwritten by the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation in support of the teaching and performance of the classical violin. The Starling Project Foundation, Inc., the host of violinmasterclass.com, is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Access to this site is free of charge.
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