Making a Bow Hold With Your Child - Suzuki Violin Lessons for Parents
When new students arrive in my studio I spend the first six weeks or so with parents only, covering many of the topics involved in becoming a parent to a new violinist. On the second session we learn how to make a bowhold on another person's hand. For subsequent sessions a large proportion of each lesson is spent practicing and refining the process of making a bowhold on another person.
My goal is that parents can make a bowhold for their child that is as good as the one I would make for them. I can almost always take a hand that has never touched a bow and follow a process to quickly and consistently form a very well structured and flexible bowhand. If I was able to do this with a child every day for the first months of playing the violin the impact would be profound and long lasting. The goal is that a parent has the requisite skills to provide the same impact.
After the initial parent lesson entirely on bowhold we explore other topics but we continue to return to the bowhold each session. Parents show me what they have practised and then we spend time exploring it further, refining and troubleshooting the process.
By the end of the first session parents can make a bowhold that looks and feels impressively like an actual violinist's hand. With enough practice between lessons, each week after that it becomes better and better. By the time the children begin they have a confident, knowledgable and highly effective teacher with them every time they touch a bow.
This approach has been highly successful. There is a very clear demarcation line between my students' bowhands who learned by this process and those who learned before I started teaching it this way. Students who have learned in this way have a relaxed full control of tone on the violin from the very first note they play, their bowhold stays stable and reliable, and for all of their future violin playing their bowhold remains consistent and flexible.
Do not rush this process. It is impossible to overstate the incredible advantage to starting the violin with a truly excellent bowhold.
"Before you attempt to make bow hands with a child,
I can't recommend strongly enough that you do at least 100 with another adult first."
- Edmund Sprunger p.160
I can't recommend strongly enough that you do at least 100 with another adult first."
- Edmund Sprunger p.160
I highly recommend you purchase Building Violin Skills by the brilliant Edmund Sprunger. It is a book for parents and teachers that provides a thorough and comprehensive approach to laying the foundation for developing skills on the violin. If you just apply a few pages well to your practice it will pay for itself many many times over.
Following are some scans of a few pages explaining one of his ways of building bowholds for parents.
*** At the bottom of this page I've included a video from one of my group parent lessons where we are using this same approach.
Following are some scans of a few pages explaining one of his ways of building bowholds for parents.
*** At the bottom of this page I've included a video from one of my group parent lessons where we are using this same approach.
We practice these skills first on other adults. We want the very first hands-on shapings of a young violinist's hands to be be accurate, smooth and confident. To get to that point we use the hands (and arms and shoulders) of a partner, other parents and any available non-violinists we can find to practise on. Little kids don't have the patience for parents to make their mistakes on them. And they are likely to engrave your first attempt on their brain. So practice first and make it a masterful one.
Just like any skill, it will take time to master. Once you've established that you can do it outside of the lesson environment, and do it well with someone who has no idea what they're doing or whether you're doing it well or not, continue to repeat at least one good bow hold every day. Do this and it will become easy and natural and the more you do it, the easier it will get. Before you make your first one with your child, you want it to be very very easy. You want to be able to be confident and relaxed as you do it, as if making bow holds are as natural for you as breathing. You want to be able to "whisper with your hands," and create success for your children.
The secret to having it be this easy is not just how many times you do it, but also how many days in the week you do it. This is an opportunity to model your children's future practice for them and mark the days you do it on your listening calendar, perhaps with a distinctive sticker, picture or symbol.
Remember, this is for YOU at this stage, not your child. Let your child(ren) watch if they want. They will probably be very curious! If they ask, explain in simple terms what you're doing and why. But also explain that its not yet their turn. No harm will come to them from letting their desire and anticipation build. But plenty of harm can be done rushing in before you're ready. Let them wait.
Whether you are a teacher, a parent, or a student, go and buy Building Violin Skills by Edmund Sprunger. This is a small fraction of only one of his ways to approach building bowholds. His writing and ideas are well thought out, carefully explained, and effective.