Bow arm update

June 7, 2007 at 5:17 AM

Thank you to you all for pointers and tips on the bow arm pain. During lessons tonight, Joel and I work on my "grip" quite a bit and changed it significantly to prevent any "pinching" that may happen. I also switched to my lighter octagonal bow, vs the round one that I prefered. My teacher recommended looking into getting a violin bow to use with my viola instead of a "traditional" viola bow - lighter and shorter (I'm 5'2" so a shorter bow won't limit how much bow I can effectively use). Both of the bows that I have are quite heavy.

After re-working my bow hold, we proceded to the hour long lesson. NO pain!!! Although, Hoffmeister got a break (so there were no fast string crossings to risk any pain) but there was no-pain none the less unlike the last time I tried to practice. I also switch to a Wolf shoulder rest. I can adjust it so it is much lower on the collar bone, but higher on the shoulder to give my viola the right "tilt". That helped alot by reducing the clenching I sometimes did with my chin on the chin rest while shifting or doing vibrato. One side benefit to giving my bow arm a break for almost a full week and only practicing with my left-hand is that my vibrato made some significant strides.

Side note: My teacher is going to be on the David Letterman show the 14th of this month with the "Pink Martini". Great group! You got to stay up late and watch it (or record it on TIVO!).

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