Violin Lessons: Class 12 - Mastering the straight bow 2

Another effective trick to playing with a straight bow is to keep your eye on the contact point between your bow and the string. Play on an open string and keep a close eye n the contact point to make sure that you are playing at a straight angle. As you play fell and notice the position of your wrist and your arms. All the time, try to keep the hair of the bow in full contact with the string.

Violin Lessons : Class 11 - Mastering the Straight Bow

When you play the violin, it is important that your bow glides at a 90 degrees angle with the string or parallel with the bridge. Before you proceed to this lesson, make sure that you have mastered the previous violin lessons.

In this violin lesson, we are going to learn proper wrist movement. The key to playing with a straight bow is to move your wrist as you glide the bow over the string. At this point there should be two locks. The first lock is between your forearm and upper arm. They should be kept at right angles. The second lock is between your hand and the bow. The bow and your fingers should be constantly at almost a right angle. Your wrist should be kept flexible. Practice playing a straight bow over an open string.

Violin Lessons: Class 10 - Song Sequence 2

After you get the hang of the simple song sequence in the previous lesson, its time to increase the speed or tempo of the song.

As you increase your playing speed of the song, your need to shorten the ‘length’ of each note. For example if you glide 4 inches of your bow over the string to play one note, shorten it by gliding only 2 inches of the bow over the string. This shortened glide will allow you to play faster.

Gradually increase the playing speed of the song sequence. This improves your precision and accuracy over the fingerboard. As your increase the tempo, don’t get carried away and start moving your wrist/elbow too much. Remember to lock the angle of your arm.