I have a new bow and am in awe of what a wonderful difference it is making in my playing. The bow I had at the ESI was pretty good, but very stiff. Olov saw me struggling with something and tried my bow and said, “It is very stiff, but it should work.” I tried my best. But I ordered a bow from Jean Claude Condi, with the help of Emilie who knows him and spoke to him in French. It took about 5 months once we had his attention. I was able to have him ship it to friends in Sweden, since it was not ready until after I had returned to the USA and he didn’t want to ship it to the USA. Then I picked it up when I returned to Sweden and visited them in Furudal in late July.
But what a difference! There are several things I have played where the difference was remarkable; specifically some 16th note passages are now clearly heard where before with the stiff bow they were muddy. I noticed it first on Polska på Överväningen. The other thing is that now I can do gungstråk after some years of trying to do it. I’m sure the ESI training is contributing to this, but the new bow has really been a boost. I am also more consistently getting the sound quality I am aiming for when we worked on “tonstarter” with Olov (the initiation of the note).
The old bow is above and the new bow below. The old one is 48 grams and the new one is 44 grams, so a bit lighter.
Thanks, Sonia, for sending this. I am pretty happy with my bow. I have tried some others and am still happy with the one I have. But I didn’t try yours when you were here. I know what a huge difference a good brush can make in calligraphy, but I have not experienced the difference a good bow can make. I still labor under the delusion that it is my own skill that needs improving. And it does. Need improving.
I am also tempted to purchase a new bow but this will have to wait a while I think….