How Fast Does Violin Bowstick Go?

S urprisingly, this 2009 CMT blogpost on violin kinematics keeps receiving a lot of pageviews every day, with page visitlengths averaging more than 3 minutes. (I monitor the tags/keywords that cause readers to land on each page, to better understand what topics for future posts might be useful and welcomed. And, for that 2009 post, ‘bowstick velocity’, ‘bow speed’, ‘bowing agility’, and similar phrases are what people seem to be looking for information about.) So I thought I’d gather together here some relevant links on that specific aspect.

A lso, because some people who are searching on these searchstrings and keywords have emailed me to say that they have a desire to increase the maximum velocities that they can propel the bowstick with, I collect some links below that have to do with various athletic activities involving fine motor coordination and speed of the upper extremity. (For pianists, Czerny and Hanon are of course good. For brass players, Arban. For violin family, the Bauer books look interesting, although I have not tried them myself.)

M ost interesting to me are some of the findings in the research papers by Diana Young and her colleagues (jpeg above), showing a tremendous amount of ‘fine-structure’ in the velocity and force timeseries. No matter how ‘smooth’ we think our bowing is, there are a tremendous number of little variations—some of them arising with the interaction of the bowhair with the strings; other of them arising from the ratchety contraction physiology of our muscles.

• Barnes M, Cissik J. Sport Speed and Agility Training. 2e. Coaches Choice, 2010.
  
• Bauer J. Speed Reading for Violin: Velocity, Agility & Concentration Drills. Mel Bay, 2009.
  
• Bauer J. Speed Reading for Viola: Velocity, Agility & Concentration Drills. Mel Bay, 2009.
  
• Brown L, Ferrigno V. Training for Speed, Agility, and Quickness. 2e. Human Kinetics, 2005.
  
• Dawes J, Roozen M, eds. Developing Agility and Quickness. Human Kinetics, 2011.
  
• Fletcher N, Rossing T. Physics of Musical Instruments. , . [Ch. 10]
  
• Gamble P. Training for Sports Speed and Agility: An Evidence-Based Approach. Routledge, 2011.
  
• Kielbaso J. Ultimate Speed & Agility. 2e. Crew, 2011.
  
• Maestre E, et al. Acquisition of violin instrumental gestures using a commercial EMF tracking device. Proc ICMC, 2007.
  
• Schoonderwaldt E, Demoucron M. Extraction of bowing parameters from violin performance combining motion capture and sensors. JASA 2009;126:2695-708.
  
• Schoonderwaldt E. The player and the bowed string: Coordination of bowing parameters in violin and viola performance. JASA 2009;126:2709-20.
  
• Stefania Serafin page at Aalborg Univ
  
• Julius Smith page at Stanford Univ
  
• Woodhouse J, Galluzzo P. The bowed string as we know it today. Acta Acustica 2004;90:579-89.
  
• Woodhouse J. Bowed string stimulation using a thermal friction model. Acta Acustica 2003;89:355-68.
  
• Woodhouse J. Physical modeling of bowed strings. Computer Music J 1992;16:43-56.
  
• Jim Woodhouse page at Cambridge Univ
  
• Young D. Capturing bowing gesture: Interpreting individual technique. Springer Tracts in Adv Robotics 2011;74:85-103.
  
• Young D, et al. Inertial sensing for estimating human kinematics. Proc ICPA, 2009.
  
• Young D. Classification of common violin bowing techniques using gesture data from a playable measurement system. Proc NIME, 2008.
  
• Young D, Deshmane A. Bowstroke database: A web-accessible archive of violin bowing data. Proc NIME, 2007.
  
• Young D, Serafin S. Investigating the performance of a violin physical model: Recent real-player studies. Proc ICMC 2007.
  
• Diana Young page at MIT Media Lab
  
• Vicon motion capture system

Rational Exuberance: The Joyous Athleticism of St. Lawrence String Quartet

P    lay every concert like it’s your last; every phrase like it’s the most important thing you’ve ever said... Remember that the only reason you’re there is to make people cry and sweat and shiver, and give them that incredible sense of creation happening before your eyes [ears]. That’s the [only] reason to play. Otherwise there’s no point.”
  —  Geoff Nuttall, violinist, SLSQ.

T  he St Lawrence String Quartet performance in Kansas City’s Folly Theater last night, as part of the Friends of Chamber Music’s 2009-10 season, was superb.

• Haydn: String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2
  
• Mendelssohn: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 80
  
• Beethoven: String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131

T he interpretations were spirited, to the outer limits of spiritedness—often drawing upon auxiliary abductor and adductor muscles for the most vigorous bowing. The exertion and enthusiasm are sometimes so great that, well, your feet simply become airborne:



U nconventional… unique even, Geoff Nuttall’s foot-action. No, the gestures of all of SLSQ’s members are beyond exuberant, really. But never to the point of becoming ‘spectacle’.

T    hese are fearless musicians whose spontaneity stretches past conventional interpretation and probes the music’s imaginative limits.”
  —  The Washington Post.

T he lively, extraordinary mindfulness of the quartet was captivating, vibrant, alive. Watching them and listening to them, it is possible believe that playing music as they do is the ultimate antidote to ennui of everyday life. The majority of people in the audience may not be suffering from any diseases or obvious pathologies. But if there are blocked arteries or high blood pressures, this activity and these sounds must surely help to reverse them!

W hat I mean is, SLSQ performs as though string performance practice were ‘dance’. Their motions are more ‘balletic’ than merely musicianly, and this fact lends itself toward emotionally concentrating or intensifying their musical expressiveness. Fascinating!

W ho knew that great strength in rectus abdominis muscles is needed to play stringed instruments this passionately? Wow! Bravo!

• St. Lawrence String Quartet website
  
• Albright A, Gere D, eds. Taken by Surprise: A Dance Improvisation Reader. Wesleyan, 2003.
  
• Desmond J. Meaning in Motion: New Cultural Studies of Dance. Duke Univ, 1997.
  
• Forencich F. Exuberant Animal. AuthorHouse, 2006.
  
• Huron D. Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation. MIT, 2006.
  
• Jamison K. Exuberance: The Passion for Life. Vintage, 2005.
  
• Juslin P, ed. Music and Emotion: Theory and Research. Oxford Univ, 2001.
  
• Lepecki A. Of the Presence of the Body: Essays on dance and Performance Theory. Oxford Univ, 2007.
  
• Levitin D. This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession. Penguin, 2007.
  
• Martin R. Critical Moves: Dance Studies in Theory and Politics. Duke Univ, 1998.
  
• Sloboda J. Exploring the Musical Mind: Cognition, Emotion, Ability, Function. Oxford Univ, 2005.
  
• Thomas H. The Body, Dance and Cultural Theory. Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003.
  
• Wallenstein G. The Pleasure Instinct: Why We Crave Adventure, Chocolate, Pheromones, and Music. Wiley, 2008.