I was becoming a bit concerned when you said one can play even without straight bows, which i thought fresh learners might misunderstand but then you cleared it up by saying that first you need to learn how to play absolutely straight bows before using the freedom of sliding a bit off and on. This was so helpful and I'm recommending this video to my students. Thank you so much professor.
This is such a great topic to address dear Prof Bushkova ! I always looked to the great violinists for reference, only to be baffled why their bows are slanted at all sorts of angles. This was especially confusing when I was starting the violin and struggling to keep my bow 100% straight. And now the mystery is solved !
My dear, Thank you for this. As I see it, the STRAIGHT line of the bow is moving over a curved CONVEX surface of the strings. In order to cover the round it MUST move in a curve, which means it may not look straight to the eye. But it will often look even to the violinist. A very good example of this phenomenon is to look at how an airplane travels across the globe ( use something like FlightAware) and as a pilot once explained to me when I asked him why flights don't always go in a straight line, he explained "It's because of the round shape of the earth. We follow the curvature slightly, and in this way we also make better time." Hope this is enlightening !
We see with Oistrakh playing Sibelius,the beginning,witn no parallel bow because he was changing the contact point,for diminuish the phrase.There are exercises for crescendo,diminuendo with the change of contact point and it should be done by the violonists,daily!
Thanks Professor. Here's my 0.02, when I was a novice player, it was incredibly difficult / impossible to consciously simultaneously control dozens of variables between the L + R hand to produce a good tone. As I got better, those variables are now subconsciously controlled without any conscious effort. I can hear my tone and instantly make adjustments without thinking about it to get the tone I want. So in the case of a professional violinist, I feel when they play with an improper bow angle, they are subconsciously adjusting other variables to compensate for the sound. They may even be changing the bow angle to harness that particular sound for that particular moment in the piece they are playing. Thanks for the video professor!
Well after watching the masters clips around 3m, I am doing much better than I had thought. I get good solid tone but I assumed the bow had to be perfectly parallel to the bridge at all times. Not true. Thanks.
I always find your videos helpful and I am so grateful for posts like this which are always available. 💕 ...if it were me introducing myself I'd say "Hello, 'I' am Julia B.... ". Always wonderful to hear from you. Thanks.
...unless of course you meant 'the videos, the classroom, the music, history and 'all of this' is Julia B. Thanks again. ...and no, I won't try to spell out your last name today! Thanks again. 💕
Wonderful video, as usual! ❤️ I've been thinking for a while the way many great violinists pull the bow in a slight angle at the tip might achieve a sort of "blending." I mean the blending at the bow change, but also the kind of blending an artist would achieve with colored pencils... My professor at Eastman who worked with Sandor Vegh (among others) remembered him saying near the tip of the bow the sound is like Switzerland: beautiful but cold. Then, I would say, by this "blending" technique violinists can bring some warmth to the bow tip.
Thank you Prof. Bushkova! I always enjoy and appreciate your insightful instructional videos. Perhaps you can talk about the "figure 8" bowing next time. I did notice Leonid Kogan doing it in the short clip you showed where he's playing Paganini's Cantabile.
Hello Alex and thank you for the comment. Before reading it, I did not know about the "figure 8" bowing. But I do understand what you mean. I believe that the "figure 8", or a "crescent bow", or many other colorful expressions are just that - verbal expressions. That is to say, they are the terminology that different teachers/players use to describe what happens when a player accommodates his physique while not losing the quality of the tone. So what Kogan is doing in that bit of Cantabile is simply accommodating his shorter arm and not straining it while keeping the tone he wanted.... It is certainly not a "special way" or "special technique" of any sort...
Thank you for explaining this. After watching your explanation, something clicked in my mind. How about the amout of hair being used at that particular moment(note), which determines the angle between the plain formed by the remaining hair? Does that affect how one will maneuver the bow? from my point of view, keeping the 'straight' bow is in relation between the left finger tip, the contact point, and the hair near the contact point, rather than between the hair, contract point and the bridge. As the left hand positions or the finger tip positions are always changing, with the contact point being at the frog, tip, or middle is also changing, there is the illusion that the whole bow is not straight. But if we just micro focus on the triangle formed between the finger tip, contact point, and the string in between, it should be at 90 degree angle. Plus the 4 strings are resting on the curve shape from the bridge. Moving from string to string(a curved spherical surface), it is not possible for a straight line(the hair) to stay along a fixed latitude AND produced a continued, sustained set of notes, if we put the moving finger tip (ie. string with changing length and/or thickness) into the equation.
Hi Professor, I am really curious about the Bach Chaconne manuscript in the background, it seems that the whole piece is written in one page, Is this file(image) available to be downloaded anywhere on the Internet
I believe accomplished string players will understand the role that the string has to do with helping secure a good bow grip instead of overly tightening the right hand to have a secure grip. Obviously, pronating the hand appropriately is paramount to maintaining a good sound regardless of the contact point. In my humble opinion, the string IS part of the bow grip. Once this is understood, anyone of any skill level can achieve a good sound without having to worry excessively about playing with a straight bow.
Why do professional violinist tilt their bows forward when starting their bow stroke, instead of being perfectly flat like beginners are taught to do? Is this a "trade" secret?
When at frog where the bow is heaviest, using less hair by tilting the bow will produce less sound and reduce chance of making "scratchy" sound that some beginners make at the frog of the bow.
They’re pulling the bow front and pushing it to the back, that’s why it looks crochet. I call it banana bow. Watch Zukerman explaining it, there is videos here
We can always count on Professor Bushkova to give us the straight-up truth on violin technique.
Thank u so much dear teacher 🥰
I was becoming a bit concerned when you said one can play even without straight bows, which i thought fresh learners might misunderstand but then you cleared it up by saying that first you need to learn how to play absolutely straight bows before using the freedom of sliding a bit off and on. This was so helpful and I'm recommending this video to my students. Thank you so much professor.
Thank you for your very thoughtful comment. I am glad that we are on the same page! I always love to hear from good teachers.
This is such a great topic to address dear Prof Bushkova ! I always looked to the great violinists for reference, only to be baffled why their bows are slanted at all sorts of angles. This was especially confusing when I was starting the violin and struggling to keep my bow 100% straight. And now the mystery is solved !
My dear, Thank you for this.
As I see it, the STRAIGHT line of the bow is moving over a curved CONVEX surface of the strings. In order to cover the round it MUST move in a curve, which means it may not look straight to the eye. But it will often look even to the violinist.
A very good example of this phenomenon is to look at how an airplane travels across the globe ( use something like FlightAware) and as a pilot once explained to me when I asked him why flights don't always go in a straight line, he explained "It's because of the round shape of the earth. We follow the curvature slightly, and in this way we also make better time."
Hope this is enlightening !
I was wondering about this problem for a long time. Thanks for a wonderful explanation. It was entertaining too !
I love Professor Bushkova's lessons from which I've always learned so much! Professor Bushkova, you are a fabulous teacher!! Thank you :)
Thanks Professor Julia! That was fascinating!!
We see with Oistrakh playing Sibelius,the beginning,witn no parallel bow because he was changing the contact point,for diminuish the phrase.There are exercises for crescendo,diminuendo with the change of contact point and it should be done by the violonists,daily!
Obviously.
The point of this video, however, was to show that it is possible to NOT play with the straight bow WITHOUT changing the CP.
Thanks Professor. Here's my 0.02, when I was a novice player, it was incredibly difficult / impossible to consciously simultaneously control dozens of variables between the L + R hand to produce a good tone. As I got better, those variables are now subconsciously controlled without any conscious effort. I can hear my tone and instantly make adjustments without thinking about it to get the tone I want. So in the case of a professional violinist, I feel when they play with an improper bow angle, they are subconsciously adjusting other variables to compensate for the sound. They may even be changing the bow angle to harness that particular sound for that particular moment in the piece they are playing. Thanks for the video professor!
Amazing! Thanks a lot for those videos, they help me a lot 💓🔝
Thank you very much Professor Bushkova for clear explanations and extremely valuable videos, as always!
Very helpful, very clear. thank you so much.
You are a wonderful teacher, thanks for sharing your knowledge
Totally agreed! It's the contact point that really matters instead of the direction of bow.
Permitting the bow to drift over the fingerboard to end a phrase is known by the highly technical term "diminudrifto."
Robert, you make me laugh... Thank you :)
That Chaconne artwork blew my mind as well as your lessons! Can I ask you where did you get that?
Hello - this was a present from a friend-luthier in New York City; many years ago.
Very interesting topic. Thanks for letting us know the secrets.
Well after watching the masters clips around 3m, I am doing much better than I had thought. I get good solid tone but I assumed the bow had to be perfectly parallel to the bridge at all times. Not true.
Thanks.
I always find your videos helpful and I am so grateful for posts like this which are always available. 💕 ...if it were me introducing myself I'd say "Hello, 'I' am Julia B.... ". Always wonderful to hear from you. Thanks.
...unless of course you meant 'the videos, the classroom, the music, history and 'all of this' is Julia B. Thanks again. ...and no, I won't try to spell out your last name today! Thanks again. 💕
Hmmm.... I never thought of this... Thanks!
She's a beautiful violin teacher!
Wonderful video, as usual! ❤️
I've been thinking for a while the way many great violinists pull the bow in a slight angle at the tip might achieve a sort of "blending." I mean the blending at the bow change, but also the kind of blending an artist would achieve with colored pencils...
My professor at Eastman who worked with Sandor Vegh (among others) remembered him saying near the tip of the bow the sound is like Switzerland: beautiful but cold. Then, I would say, by this "blending" technique violinists can bring some warmth to the bow tip.
I learned so much from your videos. Thank you!
Thank you Prof. Bushkova! I always enjoy and appreciate your insightful instructional videos. Perhaps you can talk about the "figure 8" bowing next time. I did notice Leonid Kogan doing it in the short clip you showed where he's playing Paganini's Cantabile.
Hello Alex and thank you for the comment. Before reading it, I did not know about the "figure 8" bowing.
But I do understand what you mean. I believe that the "figure 8", or a "crescent bow", or many other colorful expressions are just that - verbal expressions. That is to say, they are the terminology that different teachers/players use to describe what happens when a player accommodates his physique while not losing the quality of the tone.
So what Kogan is doing in that bit of Cantabile is simply accommodating his shorter arm and not straining it while keeping the tone he wanted.... It is certainly not a "special way" or "special technique" of any sort...
Brilliant lesson
That for again a helpful tip. Thank you!
Ivry Gitlis always amazed me with his unorthodox bowing technique and ability to create such tonal dynamics with his right hand.
Thank you for explaining this. After watching your explanation, something clicked in my mind. How about the amout of hair being used at that particular moment(note), which determines the angle between the plain formed by the remaining hair? Does that affect how one will maneuver the bow? from my point of view, keeping the 'straight' bow is in relation between the left finger tip, the contact point, and the hair near the contact point, rather than between the hair, contract point and the bridge. As the left hand positions or the finger tip positions are always changing, with the contact point being at the frog, tip, or middle is also changing, there is the illusion that the whole bow is not straight. But if we just micro focus on the triangle formed between the finger tip, contact point, and the string in between, it should be at 90 degree angle. Plus the 4 strings are resting on the curve shape from the bridge. Moving from string to string(a curved spherical surface), it is not possible for a straight line(the hair) to stay along a fixed latitude AND produced a continued, sustained set of notes, if we put the moving finger tip (ie. string with changing length and/or thickness) into the equation.
Thank you! Very interesting!
Its always been my understanding that violin bowing is long figure eights ,not just perfect straight up and downs.
I always wondered how Stern sounded so wonderful when his bow seemed to be going in every direction at the tip!
Thank you❤❤
Hi Professor, I am really curious about the Bach Chaconne manuscript in the background, it seems that the whole piece is written in one page, Is this file(image) available to be downloaded anywhere on the Internet
Thank u ....
Good 👍
I believe accomplished string players will understand the role that the string has to do with helping secure a good bow grip instead of overly tightening the right hand to have a secure grip. Obviously, pronating the hand appropriately is paramount to maintaining a good sound regardless of the contact point. In my humble opinion, the string IS part of the bow grip. Once this is understood, anyone of any skill level can achieve a good sound without having to worry excessively about playing with a straight bow.
A bow drifting precariously over the fingerboard is called "drift wood."
Hahaha!
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Helmhottz motion is the answer
👍
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Why do professional violinist tilt their bows forward when starting their bow stroke, instead of being perfectly flat like beginners are taught to do? Is this a "trade" secret?
Dynamics control, phrasing, and better control of how much hair they want on the string at any given time.
When at frog where the bow is heaviest, using less hair by tilting the bow will produce less sound and reduce chance of making "scratchy" sound that some beginners make at the frog of the bow.
Actually, I was taught that way from the very first lessons. And @fateindustry and @Highlander818 answered your question very well!
@@Highlander515 Thank you!
❣️ Ｐｒⓞм𝕠𝕤𝐌
They’re pulling the bow front and pushing it to the back, that’s why it looks crochet. I call it banana bow. Watch Zukerman explaining it, there is videos here
It is as simple as that (and a question of physics: The bow shall always *parallel to itself*)