Ricochet Bow Stroke
So I was wondering if you had any suggestions for how to practice ricochet bowing.
You're probably practicing ricochet, but it's hard to control different tempos and rhythms.
[student] It's hard to get the right rhythm. Yeah.
Okay. Well, it's basically just getting the feel of letting the bow bounce up by itself.
So just throw it a few times.
Good. And then we start doing a couple of different rhythms.
Good.
Right. Do you want to try it a little faster?
Right.
Right. Now do it up bow to down bow.
In other words, you just basically get creative.
You make up your different combinations of up bows and down bows
and you do it in a lot of different tempos.
And you might experiment a little bit.
For example, most of the world, if they're playing "William Tell Overture,"
if they're playing that, they'll do two downs and an up.
I'm different. I play...
I feel better doing down and two ups.
You can practice different combinations of downs and ups
and see what feels best in your bow arm.
It's very personal. It's a little bit up bow, down bow staccato.
And the other thing you want to feel--just do this again,
and you're doing it very well--your thumb is loose enough that you can actually feel the bow
inside the fingers vibrating, can't you?
So you'll block it.
If you did have a death grip on here, then it would be...
Lots of young cellists trying to play ricochet have trouble
because they're so tight here they take all the spring out of the bow.
For the bow to spring, it's got to be loose in the hand.
Sometimes if I'm performing a piece with ricochet in it,
especially with the tensions of performance,
I'll find that the bow just almost half drops out of my hand
when I'm trying to do the ricochet bowing.
I was wondering if you have any suggestions or things to think about
for avoiding that.
Yeah. The only way that you're going to get rid of that is to have the courage to let go.
Maybe sometimes three come out when you mean two.
Okay. That's not a big deal.
You're getting the sensation and you're getting used to it.
And usually the way you control the rhythm is timing the bow change.
Like if you want three or you want four...
it's when you change the bow.
If you can be aware of that, then you can control the rhythm.
Try threes and then switch to fours.
So three on one bow and then one up? >>Right.
Right. Even be looser.
Right.
Good. It's good to get so loose that you really feel you have no control at all.
And then you suddenly discover you do.
Bravo.
You look like a pro.
[Sebastian Baverstam, cello]
[Kodály: Sonata for Solo Cello, Op.8, 3rd Mvt.]