Thanks so much for this! I have played guitar for 54 years and dabbled at banjo and mandolin for almost a decade. For Christmas of 2021 my wife bought be a violin/fiddle. I have played it every day... over 2 years now... usually an hour a day. It has become a passion that has pushed the other instruments aside... for now. But I have never had a lesson. Your videos have been HUGE in helping me learn how to play. Now I know that much of my tone problem is probably that I use way too much rosin! By the way, everyone needs to know that buying access to your library is well worth the cost! Thanks again.
I can't wait to see how this affects my playing. I've been teaching myself with online help for a few weeks, playing daily, and I've used rosin before every time!
This is the best tip I've ever had. I've been teaching myself violin for a few years now (and enjoying it greatly) happily rosining my bow like a maniac three or four times a week. Now after your fantastic advice my bow glides over the strings beautifully, everything sounds much better. I'll always be just a learner but any little improvement is a bonus. Many thanks.
I have always used this technique for judging how much rosin I have on my bow and that is to stroke the hairs ,like strings on a guitar , at the end where the frog is and watch to see how much and how even the dust is being disbursed from the bow. Sometimes I notice that rosin is only coming off towards the tip and a down by the frog so I then use this as a guide to rosin the middle half of the bow .
It depends on rosin quality. Some are more sticky than others. Also climate plays a part. I don't like old rosin sticking around the violin too long. So it's a good habit to clean up all rosin powder on the violin after each practise/performance session. If the rosin does not adhere to the hair too long after extensive rosining, likely bow hair needs a re-hair. As a thumb of rule for myself, I like 'fresh' coat of rosin in every performance, but moderate amount.
I was sent Magic Rosin 3G recently. This stuff is the best I've used. Improved the tone, very little dust. Looks like it will last a long time between rosin-ings.
Please discuss bow tightness. I've heard people talk about putting your little finger under the hair in the middle but every little finger is different size. I watch some players and they look like their bow hair is way to loose but they are professional so I am confused. How will it sound and/or feel when to loose versus to tight? Love this channel. Thank you.
Sorry I got bogged down on my enthused violin practice yesterday evening. ITS BEEN HOT HERE AT MY TRAILER AND FINALLY GOT A GARBAGE CAN INSTALLED AFTER TWO YEARS OF NEEDING ONE. SO JUST THIS AFTERNOON I GOT ROUND TO SITTING LOWER ON THE BOW. I PLAYED THE THEME TO HOGANS HEROS. NOT SURE YET IF TONE QUALITY REALLY IMPROVED OR NOT. I DID WHITNESS A LOWER STANCE OF MY WRIST ON THE BOW. I WAS AT LEAST ABLE TO PICTURE A LOWER WRIST JOINT INMY MINDS EYE. I WILL CONTINUE TO WORK AT IT. THANK YOU FOR VERY SUCCINCT DIRECTIONS, NOW THE BALL IS IN MY COURT. LATTER, PAST MY BED TIME. GOOD EVENING.
That was interesting! I'm new to fiddling - took it up just over a year ago - but I played bass viol long ago, so right or wrong, I think of rosining from the standpoint of "per hours played" rather than by a calendar. Obviously that doesn't solve for other variables, but it seems to work. That said, I'm always struck by the old videos of Tommy Jarrell tearing it up like the master fiddler he was, with a mound of rosin clearly visible under his strings! 😅
Interesting. I rosin my bow every time I do a gig, but often wonder if it’s needed or not. I get loads of white dust under my strings and it always looks messy and also my sound is quite harsh…..I presume this is because of too much rosin! Helpful thank,you.
The absolute wrong answer, but when I was working with a trio, I would rosin up whenever I wanted to take a minute to read a section of music or just stall a bit while I figured out what I had done wrong. Oh well.. (grin)
Thank you for the info but isn't the amount of rosin applied each time as significant as how often you apply it? I prefer as little rosin as possible to get the tone I like - which usually means about three or four light swipes of the whole bow. I'll play until I notice the bow slipping or the tone becoming "glassy". How often depends on how much I'm playing but it's usually days to a week. I also really dislike removing caked-on rosin from strings and, while I'm not allergic, I sometimes sneeze after applying too much rosin. It sounds like you also prefer less rosin than more but, to apply it every three weeks, I'm curious as to how much you put on at a time.
The whole idea here is to apply as needed, and to not be excessive with it. 3-4 swipes is about right, so it sounds like you’re on the right track! My bow tends to hold rosin pretty well, so I use about the same amount as you. The only time one would need to use a bit more than that is if the bow hair was brand new.
Honestly I am not sure how often I Rosin, I feel like I have gone a couple of months between Rosin applications- but I am a working adult who practices maybe 20 mins a day. I dunno I just rosin when I feel like the sound I am producing seems off and no matter what I do I can’t really change it- I rosin and it takes care of it. I probably should do it more often.. 😂
i use to every day until i noticed that you didn’t no where near that much. do i scaled it back to maybe weekly or less. I’m gonna sound like crap anyway.
