Bonus Lesson 4 - Stop Unwanted Bouncing of the Bow
Posted by Thom on Nov 12, 2008 in All, Howto, Lessons • 5 comments
Kelvin had asked about a particular problem he had with unwanted bouncing of the bow. With his permission I am reposting the video with some tips. 
Overall you have great tone! You are doing fantastic work!
As far as the bouncing bow I can’t tell specifically from the angle of the video, however, my best guess is too much downward pressure and possibly too much angling of the bow. You may or may not have noticed a sudden pitch bend at about :52. This is caused by too much weight causing the string to “collapse” and vibrate at a different pitch.
Some things you do to avoid accidental bouncing of the bow:
1. Lighten up pressure. Think of pushing and pulling the strings left to right rather than downward force on the strings.
2. Be careful not to attack a string change to aggressively. A sudden downward pressure in a string change can cause a bounce
3. Keeping your bow hand strong (but not stiff). My teacher pointed out I had a habit of using my fingers and wrist too much for bow changes which sometimes resulted in a bounce during bow changes.
4. Using a crescent shaped bow for cleaner tone and bow changes.
Hello Thom, first of all I enjoyed this bonus episode as i am also experiencing the similar problem as Kelvin do. thank you for you guidance and tips Thom.
However I am experiencing some problem with the balancing of the bow as i have the tendency to “swing” the bow off the string occasionally as about 2:32, so is there any method for me to keep the consistency of the bow?
Another problem i am experiencing is, i have the tendency to play a double strings instead of a single string, so what are the practices should i do to keep the angle of my bow on a single string while playing?
Thank you.
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Thom reply on November 15, 2008:
Hello Shang!
I’m glad you’re getting some value from these videos!
Could you explain what you mean by swinging the bow off the string?
For the double string problem- look and focus on bow while you play. Notice that the angle of your bow in relation to strings will change depending on what string you are playing. Keep this in mind while you practice playing open strings in various combination with your bow. Keep a long strong sound- don’t rush through it. The purpose is focusing on playing one string at a time. Later you can apply the same exercise to playing two strings at a time.
Hope that helps!
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Shang reply on December 25, 2008:
hello there Thom,
thank you for your advice on the “double string problem” as i have finally master the skill.
as for the “swinging the bow off the string”- while playing, the bow would either move towards the bridge or sometimes onto the bridge. so can you please give some advice on this mistake i made?
thank you
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Thom reply on December 30, 2008:
Shang,
A technique I started off with when I had the problem of a crazy swinging bow was to face a mirror sideways (So I could compare the bridge and the bow) and try to keep them parallel all the way through my up and down bows. Watching yourself and being conscious of your movements will help your brain recognize what it feels like to keep a straighter bow as opposed to wildly going where ever it wants to.
Another technique (used sparingly) is to go ahead and prescribe the symptom: purposely move your bow in an out of control manner as ridiculously as you can, and then proceed to play with a straight bow. Often times purposely using a bad technique will help your brain understand and differentiate between the two.
- Thom
Thanks so much! =). wow, wasn’t expecting a whole video reply; must have taken a lot of effort. much appreciated. and thanks too for the heads-up on the ‘pitch bend’… tend to have that problem from time to time but always thought i just wasn’t bowing straight… didn’t know there are so many factors into it. will go try implementing those suggestion now =)
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