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NO. 1: YOUR BOW-GRIP AND YOUR BOW-CHANGE
As cellists we spend countless hours
on things like intonation, vibrato, speed and other left hand
techniques. Without question, out-of-tune or wrong notes,
a stumble in a fast passage, or a bad vibrato will make it impossible
for you to achieve the sound you want. But the ultimate
tool to produce the sound that great cellists produce is your
bow.
The Grip
a)fingers
It's important to realize that in all
cello techniques, each of our anatomies is somewhat different:
your final bow grip, even if you study with me privately and
follow all my instructions to the letter, will not be exactly
the same as mine. Recognizing this fact let's set some
parameters. First, each bow stroke needs weight.
Notice the use of the word "weight", not "pressure".
"Pressure" implies a muscular exertion which, to some
extent, is unavoidable; but our goal is to produce as much great
sound as possible with the minimum amount of effort. Many players,
especially at the beginning and intermediate level, can feel
fatigue and pain from excessive, repetitive effort. Especially
in the right hand.
Let's look at two categories of
bow grips.
Photo 1 (above) shows what I call a "poster
paper" grip: holding the bow the way you might hold a large
piece of poster paper. In the photo I've exaggerated this grip
for demonstration purposes, but notice the space between the
top of the stick and the hand. If much weight is to be
transferred from your arm and hand to your bow, the hand, and
in particular the thumb, will need to squeeze the bow
hard or it will slip. This grip may be possible with violin
or even viola, but cellists need a lot more weight. Now
we'll look at the second category bow grip in two stages.
Photo 2 (above left) shows the fingers
of the right hand (mainly the middle and ring fingers) essentially
laying just beyond the top of the stick, and photo 3 shows
the completed grip with the index and little fingers slightly
spread. The physics is simple. When more weight is needed,
no squeezing effort is necessary as the weight of the hand, and
in fact the arm, is already sitting on top of the site where
the weight is to be applied.
The advantages of this second category
of bow grip are many. First the thumb, (which must be
bent, by the way) is much less muscularly active - at the frog
its main function is to keep the bow from tipping over - and
the vulnerable joint where the thumb joins the hand is much less
prone to the tendonitis and arthritis many cellists experience.
Now note the position of the arm and elbow in photo 3.
I like to think of this position as the place where your arm
would end up if you fell asleep holding the bow. To be sure it
will vary with each string, but try this. Sit with your
cello and try a category-two bow grip with your bow on the D
string about 1/3 of the bow-hair's length from the frog.
Now try to get into a state of complete relaxation - almost falling
asleep if you can - and let your arm and elbow go where they
want to. This is an ideal place for them, as their natural
weight will transfer to the bow without undue muscular effort.
Note that in photo 3, the fingers are
slightly spread, and the index finger, which controls the transfer
of weight more and more as you move toward the tip, is the most
spread of all. Experiment with the distance between your
fingers in your bow grip: your own hand will eventually adjust
to the optimal spread for you.
 Now that we have established
a bow-grip design, let's see what it looks like (photo 4, right)
as the bow moves. Since one bowing objective is
to keep the bow essentially perpendicular to the string and moving
in a straight line, the hand needs to change slightly as the
bow moves toward the tip. In fact the hand changes continually
with all bow movement. This keeps everything straight and
in fact is an enforced relaxation of the right hand as it must
remain flexible. A right hand "frozen" on the
bow will promote unavoidable tension.
Practice suggestion: sit in front of
mirror (or a window at night) and practice slow long-bows watching
in your reflection both your right hand and the path of your
bow as the stick travels. Does the right hand continually
adjust? Does the bow travel in a straight line?
Bow suggestion: some cellists find
it more comfortable to grip a bow with a section of latex (or
similar) tubing over the grip, wrap and "blip" of the
frog (see photo 5 below). Use 3/8" inside diameter with
1/16" wall.
b. The Bow-Change
Here's how the right hand works on the
bow-change, once you've gotten the proper grip. You may
have watched dozens of different performing cellists and fixed
your attention on their bow change, but when you tried to copy
their movements the result was not what you wanted. So
let's state a few simple rules.
1. A bow change is a simple change
of direction. Period. You don't need a dipsie-doodle wrist
flick or arm rotation; in fact extraneous motions will likely
serve to make your bow-change less effective.
2. The looser and more relaxed
your hand is, the smoother the change will be. Your hand should
remain flexible on the bow, especially at the change.
3. DON"T LET UP YOUR WEIGHT
AS YOU APPROACH AND GO INTO THE CHANGE. This is a more common
problem than you might imagine. Some people truly believe
that their "hiding" their bow change as they lighten
it, others don't even realize that they're doing it.
4. You should hear a little "click"
at each change. Even if you think it shouldn't be there,
it is the sound of a good bow-change. Listen to
recordings and pay attention to the number of "clicks"you
hear: you may be surprised. This doesn't mean to accent
the change, just make it firm. If, without improperly accenting,
your "click: somehow becomes obnoxious, it's much
easier to correct than is the dead space created by lightening
the weight of the bow.
Practice suggestions:
1. Practice your bow changes on open
strings with slow long-bows, 8-16 bows per string. Try closing
your eyes and really listen to your change. Is there perhaps
a lightening or lifting of the bow at the change? The sound should
be solid through the change. Practice bow changes on open
strings for at least 5 full minutes per day, all the time listening
with a very critical ear.
2. If you have any kind of recording
equipment, try recording yourself. If you've never done
it before, you may hate your sound: but remember that only top
quality professional equipment will do justice to the timbre
of a cello. The recorder, especially a mediocre one, is
a cruel but still very effective teacher. If your bow change
is anything but first-rate, the recording will very effectively
show you: in a way no teacher can.
In closing I'll state a second important
rule (the first being that all each of our anatomies is somewhat
different) which will apply throughout these publications:
the human brain, no matter how brilliant, is capable of focusing
on only one difficult task at a time. When practicing,
isolate what you want to accomplish and don't try to accomplish
anything else. For example, in practicing with long bows,
practice focusing only on the path of the bow perpendicular to
the string. Then practice focusing only on your bow change.
Etc.
Our next issue will explore How To
Bow For Sound.
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