Sunday, September 26, 2010

How To Hold Your Violin Bow


If you're just starting out in violin the most
important thing to learn in the beginning is how to
hold the bow.


Back when I was in high school the orchestra teacher
looked at me one day and frowned. He walked over to me
and explained that the way I was holding my bow was
wrong and because I hadn't learned the proper way
years ago. 


I wouldn't be able to learn the correct way,
he said. Boy was that discouraging. Especially because
he was the one who first taught me how to play back
when I was ten years old!


He put a rubber band over my hand and around the bow
to try to encourage the proper hold but it was
useless. Or so it seemed.


Today, thanks to Eric Lewis's Violin Master Pro I now
hold the bow the correct way and playing the violin is
more effortless for me now. Watching his videos about
how to hold the bow made all the difference.

I think they will make all the difference for you, too.

The #1 thing to remember when holding the bow is to
not squeeze the bow. Trust your bow! Let your hand
remain as loose as possible.


A loose, fluid bow hold
allows you to change the various aspects of the sound
your violin creates.


But when you lock your bow hold, when you permanently
straighten your pinky or thumg, you can hardly change
the sound at all. Your sound will be essentially the
same no matter what you do.


It may feel more comfortable to play with a locked
pinky or thumb. It may feel like you are able to
assert more control over the bow. But believe this:
you are not gaining control.


You are losing control!
When your bow hold is locked in place, your hand is
literally stuck. It cannot move. It cannot react. When
the music changes, your sound will not be able to
change with it.


This dire situation can be easily avoided! Focus on
achieving the loosest bow hold possible. Focus on
eliminating tension from your hand and from your mind.
Find that fine line between a loose, fluid bow hold
and dropping the bow.


When you can find that line and
stay near it, you will understand much of what it
takes to play the violin.


As Eric Lewis always says, "Your bow will enable you to turn
your music into metaphor, into a living musical
translation of whatever there is inside of you."

How does that sound?

Eric will give you step by step easy to follow instructions in how to
hold the bow and will give you practice exercises for this
as well.


But that's not all, not even close.
You'll learn how to play ANY type of music, how to
play any piece of music with just a page of notes, how
to play from ear, how to write songs, and more.

So what are you waiting for?


P. S. Linda Stein from NYC says, "I have purchased
ViolinMasterPro about week ago and I am already performing
pieces of great music I never could have imagined I would be
playing. ViolinMasterPro is like no other instruction I have seen
I have tried before. I really love it!"

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