| Author |
Message |
    
Steven
Advanced Member
Username: Steven
Post Number: 93
Registered: 11-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - 12:13 am: | |
Hi all,
I understand that the sound volume can be controlled by a number of ways :
1. bowing closer to the bridge / away from bridge
2. bowing at an angle to the strings or bowing with all horsehairs on the string
3. pressing hard down on the bow.
4. long or short bowing
I did read on forums that we should never apply pressure on the bow. So doesn't this contradict with method #3 above ?
Another qn : when and why do we use which of the above 4 methods ?
Thanks !
Talent is not born but created
|
Man
Senior Member
Username: Manwong
Post Number: 672
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - 01:32 am: | |
Hi, Steven.
I'll take a shot at this -- and I'm sure other much more experienced folks will add and/or correct later. 
RE: #3, as I understand it, we want to avoid the notion/idea of applying "pressure" because the term "pressure" connotes and might (mis)lead us to tense up our hand/wrist/arm/etc more than anything else. Instead, it's better to not think of it as applying pressure, but rather, use whatever direct or indirect techniques to apply weight on the bow, which in turn ends up doing what you want in #3. One way you can apply weight as you bow is to pronate your hand/wrist while thinking of the bowing action as an up/down stroke, instead of side-to-side. This will indirectly apply weight/pressure w/out easily causing you to tense up. The up/down action is also more fluid and natural me thinks than side-to-side.
RE: #4, it's actually not merely a diff of long vs short bow, but more precisely, a diff of long vs short bow given equal time. OR rather, it's actually bow speed that matters, and bow speed happens to dictate whether you need to use a shorter or longer bow stroke (for the duration of a given note). If a long bow stroke is played at same speed as a short stroke, it will have the same volume (all else being equal) and just yield a longer note than the short stroke, eg. a full bow stroke whole note vs 1/2 bow stroke 1/2 note.
As for when you'd use which, I'm sure there are various other reasons I may not be aware of, but for starters, I can think of these factors that may impact one's choices:
a. Bow distribution that makes the most sense for the particular section being played may or may not limit your choices. For instance, you may or may not be able to use a long, fast bow for a louder sound if you're somewhere in the middle of the bow (vs on either end). Also, it's easier to produce a louder sound towards the frog end of the bow than towards the tip end because of the natural diff in weight involved.
b. A given note being played on a given string may lead you to make decisions about #1 in particular. For instance, if you play a high note on the A string, instead of the same on the E string, there will be less string length involved in producing the sound, and you may need to use a large combo of the various techniques to yield a big enough sound, if need be.
c. The distribution of dynamics throughout the piece of music may also impact your choices since choices are often a relative thing.
d. Different methods may color the sound differently, so while you may be able to produce the same volume w/ different methods, volume would not be the only sound quality/quantity factor in making a choice. For instance, it seems that bowing w/ only one side of the horsehair in contact w/ the string yields a thinner kind of sound, not just lower volume (like you might get w/ simply applying less weight).
As I said, I'm sure there are various other reasons involved, but as a beginner, these are some that I can think of right now. Hope this helps w/out too many errors on my part. 
_Man_
Just another amateur learning to paint w/ "the light of the world".
|
Steven
Advanced Member
Username: Steven
Post Number: 96
Registered: 11-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - 08:44 pm: | |
Thanks Man, once again very informative and always very modest! And I will take time to reread and ponder over your post.
Another thing to add, choice of technique also depends on the maturity level of the player...my teacher did not want to teach my daughter to move towards/away the bridge, because she took into consideration my girl's age/maturity.
Talent is not born but created
|
Anne
New member
Username: Anne1685
Post Number: 1
Registered: 05-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - 06:34 am: | |
Hi Steven,
There are times when we need to apply pressure to the bow but many students can produce harsh grating sounds (you've probably heard some of these). I generally ask my students to practice tapping their pointer finger on the bow to help release tension in the bow hand, particularly when executing bow changes. This seems to help many of them. |
|
