Bows
In an effort to make sure that students are not practicing with the bow prematurely, and thus developing bad habits that take much longer to break and re-learn, I collect all student bows during the first few weeks of class. I label each bow with your child’s name and school and have them safely stored in the Orchestra room at East. When we are ready to begin putting bow holds on the bow and getting bow on string, I will give students their bow back. Cello and Bass students who did not have their home instrument at school did not turn in their bows. If you are the parent of a cello or bass student (personal instrument kept at home) please either take special care to make sure that your student is not practicing with it at home, or feel free to keep it safe in a closet or cabinet until we are ready for it. If you prefer, they can bring the bow to school to give to me.
There are a few reasons that I collect bows, but I wanted to share with you the most important ones:
Steps necessary before students are ready to put bow-hold on the bow and bow-to-string:
When will we use the bow??
I will be giving students a checklist to keep track of their progress towards putting bow-on-string. We will use this to track assessments and keep them focused on progressing towards the goal of using the bow with their instrument. Hopefully, this will only take us a few weeks to accomplish. The more that students work diligently at home the faster we will be able to progress as a class.
There are a few reasons that I collect bows, but I wanted to share with you the most important ones:
- We will be taking many baby steps to building the hand shape for the bow hold. This takes fine motor skills and a lot of “muscle memory”. It is my goal for students to be comfortable with a pencil bow hold before moving on to a dowel rod, which we will use to practice the arm motion of the bow stroke along with the bow hold, then finally progressing to using the bow itself. There are many fine and gross motor skills involved with the right arm that take time to develop. If a student moves to the bow too quickly, they are not prepared for the weight of the bow and their hand and arm build “bad habits” that take a lot of time and focus to correct. This can build a lot of frustration for students because the “bad habits” end up creating road blocks for their development later on, making them feel less successful on the instrument and unhappy with their experience.
- Because we are going step-by-step with instruction before putting bow-on-string, chances of students damaging the bow or instrument by using bow incorrectly are much higher. For the safety of the bow and to prolong the quality of the hair on the bow, I find it to be beneficial to collect bows and re-distribute when we are ready to use them.
Steps necessary before students are ready to put bow-hold on the bow and bow-to-string:
- Finger exercises, coordination & muscle development
- Bow hold development on the pencil - smaller than the bow and very light, allows hand to begin developing "muscle memory" and develop hand shape for the bow hold
- Exercises with pencil bow hold - develop finger flexibility and wrist movement
- Bow hold on dowel rod - transfer bow hold to thicker piece of wood with more weight. Begin in the middle and then transfer to end of the stick
- Bow arm motion development with dowel rod - practicing on shoulder with PVC pipe or cardboard toilet paper cord. Learn the direction of the bow stroke and mechanics of the arm (elbow & wrist movement).
- Basic rhythms with dowel rod - learn how to move the arm in time while practicing proper bow hold and arm mechanics
- Dowel rod with instrument - using a cardboard toilet paper tube attached to the strings with a rubber band, practicing bow hold and arm mechanics to develop bow arm with the instrument. Also begin to coordinate left hand finger placement with bow arm motion.
- During this process, the left hand placement and technique is being developed independent of the bow arm development in order to develop good technique for successful playing.
- Begin practicing bow hold on balance point of the bow.
- Begin practicing placement of bow on strings
- Practice with the bow and cardboard tube on the instrument - learn to balance the weight of the bow and reinforce correct bow hold and arm mechanics
- Rhythms on open strings!! - reinforce bow hold and arm mechanics with bow-on-string
- Tone development - learn how to apply weight to the bow to get a smooth, ringing sound from the instrument
When will we use the bow??
I will be giving students a checklist to keep track of their progress towards putting bow-on-string. We will use this to track assessments and keep them focused on progressing towards the goal of using the bow with their instrument. Hopefully, this will only take us a few weeks to accomplish. The more that students work diligently at home the faster we will be able to progress as a class.