No such thing as an inaudible bow-change
Lesson time: (1min 22sec)
Simon Fischer explains why a truly inaudible bow change is physically impossible, and how to hide the change so your bowing sounds like a smooth legato.
Course preview
This lesson is part of the course The Secrets of Tone Production Part 2: Fundamental Tone Exercises Introduced
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
The Illusion of the Perfect Bow Change
I said a moment ago that the perfect bow change appears to be continuous.
- I used the word appears because, mostly, it's a question of illusion and of hiding the bow change.
- The fact is, a completely inaudible bow change is a physical impossibility.
Physical Limitations
Four separate strokes like these will never sound like this. You just can't do it.
You can prove it easily enough anyway, by watching the vibration of the string here, midway between the finger and the bridge.
- Look at it stop for an instant every time the bow changes direction.
- This is opposed to when the note changes with the bow because you put a finger down.
Then you can practically hide the bow changes and play a true legato.
But still, separate bows will never sound the same as slurs. Whatever you do.
About the instructor
Simon Fischer enjoys a distinguished and wide-ranging career as a performer, educator and recording artist. He has performed worldwide as a recitalist, and committed three Brahms Sonatas to record, a recording that received high praise in Gramophone Magazine. Simon is recognised as having a place amongst the world's elite teachers. He is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music, and has held positions at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Wells Cathedral School and the Purcell School, and for 15 years was a visiting professor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music. Having studied in London with Yfrah Neaman, and in New York with Dorothy DeLay, Fischer's approach unites the best elements of the French, Russian and American violin traditions. Fischer's published work greatly influences the teaching of the violin. Having written for The Strad magazine since 1991, his monthly articles have attracted a worldwide following. Published by Edition Peters, his technique books Basics and Practice (translated into Korean, Italian and German), Scales and The Violin Lesson, and the DVD The Secrets of Tone Production (now available to stream via MusicGurus), have become standards on many continents. His book and DVD Warming Up was described by The Strad magazine as "23 pages of pure technical gold". In 2014 Simon Fischer was awarded the European String Teachers Association prize "In celebration of a lifetime contribution to String Teaching". In his four-part Secrets of Tone Production course, Simon guides you through getting to know your instrument and then working through his fundamental tone exercises step by step, so you can produce a richer, more controlled and more beautiful sound on the violin. read more