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Need to pay my compliments. Both your content and its delivery are so practical and inviting to try that I already see myself spending the summer practicing with your tips while my poor teacher will reinstate his peace of mind during holidays. Thanks for your work.
hey RobLandes thanks for the tips on my violin skills after watching this. I struggle to come back to play violin after stopping for 2 years. I am learning again, trying my best to where i should be and continuing my violin to play.
Yes! Most important thing is to have one small goal for your practice session a day. Once you have your instrument out you’ll feel motivated to practice more.
The bow grip that you are recommending is the Russian bow grip. The one that you say in this video is a mistake is the Franco Belgian bow grip. The Franco Belgian bow grip is the one that's much more widely used. And I would say it produces a full bodied very loud strong sound when done correctly.
Believe it or not, I actually go between the two grips depending on what piece I’m playing. I feel the Russian grip gives me an edge on fast up bow staccato.
Every great violinist known for having huge resonant sound used a Russian bow grip. Violinists today are enhanced with reverb and other electronics. You will not find any that compare with Oistrach, Abram Shtern, Heifetz, Seidel (biggest sound), or any other Auer student. For females watch Camilla Wicks play with her huge sound and Russian bow hold and using lots of bow! Ray Chen, Hillary Hahn? Props to them but their names can't be used in the same sentence as having big, luscious sound. If you asked the great Itzhak Perlman to compare his sound to Heifetz, he would laugh at you. Great bow hold by Rob ....but wish he could get rid of that railroad track under his fiddle.
@@ElsweyrDiego No, he uses Belgian. Looks like a crab holding the bow. He can do fantastic bowing tricks but not close to a thick juicy sound. He said he had lots of difficulty getting a decent sound out of the Heifetz/Dolphin Strad until he found a modern sent to strings that made it work. Watch Abram Shtern play and see the huge difference.
@@shvartzeray chen literally says he uses a russian bow hold. there are benefits to the russian hold but the franco belgian is generally considered to be better overall. the majority of soloists today use franco belgian, and it’s not for no reason. on a responsive instrument and bow the extra ability to press from the russian hold becomes unnecessary. check out phillips hirschhorn’s sauret cadenza for an example of what i mean. huge sound from a franco belgian hold, barely pressing. the biggest sound comes from intonation and letting the instrument resonate, not pressing hard ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LUKxJlsKkkc.htmlsi=77bTLU8o-P2WCxX1
Game changer! Thanks Rob. I was thinking that it was time to buy a new instrument and it may still be time to think of an upgrade, but fixing technical issues is way easier on the pocketbook than getting a brand new instrument! I found practicing Wohlfahrt #9 slowly helped to understand the concept of left arm placement.
I'm glad you started this channel. Do you take topic requests? If so, would LOVE to know more about your bow hold - your wrist is super high. Not sure if that's because you have long arms or if the bow hold is different than "standard."
Yes! It’s closer to the Russian school of bowholds than the standard Franco-Belgian hold. I’ve done both for a decade each and much prefer my current bowhold because I get a richer tone and 0 shake in my bow, even when I’m nervous. I’ll do a video on it sometime!
For the thumb squeezing tip, a good way to think about it is to not let the thumb grab the violin, but instead let the violin rest between the thumb and index finger If that makes any sense. Hold out the two fingers and rest the violin between the first joint on the thumb and the base joint of the index finger. You shouldn't need to use force, just hold out the fingers and the violin will automatically sit there.
Yes! I start little ones with the thumb and first finger being part of a “tree” and a little bird lands there and builds a nest. Eventually the violin bird comes to sit in the “tree”. Yes, I’m Suzuki and have loved starting students with as much correct technique as possible! Great video! I’ll be sending to my older students! Thanks!
The “shallow” bow grip is fine, it keeps your wrist lower which is good. You can still transfer arm weight. The stick will fall between the 2nd and 3rd joint or right in the 3rd joint. The deeper bow hold could cause pushing down into the string. Teaching 45 yrs
This was so helpful! Might I suggest you do a video on how much the bow should be rotated in relationship to the strings. For example, (as a self taught player), I used to have the bow hairs moving across the strings in a strict 90 degree angle to the strings. From every violinist worth their salt, I see that is a mistake. The bow should be rotated to catch the edge of the horse hairs, not the flat surface created by the bow hairs. I've never seen a violin teacher explain this "rotational angle" (I made up that term) of the bow as it draws across the strings. Please explain this. 😊
Hi Rob, thanks a lot for these suggestions! I have a lot of tension with my bow and the "dead arm" example helps me a lot, however the test you do at 7:48, I'm having trouble understanding what you're actually testing, what movement do you do to check that we're not using our arm but rather resting on the violin? Thank you very much :)
I’m a skinny violin learner and really benefited from your suggestions! I just find it very difficult/awkward to place my full bowarm weight on the violin… am I missing something … seems just too much weight for n the strings and scratchy 😅
I may do another video to explain further. This is an initial exercise to begin feeling how you get a large tone. One thing I’d recommend for you is to make sure you have a quick bow stroke when you start learning, because if you have full arm weight and a super slow bow, you will certainly have too much scratch. A little bit is fine though to help you find your limit.
Hi! Do you have any recommendations for a violin mute? I've been looking but I'm not sure which ones are good (p.s. love your content and keep up the good work!)
Thanks! Yes, my favorite mutes are here: www.amazon.com/shop/roblandes/list/1CVY7ADKIY2X5?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_aipsflist_aipsfroblandes_W8TF8YQS3264DXRFSW0S&language=en_US
Why is your bow so taught... is it supposed to be like that? I was told it should be like pencil width between the stick and the hair. Does it just depend on the bow?
Ni siquiera lo intento...buena suerte con su negocio de creer que voy hacer algo...voy pa Suiza a buscar dignty exit...es decir un suicidio asistido que me impida pensar mas en el daño que Sofia me causo y el dolor de estos cuatro años últimos.
can you make a video wether or not you should use shoulder rest or not, and how it either affect or damage the violin sound quality and the body itself, thank you.
Thanks for the tips! They came at the perfect time because i'm starting to learn violin. Question: How soon can i start learning vibrato? It's most likely too early for me, but violin doesn't sound very good without it😄
If you can play in tune and have a decent tone, you can begin vibrato training. If you don’t have those first two things down, vibrato won’t be any help. I’m releasing a vibrato tutorial for you in a few weeks!
I got some Romanian violin from the 1980 as a very surprising gift from a coworker. I call it the communist. I am not good at all. But now I am a little better because I feel my fourth finger is a bit more consistent. I just put my left elbow very very much more in front of me. Time to go noodling again.
I don’t understand something, am i supposed to be able to play the notes without my thumb being on the neck? Because once i try to move it away during the exercise i find it difficult to play the notes, and it starts to putting pressure on my chin, is that the correct way it should work? (I am a beginner)
You shouldn’t be able to play a whole piece without the thumb, the object is to let your left hand feel it is possible to play a passage without thumb. When you bring the thumb back it should be very light on the neck. And yes for this exercise it’s normal to feel some extra pressure on your chin.
Well.. the bow grip is a little subjective in that there are two primary "camps", one for the Russian style, as you demonstrate vs the Franco-Belgian style, like Perlman's.
@@RobLandesTeaches Oh no, you got injured? Personally, I don't play the violin, unless forced... my primary is Viola. The impression I get from the Russian style hold is that it allows for greater and more immediate control of the bow weight. In my experience of the FB hold, it provides a better pull to the core of the strings and promotes bow velocity and placement as primary means to change dynamics as opposed to changing the applied weight of the right arm (or how much it's relaxed rather). With a more sluggish response from our strings, violists usually just want to relax and sink in. I love the perspective. I find that having a wide perspective is invaluable to really navigating the nuances of music.
I am a violist, any tips on 2nd and 1st finger closeness, as I struggle to get my 2nd close to my 1st for example FSharp to F Natural , B natural to B flat ETC I can do this but not without twisting my hand into a sort of vice grip.
I feel like this video just complies all 5 struggles im facing now to create a nice tone. Has he been watching me? Lol. These are all exercises that my teacher has trying to teach me
