Category: Violin Bowing

Better Bowing Articulation: Free Mini Open-String Workouts for Violin, Book Two!

1/12/2021

About a month after I wrote Open String Bow Workouts for the Violin, Book One, back at the end of 2019, I got the first email asking for Book Two. As more and more people started asking for Book Two, I realized that I'd like a Book Two as well and I started mapping out what a second volume would look like.

It's taken a little bit longer than I'd planned (apologies to everyone who got a January 2020 estimated release date!) but Open String Workouts for the Violin, Book Two is finally here!

To celebrate, here is a second volume of free Mini Open String Bowing Workouts for Violin! The mini violin bowing workouts below are all-new and aren't included in the book.

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 1

Better Bowing Articulation: Free Mini Open-String Workouts for Violin, Book Two!

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 2

Because Open String Bow Workouts for Violin, Book Two focuses on articulation and bow control, these free studies work on some of the same skills that the book does: staccato, dynamics, double stop staccato, and spiccato.

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 4

Double stop staccato is a great way to get the strings ringing right away - which leads to better tone overall!

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 6

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 7

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 8

And finally, here are a couple of open string violin exercises on spiccato.

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 9

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 10

Did you miss the blog post with free exercises to celebrate Book One?

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Improve Your Violin Bowing: Free Mini Open String Workouts

3/30/2019

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Free Violin Sheet Music: Open String Bowing Exercises!

This past year Theresa Villani, a wonderful cellist and cello teacher, wrote and asked if I had any exercises for bowing on open strings for one of her students. I had a few pages of an incomplete book, which I was happy to share. She wrote right back and said "Please make a book out of these!" (Incidentally, that's how a lot of books get started; share your ideas on this page.) Then, another teacher wrote and asked for a book of open string studies for violin and viola and here we are!

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 1

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 2

Here are a few observations Myanna and I have made while playing and teaching with these studies:

1. Playing open strings is hard! They look easy (at least at the beginning of the book) but this is deceptive. Because the sound is so exposed, I found myself getting super picky with the sound I was producing. This in turn led me to work on fluidity in bow changes, relaxed wrist and fingers, and getting the string vibrating with the least possible motion from my hand.

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 4

2. Playing open string bow studies is a great way to isolate the bow, especially when you are struggling with note-reading. Myanna has been using Open-String Bow Workouts with some students who have trouble reading notes. Since there are just four notes in the entire book, the students could work on bowing without worrying about reading notes (and as an added bonus, their reading improved!)

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 6

3. Playing open string bow studies can help violinists at every level. We've used this book with students who had just started playing a few months earlier and also with intermediate and very advanced students. It helped them all, in different ways.

The beginning students used the book to discover what the bow can do. Pure bow technique, such as string crossing, rhythm, and slurs can be taught using this book.

The intermediate students used the book to listen more and improve their tone. At an intermediate level, it's easy to focus on the left hand and forget about the bow. Playing an Open String Bow Workout at the beginning of every lesson has helped our intermediate students build better bow control and tone.

And the advanced students played the slow exercises at an Adagio tempo and the fast exercises as fast as possible to expand the range of their bow technique.

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 7

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 8

4. Playing open string studies can really help your tone improve! When I started playing open string studies myself, I was skeptical; how much could it help? But the difference I heard in my playing and felt in my bow hand convinced me that open strings can be one of the most effective ways to practice bowing. And adding just one page a day to your studies can make a difference over time.

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 9

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 10

To celebrate the release of the new book of Open String Bow Workouts, we are offering the above mini set of (all-new) violin open string studies for free!

When you play these, focus on correct form and how you're holding the bow.

Keep the bow arm shoulder, wrist, and fingers as loose and relaxed as possible. The thumb should be gently balanced on the bow; never squeezing.

Listen for the smoothest, most even sound during each note and keep the bow moving at the same speed while you change bows so there is no variation in sound.

For more violin studies that help you play with better tone, check out this book:

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Free Violin Scale Bowing Variations

8/10/2018

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I love the fact that scales are such a great vehicle for learning different skills on the violin! Scales can and should be much more than just playing notes in order in a particular key in a particular set of places on the violin; they can also be used for learning rhythm and bowing skills.

Today in the blog, we're going to focus on using a simple G major scale to work on violin bowing. Now, the possibilities here are endless. I could start writing today and never ever reach the end of variations I could make with this scale. But there are other books to write and so I will stop at 15 pages for this little booklet. Of course, I'll probably come back every once in awhile with another blog post on scales; scale variations are a bit of a passion of mine!

Scales are helpful because they are so predictable. You know what's coming and the notes (at least in these scale pages) are fairly easy. But that doesn't mean you should turn off reading and play from memory just yet; I have some breaks in the pattern built into these scale pages to help keep your attention while you play.

Scale variations are a perfect way to multitask. Variations are a great way to train your left and right hands to be more coordinated and also a great way to make your practice even more efficient; you're working on multiple skills at once!

Feel free to make variations on the variations! Boredom lets you turn your brain off and can be the opening for building bad habits! Violin technique should never be taken for granted; every minute of your practice should be spent actively trying to improve. Varying the exercises can help you stay focused. I play different pages of scale exercises every day (that's one reason why I had to write so many books!) These variations can be played on any scale but they're simplest on a 2-octave scale that starts on an open string.