Scan 29
21882.a.10 – How to hold a violin and bow / C. H. Mitchell., 1882
8 lines. Read by computer on 24 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1serve from actual experiment, that the degree of motion required when the bow is at the point, is different from that when the region of the nut is employed. Passages sometimes occur requiring the repeated alternation of two neighbouring strings. In such cases the elevation should be taken for the lower string, and so maintained for both.
3For convenience, the bowing described may be called the normal bowing. The great fault which beginners have, is that they fail to make the bow cleave to the strings. An experienced player cannot imitate the sound produced by the beginner without placing the violin in some extraordinary position, for example, on a table, or in the position in which a violoncello is held. The tone referred to may, for want of a better expression, be called a superficial or surface tone; it produces no delight in the hearer, does not represent anything like the true voice of the instrument, and would seem to be about the same for all violins, inasmuch as the beginner produces the same or a similar disagreeable sound, whatever kind of violin he plays upon.
5To overcome this objectionable style the writer would suggest that the beginner use at first considerably more force than is necessary, taking as an exercise the second of "Kreutzer's Forty Studies," or something similar, and using the forearm and wrist bowing to be presently described. He may, in conjunction with such practice, try to make the bow cleave to the strings in the normal method. It must be understood that there is no intention here to countenance carelessness as to quality of tone. Instead of detracting from Spohr's injunction, that the scholar must exert himself from the outset to produce a pure and full tone, the plan suggested may really support that injunction. Nay, the author would add that until the student can make his violin sing, his playing will never be worth listening to.
7The student must be careful to observe that the style of bowing varies with the nature of the music. Indeed, it is a positive pleasure, apart from the delight caused by the sound, simply to see a finished player when exhibiting the different kinds of bowing. At one time he uses elbow and shoulder joints, at another the motion is limited to the forearm, then it may be the arm will work from the shoulder, while for certain passages the wrist only will be employed. These changes are accompanied by variations in the quantity of bow used, and hence fresh beauties will arise. The whole length of the bow, or portions
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.