The 5 Fundamental Rules of Violin Bowing Technique

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The 5 Fundamental Rules of Violin Bowing Technique

Рет қаралды 33,144

Күн бұрын

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Пікірлер: 53

@MurphyMusicAcademy 3 жыл бұрын

A quick clarifier about Rule 4: Of course, there are going to be parts of the bow stroke where your elbow is technically above your wrist by necessity, like the upper half of the bow. What I'm referring to is, if your bow arm were placed such that the opening of the bow arm was truly horizontal (which likely will only happen to some people while playing on the G-String) then the elbow should be placed in such a manner as to not rise above the wrist. Assuming you are not playing in such a reclined position, the place where you'd need to check on this is in the lower half of the bow, and then, following Rule 3, you should open the arm two dimensionally from whatever elbow position you are starting in. I realized this might confuse some people after I had made the video, but then it was too late, so I decided to clarify with a comment here. Thanks for watching and happy practicing!

@AdamSheffield-jx7ve Жыл бұрын

Thank you again for helping rescue me from mediocrity

@MurphyMusicAcademy Жыл бұрын

You are very welcome

@jamesnotsmith1465 Жыл бұрын

I don't know of any other instructor who is talking in such detail about the basics. Murphy's instruction is invaluable to anyone who wants to understand the mechanics behind sound production.

@alexsaldarriaga8318 3 жыл бұрын

You’re a gifted teacher. I enjoy watching your instructional videos. Keep up the great work and best wishes to you!

@annakovalev1020 Жыл бұрын

I am an adult beginner, six months into my journey. I will say, you offer excellent instruction, clearly and concisely. Thank you very much! Please keep up your work!

@sirspongadoodle 8 ай бұрын

@@MishaSkripachit’s worth learning without a teacher for the first couple months just to save some coin but yeah I would say it’s really worth taking lessons

@sirspongadoodle 8 ай бұрын

@@MishaSkripach that’s the most obnoxious and lazy mindset iv ever heard… this is why the world is so mediocre because people think that it’s okay to just not do anything

@bradykelso8682 10 ай бұрын

Wow. Perhaps the best video on early bowing technique. I learned so much, especially the fact that I need to keep shoulder relaxed and allow elbow to do most of movement. Game-changer! Thanks! You’re an amazing teacher!

@Jamieforeals Ай бұрын

This is the kind of detail that I needed. Really struggling with my bowing 🙇‍♀️

@whyRUlookinatthiscrapppp 6 ай бұрын

1. Only use forearm/ elbow 2. don't use traps , keep holder down 3. moving elbow/forearm up and down 4. elbow shouldn't be higher that wrist 5. bow control is all about momentum 12:38

@dvides89 3 жыл бұрын

An excellent analogy my violin teacher gave me: The bow arm is like an electrical cable, if you’re cutting it any way with corners/angles you will lose sensitivity and power. So if you try to keep the line as relaxed and continuous as possible; your bowing will benefit with fluidity and control.

@danieltessier8036 Жыл бұрын

I notice you use the Belgian bow grip. This was the grip I used for a long time & struggled constantly with a smooth legato ( frog to tip) bouncing bow ,all rules you mentioned I broke. I never could relax when playing & tried so hard to let the bow do the work, but it never happened; until I discovered the Russian bow hold.Suddenly,I was able to drop that left shoulder more & use my wrist at the frog .It completely changed my playing style & now I can more or less stick with not breaking the 5 rules.I know this grip is not taught by many teachers,but if you could,please tell me what you think. Thank you for you wise insight.

@jamessullivan4164 Жыл бұрын

This video just significantly increased my bowing and subsequently my sound. Thank you so much. I realized I was tensing up that trapezius muscle. Once I relaxed it and dropped my shoulder it sounds so much better. Thank you!

@steveryder6733 Жыл бұрын

Best videos for violin out there. I've wanted to learn violin for many years, and finally I'm attempting it. Thanks to you, I have a chance at making decent sounds come from my instrument. BTW, violin practice is incredibly relaxing.

@conradgittins4476 2 жыл бұрын

Breaking the habit of raising the shoulder is quite a challenge because it is such a subconscious action and one I find extremely problematic.

@momoma533 3 жыл бұрын

Funny thing. When I was wachting you playing the kreutzer exersice, I had my right wrist a little bit tensed. I was noticing it, when you finished as my wrist relaxed again. 😂😂😂

@valentin_a. 7 ай бұрын

1. (almost) All bow strokes should be initiated from the elbow 1:19 2. The bow shoulder must remain down 5:02 3. The bow arm motion should be 2-dimensional 7:20 4. The elbow should not be higher than the wrist 9:00 5. Bow control is all about momentum 12:36

@malielanijoy 12 күн бұрын

This is very helpful. Thank you!

@jeffyspenz9274 Ай бұрын

This really helped me❤

@Skinny_Karlos Жыл бұрын

I studied classical guitar at Sydney Conservatorium, getting a degree in performance and from a young age my teacher ( I can never thank him enough for this) gave more, if anything, importance to the right hand than the left though both were extensively covered. "A C major scale can be beautiful but only if one's sound/tone is up to it" was his overriding mantra and picking up the violin in my teens as a second instrument I adopted a similar stance if only because the scratchy, squeaky, horrid productions of my initial efforts just had to be improved or I would surely die. The sound is everything and only once a beautiful tone is produced can one carry on to attempt to communicate and make beautiful music. Thank you for your videos.

@gabrielb426 3 жыл бұрын

I was sure I had the, "From the elbow" bit down but after this video, I reviewed one of my practice session clips and realized I do more of it then I probably should around about mid bow on the G and D string. That rotation at the frog is the most tricky because if I'm not paying attention, the muscles will remain activated. I do a body check every 30 to 60 seconds and I often find myself dropping that shoulder several bars after the rotation was required.

@MurphyMusicAcademy 3 жыл бұрын

When I really started to work this out for myself I’d sit in a chair, but another chair on my lap so the back of the chair would keep my arm from moving inward, and then scoot up against the wall to keep my arm from also moving outward, so I’d be forced to move from the elbow. Sometimes you have to get creative and vigilant to really master this stuff, haha

@amatomargaret 2 жыл бұрын

@@MurphyMusicAcademy COULD YOU DO THIS EXERCISE ON A VIDEO?

@johnalexander301 3 жыл бұрын

Excellent instruction. Thanks Tobia!

@caonexpeguero9984 Жыл бұрын

Gosh... You are one of the most knowledgeable violinist I've ever seen. Amazing!!! And you also sound quite good. Congrats!! Who did you study with and who have been your refferences?

@JustyStoky 2 жыл бұрын

Could you possibly make a video on Bow Tilting. I've been playing viola two years and when I watch pro violinists and violists they're bowing never seems completely flat all the time. Thanks for the videos.

@robinanuolinlin1815 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for this detailed summary ❤

@gailrivas762 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this great, in depth video!

@user-kd1rd5dv3s 8 ай бұрын

Generally excellent points. One small correction: the probably more important muscle for lifting the shoulderblade is called "M. levator scapulae". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levator_scapulae_muscle

@bradykelso8682 10 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@Alexander-kh2rc Жыл бұрын

i literally got better by the end of the video omg

@solid_amouri307 Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much

@Auxiliaryguard 3 жыл бұрын

The ending part of the piece you play at the end sounds like vocalise by rachmaninoff 😉

@MurphyMusicAcademy 3 жыл бұрын

Lol, never thought of it that way (it’s an etude) but I guess it kind of does

@kyliepenn 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you 🙏

@enpsyclopedia5040 2 жыл бұрын

Another thing to catch is forarm length. One of the most significant cons of learing too early due to changes in body shape. Some students with longer forarms occasionally seem to find significant tonal enhancement if they learn to play and or change to a more flat and upright violin position on the collar bone. Of course, this is assuming the child or adult is not using a shoulder rest. Just a though from seeing our adult University students come and go.

@davevanderpol6227 Жыл бұрын

Really helpfull thanks!!!

@hast3033 6 ай бұрын

Do you feel your arm motion from your pectoralis major muscle? When I focus on my chest area it seems to help bowing quite a bit.

@josephmcmahon7470 2 жыл бұрын

From your descriptions here: I assume you don't personally use/teach the 'figure 8' idea for bow movement? (Described by Yizhak Schotten in his "Art of the Bow Arm" video)

@technicmachine 3 жыл бұрын

Are we coming up on another stream?

@MurphyMusicAcademy 3 жыл бұрын

At some point, but we aren’t planning on anything at the moment. Brian and I have both been super busy the past couple of weeks, and while things are calming down here a bit, we have to start searching for a new place to live, as our previous plans to move to different places fell through. So he will not only he my assistant, but also my roommate for another year. We might try something in the middle of the summer, we’ll see.

@JohanJohnJohnson 3 жыл бұрын

Moving the bow from the elbow, that’s the hardest one for me. 😅I’ve noticed that most of the time I move the bow from the hand and the wrist. I don’t know when or how it became a habit, but I’m having a difficult time breaking the habit now. The problem I have is that my bow hold is too loose, so when I play martele or staccato, It sounds very sluggish and generally it doesn’t very good, especially in the upper half of the bow. I think maybe that could be the reason for it but idk...

@Roland_Geyer 10 ай бұрын

Super 🎉❤👍

@musicloverxoxox3 Жыл бұрын

I have this issue!! No one every corrected me when I was young ! Definitely have to work on this, it drives me nuts!! Also curious if you have a video on now holds?? I never found one comfortable and I need to experiment

@MurphyMusicAcademy Жыл бұрын

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fK5zo9CTtdq0hGw.html

@technicmachine 3 жыл бұрын

Hi, ever since I started learning the violin, my approach to music theory has been 'learn just barely enough to be able to comprehend the music you are playing right now and nothing else' which has left me with a pretty rudimentary knowledge of sight reading and musical notation, but recently I got interested in some KZfaq channels that talk about composition and my understanding of the topics they were exploring was made a lot more difficult because of that. Do you know of any resources that I could use to improve my knowledge of music theory and sight reading? Should I just try to read the more advanced music in my method, even though I can't play it yet? I used to be able to solfege well when I was a kid, but I haven't had much practice with it in the last 10 years, should I try to get better at it?

@MurphyMusicAcademy 3 жыл бұрын

I mean, if you don't have much basic music reading skill, then I'd take care of that first. Don't worry about basic music theory just yet. There are many books available that can help develop note reading. I start using a basic one pretty early on with my students, called "I can read music" which is published by Suzuki. The first book might be too low a level for where you are at, but they are very user friendly and a good resource. From there I just make my students read their next piece in the Suzuki book whenever they start it in a lesson, and help them along with it. That really makes a difference. From there on it's just experience, and so I'd advise doing some basic note reading books, and then maybe find some simple but new music that you can practice reading on. As for the other aspects of theory, before picking up a theory textbook, get completely familiar with scales, arpeggios, and their respective keys. If you don't know the circle of fifths, then learn that immediately. Practice scales and arpeggios, with a scale book (doesn't matter which one) until your fingers are familiar with playing scales and arps in every single key. From there a lot of it is picked up through osmosis of just studying music, but after you are familiar with basic note recognition, scales and arpeggios, and key signatures, then it might be time to check out a theory course.