Warm up to exercise one with a simple straight-bow exercise
With
Simon FischerSimon Fischer's warm-up for a straight bow stroke: with a partner holding the bow parallel to the bridge, you run your hand along it to learn the movement by feel.
What's in the course
11 lessons (1h 7m) · 1 free
01. Warm up to exercise one with a simple straight-bow exercise
You are here1:53
02. Explanation and demonstration of exercise one
27:16
03. Exercise one in more detail
12:03
04. Isolating the elements
3:16
05. Playing musically
4:41
06. Making the perfect change of bow
7:03
07. No such thing as an inaudible bow-change
1:22
08. Feeling the momentum of the bow
3:18
09. Adding the left fingers
1:15
10. Applying soundpoint practice to passages
2:53
11. Sounding as good as the best player in the world - right now
2:08
Lesson transcript
Bow Stroke Exercises
All you need to be able to do to perform these exercises is to draw the bow parallel to the bridge. Here's a simple exercise to improve the naturalness of your straight bow stroke.
Hand Positioning
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Find a Partner: You need someone to hold the bow for you, ensuring it is parallel to the bridge.
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Practice by Feel: All you have to do is run your hand up and down the bow.
- This is an excellent exercise because you can learn by feel instead of needing to learn rules about which part of the arm to move, and so on.
- However, knowing a thing or two about the bow arm is helpful as well.
Execution
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"So if you could lend me your bow, please. Thank you."
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I'm going to put it on the string, not right at the point, but near the point.
- I am making sure that the bow is exactly parallel with the bridge.
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Next, you can put your hand on the bow. Since the bow is parallel with the bridge, you must make the perfect arm movements because your arm isn't that long.
Moving the Bow
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"I'm going to go up the bow a bit to about there."
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Now, this time, can you go all the way down? That's it.
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"We could put it here. Try that on the E string. Feel. You feel that? Feel what's happening? That's it."
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Or we could put you here.
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"Whoops. Put you there. I've just got to check that it's parallel with the bridge. And you can go. That's the way."
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
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.
