January 2007

Bow switching experience

January 23, 2007 20:18

I have had my second bow for over 10 years now. The first bow was a cheap one that came along with the student violin I had. Last year when I started to learn more complex bowing (fast spiccato, sautille, ricochet, spring arpeggios etc.) the bow felt so heavy. So I went along to a shop and got myself a new lighter bow (but also got the pricy Bam Hi-Tech case!). Playing these various forms of staccato became easier and I left my second bow unused for a year.

Since the exam late last year, I’ve been working on my bow hold and tone. Not until recently I began to discover that my right hand is getting very painful, especially my thumb (refer previous blog Bend Your Thumb). It didn’t occur to me that it was because the new bow was lighter, I’ve lost a lot of tone. I overcome this by putting a lot of pressure using my top 4 fingers, which means that the thumb that acts as a counter pressure was taking all the pressure s from the other 4 fingers.

Last weekend I tried my second bow again and wallah! I could get the tone I wanted without much pressure and it was such a relief for the thumb. The first thing that I thought of was the initial problem I had with the various staccato bowings… will it be difficult to play them with this bow? Not at all! It actually became easier with this bow. My only guess is that I after a year, I have advanced in a way that I know how to play these staccato bowings economically, therefore the bow no longer feel as heavy as before. Thanks to Buri’s for advising to be careful not to use too much wrist in sautille & spring arpeggios bowing.

I fell in love with my old bow again. As I examined it closely, I noticed that I have been neglecting it for many years. The tip is broken (the white plastic bit), the hair has never been replaced, the scroll is hard to adjust (I’ve since clean the screw inside), lots of rosin underneath the wooden part, the “metal coil” looks dirty and rusty… I am so guilty! I am writing it a letter of apology:

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Dear bow no. 2 (with no name),

I am sorry I have neglected you and blamed you for my own incompetence. I am going to make it up to you. I’ll send you to a good luthier to have your tip replace, get you a brand new set of hair, thoroughly clean the rosin away, replace the coil, and clean the screw… even if it is going to cost me as much as yourself.

Please forgive me. I will make you my best friend again and hopefully we will spend a lot of quality times playing music.

Regretfully yours,
William the idiot
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I’ve also replaced the G and D strings last week as it was way past the time for a new set of strings. I was quite daring to replace two strings at once as the both of them got out of tune every 2 seconds. They have since settled in nicely. I will be less daring with the A and E strings. I’ll first go for the E string, wait for a week, then the A. By the time the new strings are settled, bow no. 2 should be ready at the luthier… just in time for rehearsals and lessons to recommence in early February.

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New daily ritual

January 18, 2007 19:57

It's been quite upsetting lately for whatever reasons. Nothing has changed. I practise my violin daily, cello when I have the time, play the piano when I feel a bit blue, go to work, get paid, pay bills...

Somehow something is missing. Still in the midst of violin lesson break. Rehearsals in the orchestras haven't started yet. Can't seem to find a CD that I want to buy. Can't find new musicsheets that interest me.

Due to the extreme changes in the whether lately, my violin strings got badly out of tune one day when I returned home. After getting them back in tune, they wouldn't respond anymore. It's time to change a new set of strings. Too taxing.

Am not progressing much lately. Seem to have fallen into the spell of repeating to practise the same thing over and over again without having any aim, knowing exactly it's something I needed to avoid. The most unimaginable thing is not getting excited even when it comes to playing Bach!

One thing did encouraged me a bit. I can now play the first 2 phrases in Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen (the first "run" has been holding me back from trying). Didn't dare to venture any further in that piece. These 2 phrases are my new daily ritual. I'll play it before and after practise. My previous daily ritual was the opening phrases of Bach's Adagio from Sonata 1 for solo violin. Sorry Bach, I need to move on.

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More entries: February 2007 • December 2006

January 2007

Bow switching experience

New daily ritual

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