We have thousands of human-written stories, discussions, interviews and reviews from today through the past 20+ years. Find them here:

Search the site Search

February 10, 2005 at 2:15 PM

I wanted to say something about bow pressure. One of the first things that sticks in my mind about bow pressure is a conversation I had with someone about rabin and perlman and they were commenting how they press down too hard. Someone else said that it is bad to press down at all. I have heard people describe vengerov as having a "pressed" tone, although some say he changed his style. Later, I saw this ad in the strad magazine about ilya kaler and he was saying that oistrakh preferred to use more bow speed where as mr kaler prefers to use more pressure on the bow. I also saw a little part of a perlman masterclass on the live in russia video where this yound russina violinist was playing the ravel tzigane and mr perlman was telling him to play closer to the bridge and use more pressure on the bow. Then the art of violin came out and Perlman was talking about how heifetz didnt press down much but used alot of bow speed to get that "ghhhht" sound. And more recently, I read something that said mr heifetz was giving someone advice and told him to use a heavier bow and I started to think, maybe it is good to use some pressure if your bow isnt very heavy, maybe mr heifetz used heavy bows so he wouldnt have to press down and the bow was still heavy enought to get the full tone. I think because I am using a lighter bow, I need to press down to get the full tone but just a little... I know if i press down too much I can hear that choking sound. I think the next bow I get will be heavier so I wont have to press down to get the full tone.... Just some of my thoughts about tone and bow pressure. What do you think? I suppose if I dont get any resonses that no one is reading this. Can you hear me now?

Cheers
Scott (muggle violinist)
visit my webpage

...

I think bow pressure is an important variable in sound production with the right hand. To say that one should never use bow pressure is like saying that one should never speak loudly, yell, or scream. Sometimes it's appropriate; although there are some people who talk too loud too much, there are also people who never express themselves above a whisper. I think it's up to the artistic judgement of the violinist as to whether bow pressure or speed should contribute to the loudness. They're like the "warm gray" and "cool gray" in the painter's paintbox.
I tend to think of bowing more in terms of the Galamian school of thought, which basically emphasizes a slower bow creating a more focused sound (vs. using pure speed, although this too has its uses). Relax your right arm--release it from the shoulder--and think about how much just your arm alone weighs; then think about transferring all this weight to the string. Thus, you are not really pressing down; rather, you are letting the natural weight of your arm fall into the string and create the pressure that way. You should in no way have any tension in the right arm or shoulder--it should all feel very loose, very flowing. One characteristic that is prominant among all the greats is that they all had a very free, fluid right arm when they bowed. This, I think, is the most important thing to keep in mind; so don't think in terms of pressure, because this creates tension and a forced sound; rather, think in terms of natural, organic movement; freedom and mobility, and listen for the difference in your sound.