"The Drag Racer" (BOW DIRECTION Intro) ~Open String Exercise II

[@davidellery4036]

Thank you so much for your videos, and particularly your journey through Sevcik, which I'm finding very useful. I stumbled upon your open string videos this morning...again very thought provoking. May I make a couple of comments on them? First: I think it's relevant to mention that the cello itself is likely to be at a slightly different angle to the player according to which string he or she is playing on. For example, the opening of Brahms E minor the cello would want to be more angled towards the player's lhs for the opening. For the second sentence, starting on the middle C, the cellist will swivel the cello towards the rhs for easier access of the bow arm to the A string. I'm very impressed that you can keep your bow going for 32 seconds on an open string! I remember Joan Dickson using the "motorway" metaphor for developing control of the three variables (or parameters, I think you called them). The important thing that you might have mentioned is that when you are playing on a shorter string the "motorway" gets narrower! So all the variables (point of contact, speed and arm weight into string) are themselves infinitely variable. The search for the sound is what needs to be the fundamental guide..which I think is what Pleeth says in his book. Forgive me for being so long-winded!

[@sophiewebber9115]

Hi David, I'm so glad the Sevcik videos are proving useful to you, and thanks so much for the thoughtful response and excellent points about playing open strings! I absolutely agree about changing the angle of the cello a little depending on which string you are playing on (something which can be particularly helpful for the outer strings, of course, such as in the Brahms e minor example you cite). I also love your comments about the "search for the sound" being the ultimate guide. Yes, always! I touched on the variables you mention in my recent video on tone production, which focuses on ways to project when still playing at a "piano" dynamic (kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3arc6edp6ednrc), but I would like to also make a separate video soon experimenting with these variables...

[@silver.foxx.x]

Super Tips, thank you!

[@sophiewebber9115]

Thank you!! Please feel free to reach out with comments/questions anytime! :)

[@silver.foxx.x]

@@sophiewebber9115 Maybe Staccato Bowing in Baroque-Music :-)