John Boulware.com

Hi everybody! We’re back with another article on Bowing Technique. In this particular article, I will be discussing actual bowing examples rather than just theory and technique. These exercises are designed to not only improve bow control and bow speed, but also to broaden your vocabulary of bowing patterns to make fiddling in general a lot easier.

To begin this lesson, you will need to download the bowing exercises by clicking on the link below:

http://www.johnboulware.com/SheetMusic/Bowing.pdf

*Note: You will need Adobe Reader to view this file. Your computer probably has it, but if it does not, you can download it at:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

When you open up the bowing file, you will notice that the different exercises are separated by repeat signs and have numbers assigned to them. The squared-archway symbol indicates to play a down stroke (from the frog to the tip), and the V-shaped symbol indicates to play an upstroke (from the tip to the frog). The curved line leading from one note to another is called a “slur”. It indicates to play all of the included notes on the same bow stroke without stopping, whether it be down or up. The ‘A’ note is intended to be played with the fourth finger, rather than open. This is so we can keep everything all on one string for simplicity. I will go through each of these exercises individually to help explain them all better.

Before I jump right into the individual exercises however, let me say a few things about bowing exercises in general. (This goes for all bowing exercises, not just mine.) They are exactly that: “EXERCISES”. They don’t have to be absolutely perfect every time you play them. You’re never going to need these things in a real musical situation. Exercises are designed only to help you improve and maintain your playing level. They are a means to an end, not an end in themselves, so don’t get frustrated if you can’t get every bit of it just right.

Now for the exercises themselves!

1. These notes are all single stroke quarter notes. Start this exercise very slow. Start downstrokes all the way at the frog, and go all the way to the tip. Start upstrokes all the way at the tip and go all the way to the frog. However, do not stop between notes. Keep this as fluid and consistent as possible. Once you get used to this, you can increase the speed in small increments, but don’t rush anything.
2. Use the same ideas for this one. Long fluid bow strokes, all the way from frog to tip. However, these will have to be much slower to accommodate the four notes on each bow stroke. Be sure to keep your bow speed consistent all the way through the stroke.
3. This one uses a lot of two-note slurs. (You can probably guess why they’re called that.) Still try to use the long fluid strokes on this one. Keep it consistant though; keep each note’s time value the same length. The bow speed will be much faster than the previous exercise.
4. This is one that gives a lot of people trouble. This is called the “shuffle-stroke” and is used in a LOT of fiddle tunes. The basic pattern is “two slurred, two single”. This is one of the harder exercises to get the hang of because it is the only pattern that reverses itself. The first note starts on a downstroke and slurs through the second note. Then the third note is an upstroke, and the measure ends on the fourth note which is a downstroke. This means that the second measure starts on an upstroke, which is not very typical of fiddle music. This note slurs through the second note, then the third note is a downstroke. The last note is an upstroke, allowing the pattern to start over again evenly. On the slurred notes, practice using the full bow, frog to tip. The single notes however, should be only half of the bow, being that they are half of the time value. This exercise may take some time to get a grip on, but keep practicing.
5. This one is sometimes referred to as the “Nashville Shuffle”. It starts with a very fast downstroke, then three slurred notes on an upstroke. The reason the first stroke has to be so fast is because you will need to start the next stroke at the very tip of the bow to get all three of the other notes in it. Make sure to keep the second stroke (the three not slur) slow enough so you don’t run out of bow.
6. This exercise is almost never used in real music, but can be great for improving bow control. It is basically an inverted “Nashville Shuffle”. It starts with a very fast upstroke, followed by a slower three note slur on a downstroke. This exercise will be much harder to control than the last one. The reason is because it takes a lot more work to go against gravity with the fast upstroke, rather than going with gravity on the previous exercise’s fast downstroke.
7. The final exercise in this lesson is used a lot in jazz fiddling. However, even if you don’t play jazz, it is still a priceless exercise. It is similar to exercise three, only the pattern is offset by one note. This one is probably the hardest of all of them if you are not used to it. The reason is because the bow changes occur on the offbeat (2nd and 4th) rather than on the strong beats (1st and 3rd). Don’t forget to use the whole bow on each stroke! There are no real tricks to this one, just a boatload of practicing. Once you get it down though, it is quite useful. This exercise will greatly improve bow control.

That’s all I have for this time. If you have any problems or questions on this, feel free to email me and ask; I’ll be glad to help you.

john@johnboulware.com

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 14th, 2007 at 12:22 am and is filed under Technique. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.