Sevcik

[Anon2962]

I recently began practicing this bowing technique book - alot - I think these exercieses are great, but need alot of time I'm using Neil Tarlton's edition, which is excellent.

I am interested to know if many people here use Sevcik, and your opinions on it?

Also, if anyone's got any advice on how to maintain an even sound without changing contact point for exercise 2 (or maybe its 3 - dont have the book here - the one where you have metronome at 72 and play, using full bow, semibreve [whole] followed by crotchet [quarter note] using full bow), I'd like to hear from you! I've been trying to take the weight out for the crotchet, and while I can just about keep the volume the same, the tone is rubbish.

[classicalband]

i use it.
i have hal robinson's "strokin" which is a great transcription of the exercises. many life times worth of studies.

i also have " Sevcik for bass" by abe luboff
20 variations with commentary.

another great bow/all around ass kicking study is galamian's violin tech. book arranged an edited for cello (bass clef) by hans jorgen jensen.
the scale exercises with the bowing and rhythm patterns are amazing.

cb

[bdengler]

Originally Posted by classicalband

i use it.
i have hal robinson's "strokin" which is a great transcription of the exercises. many life times worth of studies.

i also have " Sevcik for bass" by abe luboff
20 variations with commentary.

another great bow/all around ass kicking study is galamian's violin tech. book arranged an edited for cello (bass clef) by hans jorgen jensen.
the scale exercises with the bowing and rhythm patterns are amazing.

cb

Wow. My Jazz teacher wanted me to use Sevcik but I didn't even know where to begin to look. Where did you find Sevcik for Bass by Abe Luboss, and Hal Robinson's "strokin'?"

Brian

[Anon2962]

Neil Tarlton's edition (he's principal bass of the philharmonia in london, and teaches in the Royal College) is available to order online from the link in an earlier post. It's a really great transcription, and has recieved excellent reviews.

[Johnny L]

Originally Posted by maccarthyconor

I've been trying to take the weight out for the crotchet, and while I can just about keep the volume the same, the tone is rubbish.

Cool, man, great topic!

Remember that there are 3 factors at play: your bowspeed, the weight of the bow on the strings, and its placement relative to the bridge.

If you have to move the bow fast to make the change and have enough bow get the full whole note duration, then its placement and weight are your variables. You already understand that you can pull some weight off, but experiment with moving your bow up the string towards the fingerboard too and see if that does anything for you too.

Sure this maneuver will affect the tone too but that's what makes this exercise so much fun. This is one of those simple exercises that gets to be a lifetime exercise BTW. It's all about getting you used to leveraging those 3 factors in various combinations to have a great sound all the time.

There may also the option of taking the bow off the string completely and setting it back on the string rather than keeping it in contact with the string all the time...but that's a different skill and you may be directed to another exercise to work on getting that one down I don't know.