Short Bows

An easy but very helpful warmup for all levels

Coming back from teaching and performing and jamming at Maine Fiddle Camp, the sight of so many bows is what always sticks in my mind. And for a number of those bow hands, there’s one little technique game that comes to mind as something I wish they’d all try. We’ll take a look at that one today.

The camp’s energy is unique. Learners on all sorts of instruments, especially fiddle, ranged from beginners to pros, from age 1 to age 99 (not kidding), all trying new things, hearing great music, and playing for very appreciative listeners and dancers, at whatever level they could manage.

This time, I was assigned to teach a small group of mid-level teenagers as my main group, though I worked with a few other levels and ages as well. One student stood out as doing really well but was held back from his potential by the physical habit of being stuck playing in the top half of the bow. This isn’t uncommon, so it was useful for all the students to take a few moments to counter that habit.

First we found their bow’s balancing point, and then they got to feel how easy it is to get a good meaty sound at that spot on the bow. For some, like the student I mentioned, it’s remarkable how much better they sound simply from making an effort to use that part of the bow.

To find the balancing point, which is slightly different from bow to bow, depending on how the stick was carved and how heavy the frog is, we started out by holding the bow with our forefingers.

With the bow level to the floor, we held up each end by an outstretched pointer/forefinger, and then slowly brought our forefingers toward each other. I cautioned them that only one finger will move at a time (due to that pesky thing called physics!), so they shouldn’t try to force anything, and should simply allow those fingers to make their way, first one, then the other, along the bow until they meet right at the balancing point.

This is the spot where a strong sound takes the least effort. Just remembering to include that spot in most bowstrokes can improve a player’s sound, especially if they’re used to playing in the upper half of the bow. The upper half is a safe and forgiving place. People can play there okay even with a crooked bow, avoiding scratchy sounds, shrill noises, but also avoiding any excitement, expression or dynamics. It’s safe and also boring place to play!

For such a player to actually use the balancing point of the bow in their playing, they have to bend the elbow far enough on their upbows to take them to about 1/3 of the way up from the frog. If they’re used to only playing in the upper half, the elbow isn’t used to bending and bringing that upbow to the nether regions of the bow. This may seem a small problem, but muscles can be a little rebellious; they don’t often respond to orders from the brain — they need to be reminded by practicing physical habits.

Physical habits — muscle memories — are powerful, and hard to overcome without the right image or effort. For that reason, most of my technique games are simple, short, and focused on building physical habits the easiest way possible. This avoids the distraction of also trying to find notes or keeping up with other players.

“Short Bows” is a technique game that can take just a minute but offers a lot of opportunities to improve important physical habits.

For this game, we’re just using the middle third of the bow. This allows us to move only from the elbow, without dragging the upper arm into the picture.

1. Place the bow 1/3 of the way from the frog, right near the balancing point. Play a quick downbow. Your target is about 2/3 of the way toward the tip of the bow.

2. On the downbow, push your wrist away, opening your elbow. Imagine stepping into the shower and shoving the shower curtain to the right. This is just like bowing a downbow.

3. On the upbow, pull your wrist toward you. Now imagine you’re wearing a big black cape for Halloween and you’ve just grabbed the edge of it with your right hand and pulled it over your mouth for dramatic and sinister effect. That’s an upbow movement led by your wrist.

4. For the “Short Bows” game, start on the G string and use the middle third of the bow as described above. Play four strong, short, quick strokes, like quarter notes (crotchets) in reel tempo. Without any pause in sound or timing, move right to the D string for four more bows, then the A, then the E.

The way I’ve described downbows and upbows above is a way of making sure you bow short strokes effortlessly, leading both ways with the wrist, and moving only from the elbow. This allows for a straight bow, parallel to the bridge, for a cleaner sound and better control. But doublecheck it in a mirror, or start a meeting with yourself on Zoom and view your bowing angle there.

This short, quick warmup gives you a chance to get comfortable with the physical habit of bowing fast, straight, solid strokes in the middle of the bow. The “Long Bows” game we talked about in an earlier article is great for getting physically comfortable with playing in all parts of the bow, using a straight bow, and getting a good sound. But many tunes use short bows, so doing “Short Bows” is great practice for playing clear, quick, short strokes with little effort.

Playing this technique game on its own (only takes 20 seconds really) allows you to focus on the physical movement. It will be easy to then apply these bowstrokes to your playing. You might want to keep coming back to the “Short Bows” to remind your muscles what you want from them. Otherwise they may start to forget, or may even get confused and start a mutiny!

Below is a valuable 90-second video that takes you through this Short Bows technique game. If you work with it often, you can get good at this game without having to think too much, and improve your sound and control.

The video below is available only to paid subscribers because it is something that users of fiddle-online pay a small fee for, as part of the group of ten technique videos in Technique Video Group 1.