Legato... on one note?
How do people play, long uninterrupted notes on multiple bows? Sorta like legato, only on the same note. Alexander Makov does this extremely well at about 3:40 in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BDOY72b5xE&feature=related
Seriously. It is virtually uninterrupted even though he change the bow direction multiple times. Does anybody have any tips on how to do that? Also, what would be the technical name for that?
Replies (12)
Books have been written on this subject. The latest is do not use your fingers to help the bow change directions. Use the big shoulder muscles.
With reference to the video, although I have no doubt whatsoever that Markov "hides" the bow changes most convincingly, that reverberant acoustic is not the best environment for judging it. The reverberation smears the sound too much.
When I was learning to execute the smooth bow change my teacher told me the secret lies in relaxation of the bowing hand and fingers (as my cello teacher likewise told me all those years ago); any stiffness will impede the change of direction. The (new) idea of using the big shoulder muscles instead of the fingers is intriguing; I have a lesson tomorrow and I'll raise the matter, if I remember.
Milstein was an advocate of the shoulder. But he was an exception in that as in many things. Take a look at my website "writings" section on "fundamentals" and see the "bow" section.
Yeah, the real world really gets in the way sometimes. Lol. I'm thinking relaxation is key. Really relaxing is super useful for everything on the violin. It's really a mechanic I think you have to develop yourself, but it would be nice to see a slow motion demonstration or something. If you could do something like that slowly.
For a full bow, the change in direction is implemented at the hinge made by the upper arm at the shoulder.by the muscles that control the upper arm.
The relaxation of the arm's weight onto the string is controlled by the buoyancy of the fingers and hand, and flexibility of the wrist.
At the point of direction change, the hand softens (to allow the string to keep moving while the bow changes direction) but the change in direction is done by the upper arm at its shoulder hinge.
For a half bow, the hinge is at the elbow, and the biceps/triceps control that change, still with the softening of the hand to allow the string to keep vibrating.
gc
I'm not sure how he does it, but wouldn't the reverberation of the room be a factor? The room he's in seems to have concrete--or some other hard material-- walls.
Think about it this way: to keep the sound going, you have to keep the bow moving, right?
Regardless of how you actually do it, the bow cannot stop moving, so rather than strictly moving it back and forth in straight lines, you have to curve the motion where the bow changes direction.
Whether you choose to do it horizontally, vertically, or some combination of the two, well, that's where the whole discussion on what part of the arm (shoulder/elbow/wrist/fingers) to use and how it's used comes into play...
@Kheenan,
I just watched the video you posted of Markov and there is so much reverb in the venue that it would be almost impossible to hear the bow changes, even if you wanted to. But the video of Todd Ehle that I posted above is still applicable to your question.
Thanks for all the replies, reverb seems to be the culprit in this case, though it has been something that i have been wondering about since I've seen it in other places before. I suppose that's one of those things you have to work on until you get it. I'll try adjusting my pivot point on my arm etc.. Maybe bowing speed as well. In time i'm sure i'll learn how to mask it better.
I've watched Todd Ehle's video on it before, I guess it just hasn't "clicked" in my head yet. I'll invest some time in practice specifically for that.
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November 3, 2010 at 12:08 AM ·
Thank you for posting this question -- you reminded me that I wanted to ask my teacher the same thing, even though there's no way in Hayul that I can manage it at my current stage. I'm still dying to know, though. I can see how it's done theoretically, but it's that pesky real-world thing that trips me up. :-)