help for a sore thumb
Originally published 7 January 2008. The main takeaway I have, now that an additional 12 years have elapsed, is that while the larger aspects of this post hold true, bow hold is wildly variable. The video I posted about visualization addressed it a bit: the function must lead the form. As it turns out, chasing […]
Does your bow grip work?
Originally published 5 Jan 2008. I really wish I had somehow been able to wrangle the bow in the picture into my life. While the current Sasano bow (I’ve had since my second year at CSUN) is wonderful, I can still remember the miraculous glide of this one. I nicknamed it “Excalibow”. A colleague had […]
the bow
Originally published 18 June 2007. I’m still a bow-centric teacher. Maybe even more so now, even though there are lots of really insightful instructors whose philosophy centers intonation as the first goal. It’s not that I don’t think intonation is important. It’s just that producing a beautiful sound is much harder. Work on both, of […]
hacks for your technique, part 3: getting a tense right pinky to chill out
I wrote about this nearly ten years ago, but it’s stood the test of time for a tense/hyperextended/jerk of a pinky. My school of bow technique asserts that the pinky is largely inert during most actions, and although there are big names (A. Weilerstein and M. Haimovitz to name two…sometimes Rostropovich) who lean on their […]
vintage srcb, part 4: help for a sore thumb
Originally posted 7 January 2008, as part of a series on the bow. Ah, the heady days of cello blogging! This is still an exercise I prescribe to develop the most relaxed bow grip possible, and one I practice, myself. Superstar of the cello blogging world, Gottagopractice kicked off the Bow Month celebration with this […]
Practicing with marteles
Just a quick response to Terry’s question about practicing with martelés in the previous post. My apologies to those of you who get this on RSS or other subscription and got this yesterday with the very Kermit-like still frame before hitting “play”. Hard to believe that the flailing-armed poster frame YouTube generated is an improvement. […]
Weaving your sound
I’ve been sitting here trying to come up with the right opening for this post, and nothing is working. You know that thing that happens with the stuff and the other thing? Well I’ve Once upon a time there was a cellist named Emily who lived in a magicalFourscore and seven years ago our Fathers brought […]
der Bogen
Well, no matter what crazy antics I’m up to , there’s always room for Cello. Technique. *rimshot* Since I’m not sure if this is going to make it into my book, I thought it might be cool to post some pics here. All of the pictures here exemplify at least 80% of what I ask […]
Yes, I am doing more than just advertising my tour…
Not that you’re looking for anything more to complicate your practice, but I did something fun the other day. Try to play through a substantial portion of your current piece (I was sparring with old Saint Saens) using just one part of your bow. First, I stuck in the upper half for the first two […]
Son of Bow Month
I got this fantastic email from our Far and Away friend in the Philippines, who wanted to talk some more bow. Twist my arm! (so long as it’s onto that right index finger, of course) “Ola, Ms.Wright 🙂 My student, Lyndon, complains of pain in his little finger (the photos might be a bit misleading; […]
