Posted by FireNFiddl on Thursday, April 18, 2013
So since i'm a beginner, i'm not sure what is making my bow do a little jumpity jump near the frog. I thought it might be lack of rosin but it's still jumping. Is it the bow or am i doing something in the technique?
I was thinking it might be applied pressure?
Any thoughts
2 comments on “there's a wiggly spot on my bow”
boxbow Says:
Thursday, April 18, 2013 @1:48:00 PM
I'm very familiar with the jumpitty jump thing at the frog. For the very first time, I now know why they call it a frog. I never put that one together before. I get it very rarely these days. A number of things are different, some of which may explain why. First, my bowing hand is lighter. Having used hand and power tools every day all day for many years, it's hard to lighten up, but that's what I've done. It took a few years. I used to tighten my bow too much to compensate for the excess pressure, so I wouldn't crush hairs against the stick. That's how bad it was. Then I softened the tension to force myself to lighten up. Then there was the tension in the fiddler. The bow is a lousy shock absorber, really, and it's not there to be one. The alternative is to smooth out all motion from the spine to the cuticle. Without a drill sergeant, it took me a lo-o-o-o-ong time to overcome that. Do you sense a pattern here? I had a game. I still try it sometimes. How lightly can you draw the bow and still get a recognizable musical tone? It's also a useful game for the left hand, but for other faults. The last thing was that the jumpitty jump thing (love the terminology, really I do) was at its worst when playing in public, when I would get tensed up all over, just from playing out instead of hidden away in the woodshed. You'll beat it with time, as you start to compensate for the changing bow orientation as you play. There are some very well thought out discussions here in the forums, concerning the incredibly complex movements taking place simultaneously in every joint in your bowing arm. You've been playing long enough now to know just how complex a path that must be for your arm to follow in every joint. Think of the bow in two positions. First, with the tip resting on a string and the frog supported in you right hand. Second, with the frog at or near the contact point with the string. In this second position, now, you've got all of that stick hanging way out over your fiddle. Your hand isn't just a hanger any more. It's easy to just push down on the frog to keep the tip up where you want it. The result is lots of pressure on the contact point. The alternative is to hold the bow in alignment with your fingers, carry the weight with your arm, and play a tune at the same time. Smile, you're a fiddler!
boxbow Says:
Thursday, April 18, 2013 @1:48:45 PM
sorry, don't know what I did
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