Getting the Ideal Bow Hold | The Dounis Method

[@virtuoso_violinist]

Some timestamps of the different topics covered in the video 0:17 Picking up a pencil to demonstrate a natural hold 0:47 Holding the bow at the balance point 1:31 Thumb and finger placements 2:01 Resting the bow in the fingertips 2:29 Strengthening the fingers using the bow crawl exercise 3:30 The bow whip 3:54 Checking to see if you have the ideal bow hold 4:28 Maintaining the ideal bow hold

[@grapesofwrath361]

Thank you! Please make more videos?

[@4570george]

Brilliant tutorial, thank you from an older adult beginner.

[@kamrin2501]

I have very bad habit from old teaching... Its hard to correct them but slowly... After reading alot of Dounis method and now ur back to fundamental I really appreciate ur Channel and keep up with ur content.

[@virtuoso_violinist]

You’re welcome, glad to help!

[@englishservices]

Your tutorial videos have been very important for me these past 4 months, when I first started learning to play. Thank you!

[@kalpana666]

Thank you😊 Do make more violin lessons videos

[@annettemoreau4472]

Please upload more videos!

[@nova16ormus]

This vídeo is amazing, thanks You!!

[@virtuoso_violinist]

You’re welcome!

[@mississippisteve626]

Thanks, very valuable explanations. One thing I notice though is I have a tendency to hold the bow with the contact point of the 2nd(middle) finger slightly more toward the pad rather than at the joint line itself. I think I have an instinctive feel that this is a more sensitive or responsive place to hold the bow, but may be somewhat less stable. Otherwise my finger placement is generally as you suggest. Your comments would be appreciated!

[@ariskazis4663]

next video please??! Very nice videos thank you

[@virtuoso_violinist]

Thanks! And the new video is out now

[@kamrin2501]

Thanks

[@hachikogo]

Thank you for sharing these exercises I discovered that I have 0 control on my bow from the frog walk !! Now I can do it better.

[@virtuoso_violinist]

You’re welcome, glad it helped!

[@LittleHarryBrother1]

Nice to see more content from this channel! Keep it up! ^_^ Regarding the bow hold, I have a question: In her book, Valborg Leland states Dounis taught one should be able to hold the bow with just the middle finger and thumb, not only in the middle of the bow, but at the frog! To me, such a task seems to defy natural law. What is your take on this? Best wishes, Andorroti

[@virtuoso_violinist]

Thanks! And that's possible but I personally would have trouble playing like that on the string (if it's part of the requirement)

[@LittleHarryBrother1]

One is not supposed to be able to play like that, but just to hold it in the air. I guess I will start on working on that aspect of the bow hold then. Cheers!

[@douniaabu_elenin5607]

Thank you for the helpful content😊 What country are you from.

[@enealiviu4797]

Why you should avoid resting the bow into the string? Could you tell me more because im confused that all violin teachers say to do that.

[@virtuoso_violinist]

What I meant by not resting the bow on the string is that you should play with the sensation that your bow is moving in the air, because this will allow you to feel that the movement of the bow, fingers and hand are fluid. That feeling allows you to make a more resonant sound, because it’ll make it feel like you’re pulling the sound out of the instrument as opposed to pushing the sound out of the instrument. One way to test if you do have this feeling is by lowering your instrument and seeing if your bow tends to follow the instrument down or if it remains in the air. You can also just bow in the air to get the sensation. And to be a bit more specific, it’s more so the arm weight that you should avoid resting on the string because that causes a more forced sound. The arm should feel like it’s 1/2 an inch above the string and that only the hand brings the bow down to the string level. I know that a lot of teachers teach this differently, and some even encourage bringing the arm weight into the string. But in my experience, that makes more of a forced sound and isn’t actually necessary, even for making a loud sound.

[@enealiviu4797]

@@virtuoso_violinist And one more thing! How do i stop the bow from shaking when i do whole bow martelé from frog to tip and back and get clean string crossings at the frog without the scratchy sound.

[@virtuoso_violinist]

It’s hard for me to say for sure what’s causing it without seeing, but a shaky bow tends to be caused by tension in the hand/arm. One thing to fix this is learning to treat the string like a smooth surface, and to get that feeling you can actually practice on a smooth surface, like the wood of your instrument. So try playing on the wood of the instrument and doing those martele bowings, and then imitate the feeling on the string. And when doing anything at the frog it’s important to feel that the bow is lifting up. This is to prevent the weight of the hand and bow from making a scratching sound. But another thing that you can do to help make your string crossings sound and feel smooth is to practice playing them on the bridge. This will teach you the exact spacing of the strings and the curve of the bridge.

[@enealiviu4797]

@@virtuoso_violinist Wow i never thought of that i've been playing like this for almost 3 years. I am self taught by the way because here in my country Romania teachers do not want to work with adult beginners because they think if you're not playing violin as a child it's already too late to start learning at 27 now being almost 31 years old. And not to mention when i took private lessons they gave me Sevcik and Kreutzer etudes to practice without even telling me how to practice them or what should i do to improve my intonation my tone and my string crossings. And thank you for the tip.

[@virtuoso_violinist]

You’re welcome, and sorry to hear that. If you want more help on specific techniques like string crossings you can also checkout my instagram where I have a lot of tutorials. My username is virtuoso_violinist

[@PeacelandMusic]

Do you also have a website?

[@virtuoso_violinist]

No not yet

[@sam2303]

Thanks