Bow Levels & Rhythm in the Violin

Series Summary

Music is one of the primary forms of communication on Earth. Whether the use of tones and melodies developed before, after, or in conjunction with spoken language is unknown; yet music is unique in that it helps us to talk to each other in ways that language cannot achieve. It creates a connection between people that is not limited by time, distance, or relationship; a song can speak to anyone, anywhere. That’s why music continually changes and grows, is still loved and still proliferates. Music is a living language.

The violin might be considered one of the dialects of that language. Featured largely in classical music, the violin, or fiddle, is a four-string instrument tuned in perfect fifths. It is related to the double bass, cello, and viola in construction and sound, though it produces the highest in pitch of that family.

The violin traces its roots back to the early 1500s in Italy. There was a time when violin makers, called “luthiers,” introduced a number of quality instruments to the market. Some noted manufacturers from that period, like Stradivarius, are still recognized today as representing the highest level of violin craftsmanship.

Modern pop music has incorporated the use of violin, drawing it out of its classical shell. Artists like the Dave Matthews Band, bluegrass group Nickle Creek, and atmosphere rockers Sigur Ros have all made major uses of the violin in their compositions, helping the instrument evolve its sound to adapt to all music.

In this free video music lesson, learn how to get started playing the violin yourself. Our music teacher will guide you with basic tips on how to hold the violin properly, bowing techniques, positioning your non-bow hand, and tuning the instrument. He'll also help you find a teacher that's right for you, that will teach you the fundamentals of playing the violin.

Video Transcript

"Hi! This is J-Adam Smith with Fiddle Team USA and Violin from the Heart talking on behalf of Expert Village. With Expert Village, we’re going to be talking about your bow levels. Notice that my arm is up here and it’s very, very important to understand that bow is a huge aspect in violin playing. It’s probably 80% of your playing, you think that the left hand, which is so difficult as tough, is probably the most important thing, but actually a bow arm is, especially doing it correctly. Now important is to understand, there are 4 strings that means that you are going to be treating your arm as if it is a four-story building. You got to the top floor, make sure your elbow and your wrist are both on equal planes. This is bad and this is bad. Lifting with your shoulders is bad, of course, from our relaxation course that we had. Now we’re at the top string, which is the G string, which is the deeper one, our elbow is the highest. This is going to be the most tiring for you beginners. Understand that you’ve to get high enough, make sure it’s there. Once you have this and you are there, then you are going to go back and forth like you are a machine. Notice that my elbow doesn’t drop. It stays there and I am allowing myself to go back and forth. Then if I’m going to change to my D string, which is the third chord, notice that everything comes down together. Then A string, then change it down to E string all by my side. Now that we have that, lets have a little bit of fun. Get yourself up there, make sure that you are pointing the correct way. Make sure you went through all the process to get your violin up, you have your elbow here. Now you’re going to go back and forth on the G string. Go back and forth, G, G, good. Change it down to D string. Go to your D string. D, D, D, good. Change your elbow to the A string. Then you’re going to go A, A, A, good. Now change it down to the E string, that is a little bit longer, da, da, da, da, da, da, very good. Now, rhythm is very important. Once you have all this down, we’re going throw a little rhythm into this. If you look at my toes, my toes are going to be tapping here. It’s very, very important to understand that toe, your rhythm has got to be continual for people to understand what you are doing. So, now let us try and do the D string, D, D, D, D, D. My foot is going, A, A, A, A, A….E, E, E, E, E, E… G, G. Now the top one, now we’re going to go backward. GG AA GG AA. Make sure your elbow is changing. A, A, A, good. You’ve got a little bit about rhythm, about your bow level. Have fun time practicing this. Check me out at violinfromtheheart.com "