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Ok week 6 is out, it was a slow week for me but I managed some progress I think. Baby steps! I'm trying to modify my bow hold, having fun with an eraser, found the trick for the 4th finger and playing 2 short songs. 
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov
I like your left hand grip. I tried it for myself and it is much better. The eraser thing I was taught with using a quarter.
I can't believe how improved you are at playing. My wife heard you and comented also on how far you have come.
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Ahhh, so THAT'S the eraser trick. I would have never guessed!
I like the Rubber Dolly song.
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Good going, NV! Sounding good.
So that is the bow grip you were talking about in chat? It looks interesting, I'll have to try it.
Congrats on sounding good at 6 weeks!
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
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Kevin, big eraser for n00bs, quarter for when you're good 
Didi I have no idea how good or not the eraser trick is, but it was funny, I dropped it twice and my cats were runnign after it bouncing.
Yes that's the russian bow hold, kinda, I'm not sure how good I have it, but it's very stable for a beginner lol.
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov
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Hey NV! Yet another entertaining and informative post.
Keep 'em coming Lass
I am amazed at how old people of my age are.....
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Another well done video, NV! I'm going to try both the bow hold and the eraser trick. Excellent progress in Week 6!
When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.
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Nice. You seem to be progressing very well. The eraser trick is interesting. Unfortunately I didn;t have an eraser handy so I tried doing it with a flash drive but it was too slippery. 
Keep up the great work. You are sounding great. i hope to share a sample of some of my playing soon. If I can;t do a video I'll put up a sound file.
Fast progress! Love your left hand! 
Never thought that i have the russian bow hold too (who could think
). Thanks for explanation. And for eraser excercise - funny. =)
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Crazy, use a webcam, easy and simple for this. Ok quality is not real good but it's fool proof (something I need lol). I tried recording in HD but yesterday it caused a small delay between my voice and the image so I picked a lower resolution and problem solved!
So far so good for my personal progression. I must admit that often I'm grinding my teeth and tell myself it would be so much easier with a teacher, but that will come eventually when I get a job lol (I'm so slow for my accounting studies). I have a bazillion questions when I practice and too shy to go back to my university and grab a violin student for a chat.
So today, D majoy key and starting s-l-o-w-l-y on the first Studies of Franz Wohlfahrt (Wolf fart? rofl whut?). I'm hoping practicing studies will improve my dexterity, intonation and 4th finger use. I guess I had fun for my first 6 weeks exploring the violin now I would like to dive a bit into more serious stuff that can really help me improve myself.
Usually at this time I would have quit for any activity I started lol, knitting, gardening, piano, Pilates (actually I quit after 2 weeks on that), jogging, you name it! For violin I strangely want more, I'm enjoying violin tremendously and I know in my guts I finally found the perfect activity for me after all those years! I don't care if it takes years before I can make a nice sound, as long as I see a little bit of improvement every month I'll be satisfied.
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov
Well done! You do so well in these videos Noir Velours. Keep up the fantastic work.
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Thanks Fifi, I should stop changing songs every week though, while learning 3 new songs per week is fun it's not making me learn how to play them well! I should pick one and stick with it for a couple weeks to really learn it! But so far I have not found one I really like to do that.
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov
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Another fun video NV.
I often suggest the position of having the thumb back on several of my videos.
The bow hold
Jascha Heifetz did use a Russian bowgrip as you say but most big name soloists use the franco-belgian/Galamian. Itzakh Perlman, Anne-Sophie Mutter, and Hilary Hahn and many others. In my opinion you can get a much bigger sound using your arm weight to produce volume instead of bow speed. Also, I find it real hard to play at the frog with the Russian bow hold. Try it and you'll understand, your wrist will have to be real bent.
I believe that much of your new bow hold comfort comes from finally keeping your fingers together as I impose strongly to everyone. Also, your pinky is shorter which may account for your index finger feeling better making contact that high up.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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You are right for the thumb Pierre! I was using the pictures from my method books for the position of the left hand and kinda skip those tutorials like notes on G string etc. 
I should have paid more attention but then I just started using 4th finger in my methods so it was not a concern in the past weeks!
I tried your playing at the frog, not easy the bow is like too long lol so I kept the russian grip but higher on the bow! Wow suddenly a perfect fit! I'm starting to think I need a shorter bow lol.
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov
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HEY HEY NV! I can definately tell a difference in your playing. Good eraser movement. Keep the videos coming.
I think, You right, NV, about playing a piece for a little longer. But since You are very good at learning, pick several of that You really like to play - it helps to concentrate on different techniques. Try to choose the different songs either - for example one "fiddle tune" and the other one clssic.. Just a suggestion. That's how my teacher teaches me =)
BTW.. Does anybody have problems with "eraser excercise" while playing on G string? It doesn't stay on my hand. Is it ok, or i'm doing wrong?
Falls off my hand at the tip of the bow but at the frog it stays on.
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Mad, about the 2 different tunes, it's what I have been doing so far. Like in this video the old grey goose was the folk song and scherzando the classical. This week I'm on a Gavotte but also a fiddle tune. I was doing it because I wanted more variety.
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov
Your vids are just too much fun to watch....you should have your own talk show.....thanks for sharing your knowledge and talent.....
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It's not my knowledge Joe, just tips and tricks I find here and there, mostly stuff I don't want to forget or that I am trying and wanna share lol.
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov
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