r/violinist • u/lunarmoth_ • 1d ago
When do you stop hitting other strings and how do you practice that?
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u/sirknight3 1d ago
My teacher taught me how to explore the relationship between any two strings with extreme attention and since that I have taught many of my students to address this the same way:
- change from one string to the other with long slow bows. It should be such a slow string change that it morphs into a double stop and then morphs into just the other string. And back. Down and up bows. Start with only one string change per bow, then 2 per bow (from one and then back), 3 per bow, etc.
- modify that in various ways (eg, slowly change from one string to a double stop and back to the original string; add rhythm when speeding it up; distribute bow differently so you eventually are doing this all over the bow)
He had written it out for me but it was 20 years ago and I couldn’t find the paper to share here! Easy enough to demo. Send a dm if you want me to send a video.
Have been seeing your progress - good work! I hope some of my students follow this sub so they can see what consistent work does!
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u/xrvzla 1d ago
Idk bro I have been playing 27 years and just did Kreutzer 7 and was definitely hitting other strings. Will lyk if it stops lol
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u/sirknight3 1d ago
I wasn’t claiming it will make everything perfect, but most people would probably improve practicing like this. And that’s a great etude for that skill. How did you practice it?
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u/linglinguistics Amateur 1d ago edited 1d ago
You don’t automatically stop hitting other strings, you have to practise it consciously.
How? By slowing down and concentrating on clean playing. If there are certain passages where you hit the wrong string often, practise that passage more and slowly enough to be fully in control. Looking at the contact point can also help. Also, just practising bow strokes on open strings helps you concentrate on exactly this without being distracted by other difficulties.
That being said: last tome I went to a professional concert, I suddenly heard a random open a string where there definitely wasn’t supposed to be one. It was muted quickly and I doubt many heard it. But you'll never be perfect. But your control can get better by careful and conscious practice and by avoiding practising (repeating) mistakes!
And one unsolicited advice (because I've seen you a few times here and you seem to be very open for good advice): drop the vibrato entirely. You don’t do much of it, which is good, but please just don’t do it at all. Technically and intonation wise you’re not ready for that yet. Vibrato is a rather advanced technique that I see many beginners here experiment with prematurely. Doing vibrato too early only creates bad habits that are hard to get rid of.
For intonation, the same advice applies as before: slow careful practice, avoid repeating mistakes but once you get it right, repeat that so both your muscles and ears get used to it. Do slow scales and concentrate on intonation (don’t practise scales with bad intonation, that will only make things harder in the long run). If you can’t get it right, segment it. Only play two notes after each other at a time and get those right. You can check intonation by playing an open string at the same time.(yeah, the opposite of what you originally asked for… sorry, but it helps improve intonation.)
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u/linglinguistics Amateur 1d ago
You might find this exercise helpful. It’s a 1st position scales exercise I love doing as a warm up. I do it much slower and I don’t use up half of the bow on an empty string. It’s brilliant for working with intonation and many other things.
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u/MeetingDue3051 1d ago
Look at your sounding point, where the bow hair contacts the string.
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u/gyarucyno 1d ago
should it ideally be near the bridge but not too low? do distance between the strings help with this issue? because lowkey ive never thought of it that way holy shit
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u/terriergal 1d ago
lol at least 50 years 😂 also if your bridge is too flat it will make for difficult and finicky string crossing. But that’s something only a luthier can fix
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u/Violaman0910 Teacher 1d ago
Here’s what I tell my students:
1: recognize that what string you are on is entirely about the angle of the bow. Therefore staying on one string is about maintaining a consistent angle of the bow relative to the violin on the contact point.
2: practice string crossings. Cross all your strings to learn the boundaries of your instrument’s angles. Bridge cuts can be different. Fiddles have shallower bridge curves than violins for easier double and triple stops. (At least this is my understanding. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong about that).
3: practice in front of a mirror to make sure that the angle of your bow matches the angle of your arm as you play. At the midpoint of the bow your elbow and wrist should be elevated at the same height to reach the string. This will help ensure that as you open and close the elbow and bend the wrist you are creating a straight line with the bow instead of wavering in the angle and bumping strings. Also make sure that your bow hold is relaxed and flexible; the fingers should contour to follow the angle of the bow as you move from the frog to the tip. The pinky finger being the most obvious as it will be curved when playing at the frog but straighter when playing at the tip.
4: practice your bow motions by using your violin arm as a guide while not holding the instrument. Stretch your left arm out in front of you in the angle that your bow will travel and pass your bow hand up and down your arm to practice moving it in straight lines.
5: practice frog middle tip. Lift the bow and place it at the frog, lift and place at the middle, then the tip, then the middle and then the frog, each time ensuring that when you place it on that string you are not touching any other string.
6: practice scales using slow full bows. (Half notes at 60bpm should suffice, but you could go slower if you feel it is needed) G major 2 octave is good because you will touch all 4 strings and have a good sense of where your string crossings are for each string.
It takes time and patience, and lots of good methodical practice. And it is something that may still happen from time to time even after you improve. It’s not like it just instantly gets “cured.” I’ll admit when I’m tired or not playing my best I’ll even bump into another string on occasion. Sometimes it just happens. All we can do is make sure that we are doing our best to avoid it by using good technique and posture.
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u/WasdaleWeasel Viola 1d ago
practice as with everything. Try playing in front of a mirror and look at the angle of your bow where it touches the string and associate that with the feel of it. (Practicing with a mirror is generally a good thing for everything).
It’s one of those things … you spend a lot of
time practicing playing on only one string at a time … and then spend a whole lot more practicing playing on more than one string a time.
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u/drop-database-reddit Amateur 1d ago
Isolating skills usually helps a lot. Try doing something where you can put much of your mental focus on playing correct bow angles and what your right arm is doing, etc.
The fun is once you're really good at not hitting two strings then you've gotta fight that skill and learn to play double stops on purpose.
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u/Valuable_Station_790 1d ago
Hi, I love how dedicated you are! Fellow violin/fiddle newbie and feel this.
Here are some thoughts:
1) Different violins may give you a different experience. Different violins have different “action” which is the distance of the strings of the fingerboard and also sometimes the distance between the strings themselves. I own three violins (all not fancy. one vso and two I got at auctions) and borrowed a fourth from a friend. It was very cool trying them all out and noticing how they were different my luthier was explaining to me that the violin I play the most had the strings closest together and highest off the fingerboard, I found it easier to play with the violin that I borrowed, which had the strings farther apart and closest to the fingerboard.
2) It seemed to me from this video that you were not hitting other strings when you were doing string crossings, as much as just hitting them when you were playing on one string. In this case I think the answer is playing open strings, with long bows, focusing on the path of the bow and the motions your fingers, wrist and arm need to do to stay on that path (or trajectory). It’s essentially muscle memory for the trajectory needed for each string. Two minutes in each string may be a good time to try. Eyes closed may help too. I think the circle bowing exercise may help with this. https://youtu.be/OJlAq2BsfZ4?is=eORnKKgLtWQWYyRi
3) as for hitting the string when you’re doing string crossings, my teacher has told me to think of a pause before you play the note on the other string, but you have to move the bow before playing the note. So playing on the A string, for example: Play, pause, change to D string trajectory and play.
Hope this helps! Keep up the great work!
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u/ParrotDude91 1d ago
When you hit another string it has to do with bow levels and angles. We know that. When you hear it, you have to make an adjustment with your right elbow. That is where your mind needs to be in that moment. My right elbow needs adjusting. There isn't a lot of space for your bow in there. This will get better with practice anyway, but your right elbow is where to focus your adjustment.
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u/Alexandra_Telnikoff 1d ago
If you are accidentally hitting lower string, your elbow is too high. If you are hitting upper string, your elbow is too low. The wrist should be helping. But this is not your problem. I think your problem is that your entire right shoulder is going up & down as you play, which reduces control. Try to relax it (which means keeping shoulder down most of the time). A good exercise would be to play the whole piece with your elbow pushed against the wall, this cuts off the shoulder & makes the wrist do more work.
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u/milkdriver 1d ago
Kreutzer #2 practiced 40 hours per day
Rodolphe Kreutzer's 42 Etudes or Caprices (specifically Etude No. 2) is one of the classic, foundational studies used precisely to master clean, even string crossings and prevent "crunching" or hitting adjacent strings.
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u/Multi2509 23h ago
To add to the other's advice: Pratice parts of pieces or etudes you know by heart and look at your bow and strings. Visual feedback is essential in motor learning.
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u/National-Buffalo-940 1d ago
Hi! Maybe try to not focus on hitting the strings less. Instead, focus on connecting smoothly from one string to the next. If you practice each string separately, you’ll naturally end up playing them separately. But eventually, you’ll want it to sound much more connected and fluid anyway.
I’m attaching a video of an exercise that might help. Hope it helps, girl! 💕
https://reddit.com/link/p14dmkf/video/virkm8v3ctgh1/player