Building up musles in right hand & fingers

October 15, 2011 at 03:08 AM ·

Play, play, play, practice, practice, practice and more PRACTICE!!!!!! Loud double stops I have found to be good for this kind of thing, makes your hand really tired :)

Also, hold your bow (not the violin) and hold it up about the same place you would have the bow if you were playing then swing the bow upward, making a semi circle with the tip, while the frog remains still. This helps with control of the bow and I would assume this would help with streangth of the hand and fingers.

October 15, 2011 at 06:28 AM ·

yes, katisha, that excercise is good. also the spider fingers crawling up the bow stick. start with the usual bow hold, no violin, bow in a vertical position, your hand sort of almost chest high.. and then get your hand to start crawling up the bow while maintaining the basic posture of your hand; your fingers would play the role of the spider legs..keep the thumb on the opposite side of the other fingers crawling along with them. crawl up the bow and down again. its good for finger independence, stamina and strength. yet another excercise to work your bow pinkie...hold the violin bow horizontally in front of you..i think chest high to make it easier..no violin, usual bow hold..now press down with your little pinkie to seesaw the bow upwards then gently alleviate pressure to get back to the horizontal position.

edited: sorry, i forgot to mention where i got these exercises from: basically..Simon Fischer's Basics...a really nice nice book to have. his spider exercise is more complicated though, you'll be playing open strings, forte, as your hand crawls halfway up the bow then back to frog. tricky.

October 15, 2011 at 07:32 AM ·

Are you thinking of becoming world heavyweight champion? Or world's top wieightlifter?

If it's violin playing, then you need to build up the muscles in the brain, not the hand. 

October 15, 2011 at 03:03 PM ·

In my case there is definitely a need to build strength.

HTH

Pat T

October 15, 2011 at 03:14 PM ·

I too am an adult beginner and my teacher has me doing these same exercises.  I thought really do l need this it hurts but l have been doing it for two weeks and these old fingers are more flexible and l can hold the bow better now.  It does help us older folks.

Julie

October 16, 2011 at 05:15 PM ·

I've witnessed many transformations of bow hand strength with the simple use of training chopstix.

Training chopstix are plastic chopstix for kids that are attached yet flexible. Do a bow hand at the widest part of the chopstix and push up with the thumb closing the chopstix and then letting the thumb relax and opening the chopstix. Not only does this strengthen the muscles needed to hold the bow but when you push the thumb up - you get an impression on the inside of your top fingers. Wonderful reinforcement! Repeat 20 - 50 per day. 1 month later there will be a big difference.

Smiles! Diane

October 17, 2011 at 11:33 AM ·

perhaps there is a difference between needing more muscle power to control the bow vs needing better techniques to control the bow.

i don't understand why a regular right hand needs more muscle juice.

October 18, 2011 at 07:31 PM ·

Please? stop practicing , look for help

from proffesional teacher. Good luck

October 19, 2011 at 05:04 AM ·

Hi, You might try watching "Six Lessons with Yehudi Menuhin" on You Tube. They are extraordinary. He covers all the myriad aspects of playing the violin with great clarity and depth. His explanations are easy to follow because he demonstrates everything he says, sometimes using a transparent violin so that the viewer can see what he does from a unique perspective. His ideas are immediately useful. I cannot recommend those six lessons highly enough.     Charles Johnston