[MUSIC].
Here in Battle Hymn of the Republic, what
we're mainly,
learning in this one is how to play lazy
dotted rhythms.
And, lazy may sound like a sort of term
but.
It just means that we're not trying to
make it really snappy like a march.
I think you know this tune.
[MUSIC]
And even though it's often written
as a dotted rhythm as you see it here.
It's really performed more like triplets.
Later on I get to be really strict when I
see and
when I write a dotted rhythm I want it
really snappy.
But in, a lot of times in traditional
songs like this they're written as dotted
rhythms and they're preformed more as
triplets and so that's what I call lazy.
So you don't need much articulation with
the bow.
Just a little bit of slowing and stopping.
[MUSIC]
So all of the action here is gonna
take place in the middle two-thirds of the
bow.
Another thing we are gonna talk about in
this one is a low first finger,
reaching back with the first finger.
So, how do we do that?
If a normal one
[MUSIC]
looks like that,.
A low one.
I'm only gonna move the finger, not the
rest of the hand.
[MUSIC]
So you'll see that one,
it's reaching quite a ways back.
That's actually okay.
That's a healthy position for the hand and
for the finger.
Reaching back in general we like on the
violin.
Reaching forward we try to do as little as
possible,
because that puts a strain on the hand.
But the second and the first finger in the
hand can actually reach back
a good ways and they don't get hurt and
they, they don't get tired.
So even if it feels a little strange at
first.
That's a great position to practice for
the rest of your violin playing life.
[MUSIC]
So the thing to watch out for
is that you're not moving the rest of the
hand back.
The, this would, that would look like
this.
[MUSIC]
When you do that you've taken
the hand out of first position.
And then as soon as you're not playing a
low one anymore, you don't have a good
frame, a frame of reference with the hand,
to play the rest of those notes in tune.
And I talk about the frame of the hand all
the way up through the most advanced
repertoire.
So
[MUSIC].
The rest of the hand stays rock solid.
So, at letter C, right there you gonna
make a bow circle.
That's the first one in this,
because the whole rest of the tune up to
this point has been on the string.
[MUSIC]
And this bow circle can go
closer to the middle of the bow.
It doesn't have to go all the way to the
frog because this tune
is basically in the middle two thirds of
the bow.
And.
Two measures after C and
four measures after C the bow should stay
on the string.
You don't need to pick it up.
[MUSIC]
So the bow stops but
you keep it right there.
[MUSIC].
Picking the bow up off the string when you
don't actually need to make a circle and
move it somewhere else is a dangerous
practice.
That's a bad habit to get into because
every time you take the bow off the string
you somehow have to put it back.
And that can make unintended noises and
it leads to inconsistent contact with the
string.
So it would be wonderful if you build to
have it early,
leave the bow on the string when you can.
Any time you take if off have a nice plan
for exactly how and
where you're going to get back.
Like you do at letter C with your bow
circle.
And finally, just after letter D, imagine
the words.
[MUSIC]
That's why we're hooking
glory, glory, hallelujah.
His truth, and just before his, if you
were speaking or singing it, you would
make a slight break, a slight phrasing, so
that's what we do when we play.
[MUSIC].