Check Out This Visual For Teaching Bow Placement and Dynamics

Check Out This Visual For Teaching Bow Placement and Dynamics

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As teachers we are always working on the fundamentals of tone production and what goes into creating a beautiful bow sound. These concepts include bow weight, bow speed, and bow placement. 

Some years ago, I created a handy visual reference for my students to help illustrate the concept of bow placement and how bow placement can help create dynamic contrasts. 

Bow Lanes

I broke the string down into six visual bowing lanes from pianissimo to fortissimo. A concept inspired by a nice graphic in one of the Sound Innovation series books.

Check out the reference to the right. 

The concept is simple for students to understand. 

Generally speaking, the closer we place the bow toward the fingerboard the softer the sound. As we move the bow toward the bridge the stronger the sound.

During the lesson, I’ll demonstrate each “bowing lane” and we will experiment with playing in each of the six bow lanes. I’ll reference each one and have the students place their bows in the piano bow lane or the forte bow lane and we will make observations about how the placement affects our tone. 

Changing Bow Lanes - Not Just One Dynamic

Additionally, I’ll talk about the concept of changing lanes at different points since dynamics don’t stay the same throughout a piece.

This is much like driving on the highway. 

Each lane on the road has a different purpose and there are occasions when you will want to switch lanes - perhaps to turn off the road or to pass a car on the left.

The same is true for changing bow lanes. We may want a stronger sound and so we may want to move our bow closer to the bridge. Conversely, we may want a soft and gentle piano bow sound so we may want to use less bow weight and move our bow closer to the fingerboard. 


Conclusion

If you’d like to grab this visual reference for your student to help aid them in their concept of bow placement you can follow the link to my Teacher’s Pay Teachers store. Check it out below!

Bowing Lanes: How To Create Dynamics As A String Player

A Visual Guide

The Bowing Lanes: How To Create Dynamics As A String Player is an extremely useful visual aid you can share with your students to help them understand the concept of bow placement.

This visual refers to 6 different bow lanes (or bow placements) students can use to create dynamic contrasts.

Post the visual up on your white board, print it out, or share it digitally for students to reference.