Developing a left-handed student's RH French bow use

[David Potts]

Hi there,

I have taken on a young student who needs to develop her bowing skills ASAP. The one question I did not ask when we interviewed was" Are you LH or RH?" She already plays the violin at a significantly higher level of proficiency with RH bow. Her LH works well on the neck.

In the few lessons so far I have been trying to establish a slightly different more flexible French bow hold and definitely different sequence of upper and lower arm movements to draw the bow at 90 degrees, etc, etc. She has previously been accepting a stiff bow hold and large arm movements from the shoulder that draw the bow in circles, move the contact point too much and "scrub" the sound (slide the bow over the string, not setting it in full motion).

I get some idea of how a Leftie feels if I try to bow using my LH. Simple up and down bows with good note starts are suddenly a challenge, let alone any of the strokes and nuances that we are asked to use.

Do any of you have suggestions to share about how to sensitize, strengthen, gain more control over, develop expression with the RH bow and Arm for the Leftie?

Cheers...

DP

[neilG]

If she is proficient on the violin, I'm curious as to why some of that skill doesn't translate to the bass. Of course the hold is different, but the mechanics are similar. Pretty much everything a violinist does with the bow is done by bassist, the difference being the amplitude of the motion. Maybe she needs to analyze the motion on the violin more to apply it to the bass.

[David Potts]

neilG, you have just reminded me that I should ask her to play the violin for me. As part of my semi-retirement income I examine violin, viola, cello and bass from Preliminary to 8th. Grade in our Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) system so I see lots of bow arms!! I see her again tomorrow and will report further.

Thanks

DP

[powerbass]

I am a beginner studying with a pro bassist, learning the bow has been a challenge. My teacher stresses more of a small wrist/hand movement as opposed to a stiff shoulder motion. So I have created my own exercises with a metronome using only open strings. I go from whole notes, to half, quarter, eighths, triplet, sixteenths then back down again. I do these patterns on single strings then crossing string patterns, there are many variations. The whole time I am working on a horizontal bow position with a relaxed shoulder, light grasp of the bow and small wrist motion especially for the faster patterns. I also work on using the whole bow from frog to tip for whole notes, half notes are half the bow length etc. I also work from bow tip to center to develop the strength of my wrist and increase my dexterity with this part of the bow. All these exercises take 15 minutes, I do these before scale practice or reading etc.

[Dbass926]

As it happens, I am left handed and play the bass with normal handedness. In fact, my teachers Ed Barker, Rob Kesselman, and Hal Robinson have all been left handed and are exceptional bass players. I believe that each hand has a burden to bear in playing a stringed instrument, and at some point both hands will require more or less the same degree of subtlety and nuance to achieve excellence. In all students, one dominant hand is paired with one subordinate hand. I think our best pedagogy just treats both hands as skills we acquire. Maybe what you see as a LH advantage, you could instead view as an opportunity to draw a parallel. She may not realize that the degree to which she focuses on her LH can be used on her RH. This problem could be easily solved by giving her some vocabulary to express what she is doing with the bow. A few strokes thoroughly explained can shift her focus from her strengths onto her weaknesses, even subconsciously.

[JoeyNaeger]

Spend a couple minutes each lesson doing guided bowing. Have the student place their bow hold on the bow, grab the screw with one hand, and grab their wrist with the other. Push and pull the bow across the string with appropriate wrist and elbow motions while they relax and let you do all the work. Over time(as in many months) they will start to internalize these motions. Talking about the problem with them rarely helps.

[jallenbass]

I've had a few left handed students and none of them had any trouble with the bow that I can remember. Their left hand moved along nicely though.

[SteveFreides]

Originally Posted by David Potts

I have taken on a young student who needs to develop her bowing skills ASAP. The one question I did not ask when we interviewed was" Are you LH or RH?" She already plays the violin at a significantly higher level of proficiency with RH bow. Her LH works well on the neck.

In the few lessons so far I have been trying to establish a slightly different more flexible French bow hold and definitely different sequence of upper and lower arm movements to draw the bow at 90 degrees, etc, etc. She has previously been accepting a stiff bow hold and large arm movements from the shoulder that draw the bow in circles, move the contact point too much and "scrub" the sound (slide the bow over the string, not setting it in full motion).

There's a "same but different" issue here. My guess is that you're going to find it very difficult, even impossible, to get her to French bow on double bass differently than she French bows on violin.

I see two choices. One is that you get in touch with her violin teacher and the two of you get on the same page about what you're trying to change in her bowing technique.

The other is that you have her bow German on the double bass - it would give her a fresh start and, although it's still bowing, of course, it's more different and, in this case, more different might work in your favor.

Last but not least, I don't think there's anything leftie/rightie in this issue.

-S-