QUIZ 14 INSTRUCTOR'S REMARKS

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 Oh, my, almost everything is wrong here, except maybe the hand position on the bow. It starts with the bass position: the side of the bass flush against the belly. This means the left arm can't swing around naturally, so it's cramped and angular, and the 90-degree angle between the forearm and fingers means that the fingers are isolated from the power of the forearm's muscles in trying to open, and to press the strings with strength.

It looks like the right hip is pushed out a bit, maybe because the bass is awkwardly involved with the left hip; at any rate, the left shoulder is high, the right elbow still bent as the bow approaches the tip, and consequently the bow is moving too close to the fingerboard and not at right angles to the string, so there is bound to be poor sound.

But I think all of this arises from the position of the bass, so I'd just ask the guy to "freeze," and then rotate the bass 1/8 turn counterclockwise; and then maybe touch the right shoulder to get it to drop. The moral of this story: always start your analysis at the beginning, and that's stance and position of the bass with the body. Flaws with that will magnify as your eye moves over the arms to the fingertips, where, because the problems are really obvious, you may be tempted to focus remediation, but that doesn't get to the root of the problems.

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