Saturday, October 19, 2013

Lessons On Playing The Bowed Psaltery

By Megan Landry


A bowed psaltery is one of the extra ordinary musical instruments with a rich history of existence since time in memorial. It looks like a violin in one way or the other. The shape differs; this one has a triangular one. It comes with a bow just like the violin. This bow is used in striking the strings for sound production.

The body is made of wood material and it has a number of strings which run in the two opposite sides of the triangle to the base. With these, there is guarantee of quality sound production while playing as it is an extraordinary device. The only letdown it has is that of playing just one key at a time, it is not possible to stroke different keys at once.

As a learner, the first step is to know how to hold it comfortably as it is suppose to be. Here, the tip faces away from the body while the base comes to rest on the tummy. The left arm provides support by holding the area beneath the tip while the right one gets hold of the bow. This is the one used to cause movements of the bow across the strings and produce a sound. Playing is always done in a sitting posture with legs crossed.

Playing and making melodies is the next stage on line. Using a bow, the strings are struck from left to right within the pins. One has to maintain each stroke in these open places. With the passage of time, one can be taught to play using two bows at the same time and at such a stage, it is usually extra amazing to use the two.

Once a learner has known this, the tuning aspect comes into play. This one is quite simple since one does not have to tune it every now and then because there is provision of a tuning wrench. Tuning depicts extend of care the owner has towards the instrument. Tweaking is the one needed quite often when one wants to practice in playing. Caution should be exercised in order to avoid breaking the stings.

The entire process of learning can be done in a classroom or privately using the guidance of playing tips provided on the internet. There are many videos on different sites ways of playing this instrument. The best thing about the online components is that one can watch them over and over again until he or she gets it done correctly.

The classroom one is offered by teachers on a private, and one on one basis. This one has truly been overshadowed by the online teachings. In choosing a reliable teacher, one should analyze different components concerning this individual. This is a cautious approach so that the learner does not fall for someone who is incompetent to handle such matter.

For better perfection in playing the bowed psaltery, learners are encouraged to be consistent in practice and try new ideas and styles on their own. The implication of this is a regular playing time on a daily or weekly basis. Through such practices, he or she is transformed into an expert.




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