Day 2 - New Friends

Day 2 - New Friends




I found out from a few users at the FiddlerMan community (Fiddle4Fun & CatMcCall) that your wrist flexes the most when bowing, and that your fingers merely supports the stick. A bowing video at FiddlerMan also states that the movement comes from the elbow, not your shoulders.


I have created an account on the FiddlerMan forums - BakaKitty. Did a post on the forums too! I hope that I'll be able to get some guidance from the more experienced fiddlers there as well! 


Oh yes, and do visit CatMcCall's blog here, and FiddlerMan's beginner tutorial videos here.


They're both awesome help!


Today I noticed a metallic sharpness on my stock violin strings... Maybe it is time to spend a bit on better chords? Or do you think its just my newbie bowing (open strings) sounding terrible? 


My plan on my 2nd day is to continue on my bow hold, checking in the mirror to see if my finger placements were correct. I noticed a strain on my wrists. (Is this fatigue? Or am I holding the bow wrongly, thus straining said wrists?


I then tried bowing a few strokes, and noticed that my thumb kept sliding into the frog. (Does anyone know ways to prevent that? Am I doing something wrongly like too much pressure on the thumb?)


Have you encountered the problems I've highlighted? Share them in the comments below! 

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your wrist will get tired at first - don't try to do too much or you will end up injured. The bowing comes from the elbow joint, but the elevation needed to hit each string alone comes from the shoulder. My teacher calls this the "elevator shoulder" - raise your shoulder higher as you move to the A, D, and G strings - it will be lowest for the E string. Then bow with the motion of your elbow. Try to keep the bow parallel with the bridge.

Your thumb should push against the "point" on the frog - you may need to rotate it a bit to find the spot where it won't slide through. It should not be a tight grip, but relaxed and supple.

Yes, you should probably change your strings. FM sends them all over the world and recommends the Zyex for many fiddles - I use them and love the sound.

It's a lot to learn all at once, isn't it? :)

Unknown said...

Oh yes but that's what's one part that makes this instrument so beautiful!

I'll probably purchase the strings from the local Johann Strings shop here :)

Unknown said...

Alright! I'll keep those pointers in mind tomorrow when I bow! :D

Thank you Cat! ^^

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