Bowing is practised with slow strokes
and then faster, playing semi-quavers
(Move your arrow/cursor onto
the picture to show the controls
for
starting the video.)
This can be done with a doodlebow as shown here
One of the problems of practising
with a real bow
in the early stages,
is the tendency of pupils to grip the
bow too tightly to overcome the
leverage exerted by the bow in the
horizontal position.
This can be overcome somewhat by
holding the bow vertically, reducing
leverage - not the usual bow position!
However, using the doodlebow, there is no need to grip tightly. The leverage is minimal and these exercises can be done more realistically in the normal horizontal plane, with the kind of grip and hold that we wish to teach as a soid base.
Later teaching may then address the use of flexibility in wrist and fingers to move the bow repeatedly between adjacent strings
Teaching the correct movements can also be done using the doodlebow, as shown here, again in a way that leads to a more relaxed grip.
