Violin Stars Study GroupLesson 2

Are you ready to learn how to use your bow? We are going to learn how to play 5 different open string rhythms for this lesson. There will be midi files included with this lesson so that you can hear what the rhythms should sound like. Ready to get started? Let's go!

Before you begin I would like you to listen to the midi file titled Huckleberry Pancake that is included with this lesson folder. You will hear the rhythm played twice on each string starting with the E string. Listen carefully and memorize the rhythm. Once you think you've got it, grab your violin but don't start playing yet! I want to give you some quick bowing advice before we begin. Our violin bows are rather long! So it can be confusing as to what part of the bow to use. We certainly don't want to use the entire bow yet, and it can be awkward to play at the frog or tip at this stage. So that leaves just one place – the middle. The middle of the bow is where we are going to do all of our main playing for now.

The picture shows my bow on the A string in the middle of the bow. My bow is in about the middle of bow country and it is also straight. For now, you will want to keep your bow in the middle of bow country and not too close to the bridge or fingerboard. The middle is the safest place for us to be right now!

Now why don't you try out the Huckleberry Pancake rhythm on your E string. Stay in the middle of the bow, and don't try to use a lot of bow right now. Once you have the feel for this rhythm, try to get some staccato going in the pancake part. Think Huckleberry STOP STOP. So the Huckleberry notes are smooth and the pancake notes are sticky. Huckleberry DOWN UP. Make sure your bow stops at the end of the Down stroke and at the end of the Up stroke. At this stage of our training we will always start down bow. And each stroke will be down up down up down up down up and so on. There should never be two downs in a row or two ups in a row. So if I were to say the bow direction of Huckleberry Pancake it would sound like this - down up down up DOWN UP ( or huckle berry PAN CAKE) Pan isdown and cake is up. Does that make sense? This is hard to explain, it's much easier to show you!

So go ahead and practice that rhythm on all four strings and when you're done come back and I'll teach you the next rhythm.

The next rhythm we are going to learn is called Down Pony Up Pony. Listen to the rhythm track carefully. The word 'Down' and 'Up' are played with a longer bow stroke and each 'pony' is played with two small bow strokes. You can also say,“DOWN tiny UP tiny DOWN tiny UP tiny. If I were to say the bow directions in rhythm it would sound like this – DOWN up down UP down up DOWN up down UP As I said before, it's MUCH easier to demonstrate this than try to explain it, but you should figure it out by listening to the rhythm track. Try this rhythm outon all four strings now.

The third rhythm is called Mama Oh Mama. It's a tricky one because it is a staccato rhythm and it also has a tricky rest involved. You will hear this on your rhythm track. If I were singing it, I would say Mama SHH! Oh Mama SHH! Oh Mama. And during the SHH! I would not play. You can also sniff during the rest, and it works quite well. If I was doing that I would play - down up SNIFF down up down SNIFF up down up SNIFF down up down and so on. I think that this is the hardest rhythm, so take your time with it and listen to the track carefully. You'll get it.

The next rhythm is called Wish I had a motorcycle. Each note of this rhythm is the same exact length so that is your challenge. Make sure you stay in the middle of the bow and make all of the notes sound even and smooth. Keep your wrist relaxed. Sometimes it's helpful to play this rhythm while sitting on your bed so that you get a bouncy feeling! Listen to the rhythm track and see if you can hear the notes saying “Wish I had a motorcycle”

The last rhythm gets us ready for using long smooth bow strokes. We call it the Seagull Song. To begin, place your bow on the A string and use as long of bow strokes as you feel comfortable with. And it's fine if you only use a couple of inchesof bow in the beginning. Too much bow will just get you into trouble. So you will play A A E E A E A and then do it again A A E E A E A. Practice this exercise a lot because you will need this basic smooth stroke for a lot of your first music. So that concludes our lesson for today. Good job!

To pass this lesson you will need to send me a recorded sample of your playing. Most people have a basic microphone on their computer that will record sound, or you can use a phone or mp3 player to record the sound and then unload it into your computer. Whatever works for you, I'm not picky. You don't have to master all five rhythms yet, but to move onto Lesson 3 I need to hear you play

1. Huckleberry Pancake on the E and A strings2. Down Pony Up Pony on the E and A strings

The other rhythms are more complex and you won't be required to master them until the next lesson. Do practice them though! And please be patient, though they may seem silly or boring, these are basic rhythms that advanced players use in every piece of music they play. By mastering them now you'll be ahead of the game in the long run. AND, believe it or not, just the basic down up bowing is the hardest to master! It's true, so that's why we start with rhythms in the beginning.

I'm glad you're sticking with the program! There's lots of fun to come so keep up the good work!