POP THE CLUTCH
posted by James Reel
My right thumb is still a little numb this morning from yesterday’s cello practice. Obviously, I’m not following the advice I reported in a recent issue of Strings magazine, where the subject was playing with a tension-free bow hand. Here’s the beginning:
THE FIRST TIME A TEACHER HANDS US a stringed instrument, we figure the tricky part will be putting our left-hand fingers in the correct spots to get the right notes. How hard can moving the bow with the right hand be?Look’s like I’d better re-read the article, here.
Well, as we discover the moment we first draw the bow across an open string, it’s not that simple. Then, as we try to get a decent sound, a lot of us tighten up that right hand, use the wrong pressure in the wrong direction, and start making noises that remind us that strings used to be made of catgut.
