Let's get started with your bowing

This week, we start with the foundations. We'll look at how you use the full length of the bow and why where you start and finish a phrase matters. I want you to become more aware of where your bow is, rather than finding yourself stuck in the middle of it when you need more room to move.

We'll work with jigs and waltzes and explore slurs, string crossings, rolls, cuts and triplets. I'll take you through the ideas slowly and we'll put them into practice through the tunes.

Don't worry about playing quickly at this stage. Give yourself time. Listen to the rhythm, pay attention to the movement of your bow and repeat the phrases as often as you need. You don't have to get everything right the first time.

By the end of this lesson, I want you to start feeling that you are controlling the bow, rather than the bow controlling you.

Gerry

1. Week 1, Let's Get Started with Your Bowing. The foundations of bow control, position and phrasing. You've just had this one.
2. Week 2, Finding the Flow in Your Jigs. Slurring into the beat, single bowing, rolls and string crossings.
3. Week 3, Exploring the Slip Jig. Its distinctive rhythm, plus slurs, cuts and rolls.
4. Week 4, Moving into Reels. Applying your bowing to reels and repeating patterns.
5. Week 5, Building Your Reel Bowing. Cuts, triplets, rolls and phrasing in reels.
6. Week 6, Recognising the Patterns. Spotting recurring bowing patterns and using them in new tunes.
7. Week 7, Bringing Your Bowing into Session Reels. Applying it all to familiar session tunes.
8. Week 8, Music from The Rose in the Gap. Tunes from my own research into Oriel and South Ulster.
9. Week 9, Giving the Music Space to Breathe. Slow airs, expression, drones, cuts and vibrato.
10. Week 10, Bringing It All Together. Pulling every technique together and applying it beyond the course.