A quick question? Ha!
But thanks for it, just the same.
First, as you know by now with me, there are NO absolutes about approach to playing the bass. So where you place your thumb is naturally going to be different that where I or anyone else places the thumb. With that said, there are some generalities that work for most of us. They way *I* place my thumb is: infront of the frog, NOT inside the crook. I like to place the tip of the thumb, slightly angled so that the tip is making contact at about 2:00 O'Clock (slightly around to the right on the tip and thumbnail - which I keep cut short - unlike FR who likes the thumbnail very long). This contact point is a PIVOT POINT for the hand and fingers. The bow's angles are ALLOWED to flex, rotate slightly, around this pivot point, especially when bowing an absolutely straight line across the strings, way out to the tip (down bow), then way back to the frog (up bow). This allows lots of torque toward the tip on down bow with contact point of weight being the first finger, and reduced weight on the first finger when coming up to the frog on up bow. So, yes, allow your hand to "rotate" a bit during this up to down to up motion. The contact of the weight is always through the first finger, with the other fingers guiding the travel and angles, but not used as weight transferring. Anytime you put weight on the pinkie finger, the tip will rise off the string... so this "position" might be best used for spiccato. Legato strokes and spiccato strokes use different weight transfer and therefore holds. I have more angle (arm to bow) for legato than for spiccato by simply changing the angle of approach (to the bow) with my fingers.
Does this make any sense??
Fatigue when playing, or pain in your arm, can be due to so many factors, that I hate to make a suggestion as to what you may be experiencing. It could be hold, angles of approach, the size of your bass, the length of your bow, how much tennis you play, golfing, bowling, etc. It IS good to observe yourself as much as possible via a mirror and/or video to SEE whether what you are doing makes efficient-motion sense. It also could be that you are particularly stressed about it right now. Try different music (like jazz, pop, orother than the playing that gives you the pain, like arpeggios instead of scales) and attitudes, and see if your pain changes or is reduced. Whether pain is "normal" or not: In my opinion, pain is normally your body telling you something! Always listen to pain and "hear" what it is telling you. The subject is usually something like: "You are stressing me too much" or "I can do that angle for awhile but I'm not ready to do it that much..." etc.
I will do a YouTube video on this soon, as it relates to a request that has been made for another right hand technique: pizz to arco - fast.
So look at my channel sometime soon: "PNeher"
Best to you, and next time, don't worry about "quick questions" (none are quick to answer anyway!
)
PN
Quote:
Originally Posted by ekspain  Dear Patrick,
just a quick question about the thumb placement on french bow. When you place your thumb on the stick, is a little bit of flesh (I mean the very tip of thumb) in the frog, or do you keep the thumb completely on the side, with the nail (if you do the nail) on the inside?
Also how far into the hand do you keep the bow, do you feel the constant weight transfer through the first finger. does the stick general not deviate from the first joint of your finger. I try to keep it on the first joint, because I feel like if it moves, the weight doesn't get transfered the same to every stroke, but then sometimes the stick deviates from that point...I find it frustrating, but perhaps its normal?
Last question: If I play lots, on the G-string from frog to tip, say for 5 or 10 minutes, my arm will get tired. I've been focusing on keeping my shoulder relaxed and keeping the weight into the string, even still, my arm gets tired. Is that normal? I also focus on my shoulder and my waist/feet pulling the bow.
Thanks Patrick,
EKspain
realize these questions may sound kinda newbieish.... |
