finding a teacher

I decided in the summer to find a teacher because a few months later, I was still sounding pretty squeaky and I was still not sure when to use an up bow or down bow, though I had learned a few scales and was pretty comfy with the fingerboard.

I found a teacher on the internet, but she didn't take me on because I have a weird work schedule. She seemed pretty cool, grad school education and neat website. Someone had suggested someone who was in an orchestra, but she was older and I assumed she'd have no time.

I did find another teacher on Craigslist, she plays fiddle music but knows classical stuff too a bit. She tours and plays professionally. At first she had me doing long bows, and did a fair amount of tweaking of my posture and how I held the fiddle. I had the heel of my hand resting on the fingerboard, and because I was practicing sitting down, I had started an "arm shelf" habit - I was leaning my elbow into my side, propping up the violin, instead of standing up straight with my elbow not against my body. I also wasn't using the shoulder rest, and when I tried, it turned out to be the wrong size. When I got the right size one, it made an amazing difference in how the violin sounded - just the position and posture.

She also showed me how to hold the bow properly. I had started holding it with my thumb flat on the bow, but my teacher told me to keep my thumb bent, and to not worry about it leaning in to the bow hairs. It feels like I'm pinching the bow, and it's a bit awkward, but I can see how you can exert more power on the bow that way. Playing in a fiddle style must take more strength - she told me to not be afraid of pressing the bow harder on the strings. I had read somewhere on the internet to let the weight of the bow make the sound, but for my teacher that's not enough, I have to press down on the strings.