Daily Archives: October 24, 2006

Alright…let’s be fair…

Okay…regarding last night’s post and general frustration with playing the violin, I had not practiced what my instructor recommended. It’s my own damn fault I suck. I ordered new music and I neeeded to play it…and I didn’t really have a lot of time to practice early in the weekend so I spent a good amount of time on Sunday playing this new music…and not what the teacher told me to do. So…even though I played until my fingers were sore and my jaw felt bruised, I didn’t do anything to work on my weaknesses.

These are the things I should have been working on:

  1. Relax my grip on the bow.
    The bow should be held by a relaxed hand with the index, middle, and ring fingers resting over the top.
  2. Keep a loose wrist on the bow arm.
    Short, quick bow movements originating at the wrist will increase the speed of bow strokes and make playing very fast songs at tempo possible.
  3. Practice changing positions.
    Through repetition and practice, changes in position will become seamless. I’ll quickly be able to find the correct note and play it with the correct intonation.
  4. Work on dynamics.
    I’ve never been good at dynamics, but I should be aware of them and try to play them.

Bruce, my instructor, also recommended that I don’t rosin my bow as frequently as I do. Apparently, the excess of rosin creates a sort of harsh screaching noise. He told me he only rosins his bow about once a week…and for as frequently as he plays, I’m really amazed that he does it so little.