Not increasing energy in the bow speed
With
Simon FischerSimon Fischer explains a common mistake in this exercise - speeding the bow up as you move towards the bridge - and why you should slow the bow and sink in instead.
What's in the course
17 lessons (1h 15m) · 1 free
01. Introduction to Combinations
0:18
02. Alternative approach to Exercise one
1:23
03. Exercise six: Speed exercise + Pressure exercise
0:55
04. Exercise seven: Speed exercise + Changing soundpoint
3:30
05. Exercise eight: Pressure exercise + Sounding soundpoint
1:44
06. Exercise nine: Same weight, increasing speed
1:21
07. Exercise ten: Same speed, increasing weight
1:14
08. Conclusion
1:33
Lesson transcript
Exercise Insight: Bow Technique Near the Bridge
When doing this exercise for the first time, many players automatically move the bow faster as they pull into the bridge, instead of slowing into the bridge.
Understanding Energy Dynamics
It's easy to see why this happens. If you think in terms of energy, consider the following:
- What creates more energy?
- Playing nearer to the bridge requires extra weight, which is an increase in energy.
- Moving the bow faster would also be an increase in energy.
The one sets off the other.
The Key Technique
Instead, you have to do opposite things at the same time:
- Slow the bow dramatically as you move into the bridge.
- Sink heavily into the string.
Unintentionally speeding up the bow as it moves nearer to the bridge is akin to:
- Unintentionally pressing the left fingers harder simply because of playing more heavily with the bow.
- Unintentionally playing an accelerando because of playing a crescendo.
17 lessons
1h 15m of structured video lessons
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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.
