Lesson III. Long Bows

This week I have a deceptively simple exercise that will give you more control over your bow arm. The bow is where we create most of our expressivity so more control means more ability to shape the sound of what you play.

Notes about the video:

"This exercise is taken directly from lessons I had with Zara Nelsova, one of the greatest cellists I ever heard. This was a cornerstone of her approach and an exercise she adapted from her father, a flute player, who practiced "long tones" often. He evidently thought that if it was good for a flute player it would also be good for a string player--I think he was right!"

"Try and keep a relaxed left hand while you're doing this series of exercises. It's a good time to check out the way stress on one hand can effect the other. See if you can adopt a strategy to deal with this phenomenon."

--Erik Friedlander