hi,

i hace problem in straight bowing. i tried to look at the mirror when playing but the moment i take my eyes off the mirror, my bowing starts to sway.
i can sort of do a straight bowing when playing slow but the bow will start to sway when i speed up.any tips on how to maintain straight bowing while playing fast?

it`s great that you notice this, a little work will definately enhance your playing by miles.

This is a thread in my community which may be of use to you.

http://soloviolin.com/music/index.php?showtopic=101

If you don`t want to click i copy paste my view here
well different teachers would ask you to do different things. but really it`s upto you to find the good balance in the bowing. use a mirror to ensure the bowing isn`t losing it`s perpendicular movement especially at bow changes. why it needs to be perpendicular angle to the string? because it makes the best sound.

I remember trying all sorts of things with bowing. but in the end sophisticated solutions didn`t help. just flexibility and letting the bow do the work under your relax fingers, arms and shoulders.

This might help. This is the way i think when i warm up my right bow side.
- upper half: more weight from the first and second finger + wrist and elbow action
- middle: evenly distributed weight on all fingers + elbow action
- lower half: more weight from the third and pinky + loose wrist and shoulder

James
Administrator@ http://soloviolin.com
Violinist Community

Do you have a flexible wrist?

Anton

I notice that a lot of beginning students move the shoulder backward in playing down bown. The shoulder stays still and the wrist flexes and the elbow moves.

Among my teachers there were two types of bowing technique taught. Some taught that the fingers should move (he said flex and release). The other teachers wanted mostly wrist movement.
When I saw the fence painting scene in the movie Karate Kid. I immedaitely remembered using that wrist movement in my first violin lessons.