Think of the difference between the comparable weight of a sleeping child vs. a child that reaches to be picked up. Make your arm feel like a sleeping baby. (I actually used this analogy with one of my private students today. I guess I need to use it again).

And of course remember to play at the sounding point where we can get all those overtones to ring!

For the last few weeks I've been going back and forth between what Beth teaches (the "Franco-Belgian" bowhold), and what Carl Flesch espouses in his classic book "The Art of Violin Playing: Book One".

True to what Mr. Flesch teaches, I get the richest, fullest sound with the Russian bowhold. The difference is quite stunning. I really wanted to make it work, I liked the sound so much!

But as Beth teaches, the hold that she uses (Franco-Belgian) has the advantage of allowing me better finger mobility. I like to use a good amount of "finger flex" in my playing, as it allows me to achieve cleaner string crossings and more expressiveness, by using the up bow and down bow "looks" that Beth describes. I've seen this described in other places as the "paintbrush" motion, where the hand always leads the fingers, much like the handle of a paintbrush leads the bristles during a stroke.

So after much experimentation I decided today that I'm going to go with the Franco-Belgian hold. I find that if I make a conscious effort to keep the index finger contact point nearer to the proximal end of the middle segment (rather than towards the distal end), and if I remember to bear down a little more with the index finger, that I can get a sound almost as rich as the Russian bowhold, but with better freedom of movement.

I wanted to share this with my "classmates" here, and see what others' experiences have been.

Best wishes,

Frank

Until Beth made the follow-up video on the bow hold, it looked to me as though the windings were contacting her index finger at the middle joint. After she made the new video, I could more easily see that the contact point was at the proximal end of the middle segment. That's what gave me the impression that she was using a Russian bow hold.

Best wishes,

Frank

I'm really glad that you made this video. Based on what I could previoulsy see of your bowhold, and on what you teach in Lesson 8, it seemed as though you were espousing the "Russian" hold favored by Flesh. But since you made this video, everything is much clearer. Marking your finger with the brown marker was very helpful.

I would suggest that you name/rename this video "Lesson 8A", and place it in order directly after Lesson 8 in the Library. I think that this video is vital to gaining a proper understanding of the bow hold that you espouse, and is especially pertinent when first starting out playing.

Thank you so much.

Frank

I thought that the middle finger was only used to "trap" the bow along with the thumb, providing a pivot point, and that the first finger was used for adding weight. Some do teach getting used to playing without the first finger, but only at the frog, where you don't want much weight

Beth seems to teach what Carl Flesch calls the "Russian" bowhold (windings contacting finger at middle joint). I used to use the "German" hold (windings contacting finger at the distal joint), but after watching Beth's video, I now use a middle ground, what Flesch would call the "Franco-Belgian" hold. It seems to give me the best sound and flexibility. It also enables me to add weight without squelching the sound as much as my previous bowhold did.