VIOLIN MATTERS - BOWING WITH FULL HAIR OR TILTED HAIR

Violin Matters                   

BOWING WITH FULL HAIR OR TILTED HAIR

FULL HAIR

TILTED (partial)  HAIR

Violin bowing is one of the most intricate aspects of violin playing.

It is personal and every expert holds the bow and plays in his / her own characteristic way.

Clearly this shows that there are many ways to skin the cat.

There are controversies covering each aspect of bowing.

What this blog attempts to cover is only if the bowing should involve the edge of the hair or the whole hair on the string.

Carl Flesch mentioned this and bow tension in the Art of Violin Playing. 

Flesch observed that violinists who used the Russian bow hold had a tendency to use a looser bow hair and flatter hair, while those who used a Franco-Belgian bow hold tend to use tighter bow hair and tilt the bow more.

The arguments for both sides are presented. 

Each violinist needs to decide and adopt what to do based on the dynamics and tone.

IN FAVOR OF TILTING HAIR TOWARDS THE BRIDGE / BOW STICK TOWARDS THE SCROLL

Hair Tilt

Paul Stoebing in his book on ‘The Mastery of the Bow and Bowing Subtleties’ has mentioned three fundamental rules of bowing. Rule 2 is “Play with the edge of the bow hair, the stick itself being slightly turned towards the saddle and the peg box”

Paul Stoebing's 'The Mastery of the Bow and Bowing Subtleties'

He goes on to explain, “Play with the edge of the hair, but modify the amount of hair touching the string according to the part of the bow employed. At the extreme nut change, with as little hair as is compatible with a comfortable wrist position and tone quality, increase imperceptibly the amount of hair towards the middle…..”

Ivan Galamian in his “Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching’, mentions,“…Moving up -  the bow  from the square (middle section) towards the frog, the stick of the bow should tip gradually and slightly towards the finger board. 

This tilting accomplishes three things: (1) it preserves the straightness of the bow stroke as the frog is approached, since the arm is foreshortened a the hand gradually drops from the wrist ;(2) it removes the inner edge of the hair from the strings, thus compensating for the natural increase of bow weight; (3) it contributes the correct type of bend and flexibility to the wrist action.”

First of all tilting the bow does not necessarily mean that all the hair is not played on the string! This is because the hair is loose and can twist to lie on the strings depending on the pressure applied even if the bow is tilted.

Just as a painter uses different shades of brushing and dilutions of the color, the amount of touching the strings can produce very soft, melodious, transparent sound to suit the phrase.

Right hand – figure of eight choreography is used by many violinists with forearm pronation may involve some degree of tilting of hair.

Right hand - Figure of Eight Choreography

Pic from William Fitzpatrick with thanks.

Ray Chen the virtuoso goes to the extent of bowing with similar bow tilt at the frog and the opposite tilt at the tip of the bow to get the appropriate effect of tone.

IN FAVOR OF KEEPING ALL BOW HAIR ON STRINGS /BOW STICK ON TOP

All Bow Hair on the String

All the hair of the bow should lie on the strings from frog to the tip. 

This gives a rich, full tone.

People who play most of the time on the edge of the hair play only a percentage of the hair with a tilt of the bow to 45 or 60 degrees or even more. Less hair, less energy in sound.

Also when the edge of the hair is used by the tilted bow, this results in the breakage of the hair.

Playing full hair gives full, rich, robust sound which projects to the back of the concert hall.

Flat hair produces louder sound and more articulation; the fewer amount of hair, the sound is smoother but quieter with less articulation.

Playing all hair on the string, it is still possible to play softer and with altering dynamics of the phrasings by lessening the weight of the bowing on the string.

Flat, full hair technique was used by Erick Friedman, Aaron Rosand, Mischa Elman.

Anyway, as one plays the higher positions, one needs to play full hair with proximity to the bridge or the sound is going to be thin.

Strad Magazine (Jan 2012) "The Motion of Emotion".

"Many people consider straight bowing (keeping the bow at an angle of 90 degrees to the string at all times) to be the gold standard. 

Crooked bowing - they would argue inevitably leads to an inferior sound by introducing longitudinal vibrations in the string. 

However, in practice we can observe many violations of this standard, and the bow can be considerable slanted even in the performances of renowned players. 

Does that mean that their performances must suffer, and that they could produce a better sound if only they could keep their bow at a straight able? In most cases the contrary will be true."

  

CONCLUSION

There is no one magic answer to this issue. 

Situation depends on whether it is solo playing in the hall where the sound has to carry to the last seat.

It is good for one to familiarize with both techniques – knowing that the flat hair playing is a solid one. 

I started with the tilted bowing – but now changed over to the fuller hair for most of the legatos. 

But where the phrasing dictates different coloring and shading, bow tilting has to be done.

There are aspects not covered in this blog such as tightness of the bow, the bow holds for the right hand or the type of strings used (gut or synthetic). 

Recordings and live performances are difficult to compare as the mike placements and management by sound engineers can play a significant role in the modern music era.