Bowing the E string?

[davegr8house]

Hello all,
Well my lessons are going real well and my teacher is pleased with my progress. The lessons and re-learning the bass is at times a headach but I`m loving every minute of it.....but. I am useing a German Bow and very pleased with it except I`m having trouble bowing the E string. I know not seeing me play you cannot tell me my reason but my teacher says I`m doing fine but I cant seem to bow it clean. My teacher said I was droping my right shoulder when on the E string. He had me raise the endpin so I would have more bend in my elbow to help pervent my shoulder problem.
When bowing the E my hand is almost touching my body. My wrist it locked and I keep striking the A string. So, my question is........Is this common with the German Bow? Any "rule of thumb" for bowing the E with a German Bow? I thank you for any help you can provide. Have a good day.
Dave


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If the world didn`t suck we would all fall off

[Wil Davis]

Just "roll" the bass outwards slightly to give you room to reach the low "E". It's more difficult on a bass with "violin corners", which is one of the disadvantages of having them, even though they do look rather nice.

Er, um - I don't think the wrist should be locked - my teacher always advocates a nice smooth "fluid" motion, which includes wrist and fingers...

I think the good Dr. Don should be able to help here...

- Wil

[Don Higdon]

It's normal to have to do some slight shifting of body position to bow on the E string with a german hold bow. I presume you're playing standing, not sitting on a stool. You can lessen the problem by keeping the bass and yourself erect.

[davegr8house]

Hello,
Thanks for the advice. I do play standing up but I read to stand up straight, have the bass stand up straight holding it in the middle of the neck with your left hand and then bring the bass to you. I`m willing to change my stance to correct a problem this early in my learning. I also kinda lean on my left leg. I have my weekly lesson tonight and I`ll talk to my teacher more about this. I guess I need to stress this more than I have. You guys know alot more about this than I do and Wil says to roll the bass and Don says to shift the body a little. I guess both are O.K. just whatever works for me.
Thank you for your input.
Dave


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If the world didn`t suck we would all fall off

[Don Higdon]

We're not talking about major adjustments here; it's all kind of subtle. You'll do fine.