How to Manage the Weight Shift
Yesterday was a long day. Not only did the recording session I was on for ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ go 2 hours overtime, the music itself was tremendously transparent and exposed.
We walked on eggshells for 8 hours.
The result, however, will be breathtaking in the theatre. Alexander Desplat is a wonderful, accomplished musician. If I came off sounding a little harsh on him in yesterday’s newsletter I didn’t mean to. Yet it is true he is a stickler for detail, to the max.
The fact that I’m spending 3 days playing pianissimo is appropriate to a question raised a couple days ago. I was asked about the weight transfer as one travels up the bow to the frog, and visa-versa.
Specifically, when does the ‘pinky’ become engaged, when is the index finger coming into play, does one ever supply more than just arm weight to the bow, etc.
Naturally all these factors are determined by variables; the dynamic, the bow speed, even the string you’re on. One exercise I suggest to develop a ‘feel’ for the balance shift in the bow is to play some pianissimo strokes on the G string.
On the G string the bow is naturally traveling most parallel to the floor. It is the string on which the transfer of weight to the pinky on the up bow happens earliest.
After doing a few strokes pianissimo increase the dynamic and notice how the transfer point moves toward the frog.
Do the same thing on the E string. Because the bow travels more perpendicular to the string here the need to take up weight in the pinky, even in pianissimo, becomes negligible.
Now let’s look at the other side of the dynamic spectrum, playing fortissimo. In my comments about sound production I refer to ‘arm weight’ as the primary source of tone. Yet when the requirements for volume climb beyond Forte the weight of one’s arm may not be sufficient. As I said yesterday, the violin is a physical process, and muscle is required.
If you want to experience this directly go back and play some forte whole notes on the G and E strings. Start with arm weight, and then increase the pressure by ‘drawing down’ on the string with the large muscles in your back and under your arm.
Breathe and feel the Horizontal flow of the bow as you experiment with this. The idea is to get the maximum of tone with the minimum of tension.
And again, you will probably notice the relative position of your bow to the floor – G more parallel, E more perpendicular – will affect the amount of muscle you actually use to produce the same dynamic.
You’ll also notice that the bow will track loser to the bridge as you add energy to the string.
One last thing, I do allow my pinky and index fingers to lift off the bow now and again when they are not being used. This is fine Providing your wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints are fluid, and your overall hand position relative to the bow remains consistent.
This should be pretty evident when you watch me demonstrate, I think.
Now it’s time to go make a movie.
All the best,
Clayton Haslop
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