This week I wanted my orchestra 2 (2nd year) orchestra students to work on unifying bow strokes. We watched a performance from TwoSet violin where they played a duet and their bowing very well matched. Even while playing different parts/notes, their bow strokes were unified: (watch just the first part when they were using full size violins). We also talked about tone and how to get the most sound from our instruments...no matter the size.
We talked about the importance of unified bow strokes and having everyone use the same amount of bow as well as matching bow placement, weight, speed. etc. To practice the skill, I selected short one measure rhythms from our concert music. I then used a YouTube FREEZE dance video to practice each rhythm:
For example, all students should play one note - low A. They all perform the same rhythm over and over (on low A) using the same bow strokes/same amount of bow until the video says to STOP/FREEZE. Once frozen, all students check to see if they are in the same part of the bow as everyone else. I paused the video as everyone froze. I then demonstrated a new rhythm for the next portion of the freeze dance, so we worked on 6 different rhythms total.
This game worked really well to help students match bowing, be aware of others in the ensemble, and master rhythms from our music. After playing this game, my students sounded much more unified in their concert music.
