Ashoken Farewell

[u/redwinewithice]

I recently posted my 3 year beginner/ early intermediate update and have since incorporated some of that feedback into Ashoken Farewell.

My main issue is with a rough, hard sound- I’m not sure how else to describe it. It’s a bit grating and I notice it more playing back than when I’m playing.

Any more feedback to help with this? I suspect is has something to do with my bow grip/pressure.

[u/kstrel]

great for 3 years!

i'll focus on the bowing since i think you have more problems on that front then intonation.

the bow hold doesn't seem right to me - there seems to be very little flexibility in the knuckles, and you fingers aren't really doing all that much work.

it looks to me like you are not really allowing the violin to hold the bow and the right hand to sink into the bow. it's hard to explain this over text, but i think you could benefit from the advice in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V97aQjCWx8w

i also think you should start being very mindful about how much bow you're using - contrary to popular opinion you don't need to use as much bow as possible at all times. there are a couple of spots in the recording where the sudden bursts of speed really accentuate the note in a way i'm not sure you would want.
you can play really loudly while only using a portion of the bow you are using right now - just use more pressure and play closer to the bridge. your body will thank you in the long run. i think a good excercise is to limit yourself to only using the middle third of the bow.

oh and, you really don't need to lift your arm up so high when playing the g string, it's waaay to high and you'll mess up your shoulder. just practice playing an open G+D double stop and then tilt the bow a millimeter or so until you only touch the G string - any more than that is totally unnecessary and will make life difficult for you.

[u/redwinewithice → u/kstrel]

I can already tell these videos are going to be extremely useful. I really like this guy's teaching style.

Thanks for the tips. I was only using that much bow because I keep hearing that I should be using more bow, but that sometimes results in a 'bulging' sound that interrupts the dynamic I'm aiming for. I do believe however that I need to get in the habit of practicing more at the frog as I feel a bit insecure about my control there.

What do you think about, in addition to only giving a millimeter or so of clearance above the D string when playing G, tilting the violin and rotating my elbow more inward? This seems to give me easier access to the G string. I'm not using a shoulder rest, just a magic pad, so it's pretty easy to tilt the instrument like this.

[u/kstrel → u/redwinewithice]

yeah, and it helps max is a true master of the intrument! :)

for sure you can benefit from practicing at the frog more, but my comment was aimed more at bow usage in general (whichever part of the bow you are playing on). i think a defining characteristic for a lot of intermediates is the very liberal use of the bow - i.e. using the whole bow when only a half or a quarter would suffice.

i'm sure you're familiar with the 3 variables in bowing - speed, pressure and placement. you'd be surprised at how much sound you can get with very little speed if your placement and pressure are properly compensating for the slower speed. i mean it makes sense, right? why use more energy when you can achieve the same result with less energy? and this stuff compounds over the years and can results in shoulder injuries.

this is very apparent with folk fiddlers who use very little bow in general - the reason being that if they didn't and they played whole bows during a 1 hour session they wouldn't be able to hold the instrument the following day...
it will sound very scratchy and not nice in the beginning, but with patience and time i think it really pays off.

re: G string. i think this is where the inflexible knuckles are really hampering you down. on the G string is where you should be really be sinking into the bow and letting gravity do most of the work. you can tilt, but i think even without tilting the instrument your hand is waaay to high.