The Bow Arm PART 1

For violin I have to do a series of exercises to warm-up my bow arm, which is the right hand. These exercises are 'bow circles', and 'spiders'. The 'bow circle' and the 'spiders' help my arm to be warm and ready to play fast or slow depending on the song that I play. Galamian says there are four fundamentals for the bow arm/right hand. They are (1) the system of springs; (2) holding the bow; (3) the physical motions of the arm, hand, and fingers, and lastly, (4) the drawing of the straight stroke, (44). The first fundamental; the system of springs, is movements that react in the same way as mechanical springs. If you move the bow fast enough you should have a reaction like when you bounce a ball.

The second fundamental is: holding the bow. When holding the bow you have your hands positioned like a fox; put your thumb under the stick, and the rest of your fingers over the stick. Your pointer finger just lays flat but separate from the other fingers; Your pinky sits on top of the stick.
                                
When I was learning how to hold the bow I was told a story that went with it. Your thumb is the ticking crocodile waiting for another taste of the Captain; your pointer finger is Captain Hook far away from everyone; your middle and ring finger are Wendy and Peter Pan because they are so close; and your pinky is Tinker Bell sitting on her perch near Wendy and Pan. The third fundamental is: The Physical motion of the hand. The movements are the vertical motion and the horizontal motion. The vertical motion is when "the fingers, and thumb, in combination, can move in a way that will raise and lower the bow vertically" (48).

The horizontal motion is when "the fingers and thumb can move the bow in the lengthwise direction of the stick and can therefore execute short, regular bow strokes of own accord" (48).

The last fundamental is: Drawing the straight bow stoke. Galamian says "The straight bow stoke from fog to tip is the foundation of the entire bowing technique"...The chief problem is the form of a straight line does not come naturally to the members of the human body (51). There are three different stages to the straight bow stroke, they are: the triangle which is "when the bow is set on the strings at the very frog, a triangle is formed by the arm and instrument" (51). The square which is "when the bow is set on the strings at approximately the middle [which then forms a square]" (52). The last is; the point which is "when the bow is set on the strings at the tip, the right arm is then stretched out nearly straight" (52).

TRIANGLE

SQUARE

POINT

What part of the right hand do you think is the most important? The system of springs, the holding of the bow, the physical motion of the hand, or the drawing of the straight bow stroke?

 Galamian, Ivan. "Ivan Galamian: A Biographical Sketch." Principles of Violin:
     Playing & Teaching. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2013.
     vii-108. Rpt. in Ivan Galamian: A Biographical Sketch. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N.
     pag. Print.