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3 month of playing
Need some suggestions on bow control and tone issues
Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 (2 votes) 
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Mark
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November 19, 2014 - 8:20 am
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Hi all,

Happyjet the song is Amazing Grace well suppose to be.

Denny and CPO thanks still have a long way to go to get the sound I think can be generated with my old fiddle. Gets frustrating at time I can't the tone I want to come out, then when I think its going sounding better I get a scratch, squeak or some other strange sound guess I just keep plugging away till I figure it out.

Eric,

I just got a FM carbon fiber bow this week and I have been comparing it to two other bows I have, an Brazilian wood bow and a old Permabuco bow. So far I believe the Carbon Fiber sound the best of the 3 bows I plan on having the Permabuco bow rehaired then we will try both again and see if updating the 30+ year old hairs on the bow make a difference.

One thing I read from a bow maker was, you should feel the vibrations of the bow/string in the fingers of your bow hand if not you gripping the bow to tight. This inhibits the natural springiness of the bow so it can't do the work it's intended to do, and this seems to help. Also I also discovered that speed was key for me to get a clean sound, on bow changes and starting a note, quick acceleration to achieve the note then you can slow down to maintain the note tone. I always questioned how and how much weight/pressure to put on the bow to keep from getting tension in the bow arm and hand. Then I read of an exercise that you have some one hold your hand chest high in front of you, by your wrist then with out them telling you when they are going to release your wrist have them release it and see if you wrist falls down or stays up. You want it to fall, and this is all the weight needed to make good tone on the violin, to much weight and you inhibit the string from vibrating so to get volume use bow speed not weight. If I can put it all together it does seem to be a nice improvement in my tone production.

 

Mark

 

Mark

Master the Frog and you have mastered the bow.

Albert Sammons

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Schaick
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November 23, 2014 - 8:53 pm
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One thing I read from a bow maker was, you should feel the vibrations of the bow/string in the fingers of your bow hand if not you gripping the bow to tight.

That is so interesting.  Yes - I can feel the vibration.  One thing Teach had me do when I first started was hold the bow in my hand perpendicular to the floor with my other hand under the bow.  She had me slowly release my grip until it dropped out of my hand - the amount of grip just before it drops is all the grip we should be using!!

You are sounding great!!

Violinist start date -  May 2013  

Fiddler start date - May 2014

FIDDLE- Gift from a dear friend. A 1930-40 german copy, of a french copy of a Stradivarius.  BOW - $50 carbon fiber. Strings - Dominants with E Pirastro Gold string.

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coolpinkone
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November 24, 2014 - 2:35 pm
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@Schaick .. after all this time I am just learning about this light light bow grip.

I have been learning this in the Coursera Class - Teaching the Violin. A class that Barry recommended.  I am on Week 10.   Daniel is in the class also. (did anyone else join this class?)    And a lot of attention.. as much as the relaxed left hand, is put on the loose bow hold also.

Learning more and more.   I know I am doing a better job of the loose bow grip.. sometimes though I find the bow slips ... it is kind of funny to have my hand all of a sudden arrive 4 inches up the bow.   :)

Good stuff. 

Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato

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Mark
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July 26, 2016 - 6:57 pm
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Been awhile since I posted a Video,

Still have some timing and intonation issues along with some Vibrato short comings to work on, this was a one take video cold after we got home from supper so it might not be as smooth as it could have been any comments on improvement are welcome.

This song was picked because My violin teacher wanted me to pick a song that I didn't know to force me to read music and not play by memory and ear (A weakness I have that he caught onto)  I thought it was slow and would be easy oh boy was I wrong, I had no clue how bad my bow distribution and slurring notes together was.

First time I played it for him he stopped me after the first line and said your not bowing it as it it written!! I replied I know I'm bowing it to suit me. At that moment he had a cow and said NOOOOOOO, NOOOOOOO you don't mess with Bach it's perfect you don't change Bach any one else is fine but not Bach!! I'm glad he did, I had never forced my self to follow the written bowing before and it was a eye opener on how poorly I was at following instructions (Imagine that)

Hope this new upload works.

 

Mark 

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Master the Frog and you have mastered the bow.

Albert Sammons

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coolpinkone
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July 26, 2016 - 8:44 pm
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Mark ... It is great to hear from You.  1st-placeI like this Post. So... Bow Strokes matter.dancing

Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato

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Mark
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July 26, 2016 - 11:42 pm
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Appears my link did not work when I get home I'll check and see what went wrong.

 

Mark

Master the Frog and you have mastered the bow.

Albert Sammons

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OldOgre
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July 27, 2016 - 9:16 am
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worked here

With violins there is no fretting over the music.

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fulfillingsoul
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July 28, 2016 - 1:38 am
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Great effort! 

By the way, this song sounds familiar yet I cannot remember the title. Can someone help please? 

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

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damfino
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July 28, 2016 - 11:40 am
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Beautiful job, Mark :)

☆•*¨*•¸¸¸.•*¨*•☆•*¨*•¸¸¸.•*¨*•☆•*¨*•.¸¸¸.•*¨*•☆
World's Okayest Fiddler
☆•*¨*•.¸¸¸.•*¨* •☆•*¨*¨*•¸¸¸.•*¨*•☆

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BillyG
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July 29, 2016 - 7:57 am
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LOL - I'm waiting the 3.3 hours for the close to 600 Mbytes to download @Mark !  ( no kidding )   I *shall* listen to it of course when I get it - I always do....

3hrs.JPG

  LOL - @coolpinkone - Toni - yah ALWAYS get in the picture ! LOL

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I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - guntohead.JPG

Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)

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Mark
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July 29, 2016 - 2:47 pm
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Coolpinkone,  Thank you!

 

Fulfillingsoul, thank you!  the Song Is known as Air on the G string by Bach

 

Damfino,   Thank you!

 

Bill, Thanks for taking the time to listen, sorry its so long.

 

Mark

Master the Frog and you have mastered the bow.

Albert Sammons

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BillyG
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July 29, 2016 - 2:54 pm
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LMAO - make that after 6 and 3/4 hrs LOLOL - ( yes - I was "wasting" other bandwidth doing other things... 3.3 hrs would have done it if I wasn't doing anything else ! )

In summary - nicely done @Mark - the old "Air on a G......" yeah -makes me wanna go smoke a Hamlet cigar " LOLOL ( dunno if you had the same advert there ? )

Tell you what though mate - ignore my chatting above - that was really nicely done - thank you sir ! hats_off

@fulfillingsoul - it is "Air on a G string" - typically - https://www.youtube.com/watch?.....S-HWIFyLsE

I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - guntohead.JPG

Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)

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BillyG
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July 29, 2016 - 2:56 pm
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ROFL - we cross posted - no problem @Mark - you did well my friend !!!!

I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - guntohead.JPG

Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)

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BillyG
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July 29, 2016 - 3:08 pm
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There IS of course this rocked-up version ( amongst others - I've heard better - but can't recall who it was )  

I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - guntohead.JPG

Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)

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Schaick
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July 30, 2016 - 8:26 am
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Mark said
 ...

First time I played it for him he stopped me after the first line and said your not bowing it as it it written!! I replied I know I'm bowing it to suit me. At that moment he had a cow and said NOOOOOOO, NOOOOOOO you don't mess with Bach it's perfect you don't change Bach any one else is fine but not Bach!! I'm glad he did, I had never forced my self to follow the written bowing before and it was a eye opener on how poorly I was at following instructions (Imagine that)

....

LOL!!!  I am guilty!  My first thought was how I could change this to make it a bluegrass jamming tune!!!

Nice job playing!!

Violinist start date -  May 2013  

Fiddler start date - May 2014

FIDDLE- Gift from a dear friend. A 1930-40 german copy, of a french copy of a Stradivarius.  BOW - $50 carbon fiber. Strings - Dominants with E Pirastro Gold string.

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Fiddlerman
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August 5, 2016 - 2:18 pm
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Way to go Mark.

For everyones knowledge, it's called "Air" and comes from Bach's third Orchestral Suite in D major. When you call it Air on the G string, it's played in the key that Mark performed it. However, the title refers to playing the entire movement on the G string only. Thus "Air on the G string".

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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Mark
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August 6, 2016 - 6:36 am
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Schaick,

Thank you, now you have me wondering how Bach Air would sound done with hokum bowing! hummm Might be fun!! dancing

 

Fiddlerman, 

Thank you,

A quick question if I might, when you down shift are you leading with you thumb to find the location of the 1st position? My down shifts are not as smooth or accurate as I would like, when you down shift are you momentarily releasing the pressure on the string until having just enough to mute it during the shift? And does the bow continues moving or a slight hesitation during the shift?

Thanks in advance for your insight.

 

If you prefer this to be a Q&A please let me know and I'll submit a video.

 

Mark 

Master the Frog and you have mastered the bow.

Albert Sammons

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Fiddlerman
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August 8, 2016 - 2:27 pm
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Yes to both questions. Lead with your thumb and release pressure.
If you submit a video I'll do the Q&A :)

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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