5 Bow Techniques You're Doing Wrong!

5 viola / violin bow technique tips!

0:16 Getting a good sound: pull, don’t push!
1:14 Portato: overusing it and doing it wrong!
2:14 Straight bow is a lie!
4:40 Chicken wing string-crossings
6:00 Use your big muscles for spiccato!

"What is true violin legato?" by Violinist Daniel Kurganov
   • What is true violin legato?  

Letting my super-nerdy technical side out in this video to tell you five counterintuitive bow arm tips for violists and violinists that I see people getting wrong all the time, from beginners to my colleagues at Juilliard!

I strongly believe in everything I say in this video, but it's reasonable that someone could have a different opinion. Everyone's technique is at least slightly different. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below, whether you agree or disagree.

Also, it needs to be said that I'm still working on improving all of these things myself, and you can certainly catch me with bad technique in some of my previous videos. Feel free to call me out on it if I have bad technique in future videos! Playing viola is a life-long struggle.