Stuck in a scale rut? Join me for a whole month’s worth of 31 different ways to approach scales. New posts go up every day in January 2023. Start from Day 1 here.
After doing scales at the frog, the middle, and the tip over the past three days, today was the day to put them all together – the whole enchilada – and do scales with a full bow on each note.
This is a nice way to put all the observations of the past few days together: feeling the elbow moving freely during the middle of the bow, feeling the shoulder joint moving at the tip and frog, noticing the forearm rotation adding weight at the tip, and watching the fingers assist with the bow change at the frog.
But today wasn’t only about review. In addition, this was a chance to:
make sure to use the full bow (it’s easy to cheat by an inch here, and inch there ... but much less valuable that way!)
practice moving the bow quickly
Why do this one?
If you’ve done the previous three days (Day 20, Day 21, Day 22), then this is a really helpful way to bring them all together. But even if you skipped those, this is a great way to practice making full use of the bow, and moving it quickly while keeping it under control. It also sets us up for what I have planned tomorrow!
The Details
Play a scale in whole notes, using a full bow on each note. Then play it in half notes, keeping the same tempo and still using a full bow on each note. (In other words, your bow will move twice as fast.) Then do the same with quarter notes, still using a full bow on each.
The same approach works on arpeggios and double stops, too. But only do as much as you have the patience and concentration to do well.
A few suggestions:
Whether you do these with or without the metronome, be sure to keep the same tempo across the changes in rhythmic value.
The given metronome number is just a suggestion. You should adjust the tempo to suit your level. Just remember to balance how fast whole bows on the quarter notes will be with how slow whole bows on the whole notes will be.
If you’ve tried today’s scales, I’d love to know what your experience was like! Just post a comment below.
Do this in any key, with your usual fingerings.
tomorrow:
I’m a violinist and private teacher in the Chicago area, and in a previous musical life I was in a professional string quartet. Teaching violin and chamber music are dear to my heart. Send me a note or leave a comment on a post — I’d love to hear from you.
If you’ve tried today’s scales, I’d love to know what your experience was like! Just post a comment below.