<p>This past Thursday (3/13/08) the NY Times had an article about bowties coming back into fashion. To some–my architect husband and scores (sorry) of musicians–the bowtie has never gone out of style. My H feels that pre-tied bowties are an abomination, so this was a nice article. The article mentioned this video as a good how-to (I’m not sure my H agrees with this, as he hasn’t had time to watch it. He taught S by standing behind him in mirror and tying it that way). </p>
<p>Just thought a nice, non-college application thread would be soothing, for me, anyway.</p>
<p>And this could apply to female musicians who are called upon to tie their colleagues’ ties or like to wear them, too. (I wore a purple-cow bowtie to work a number of times years ago just for fun.)</p>
<p>Thanks, Neumes. I’ve passed it on to my son to bookmark for future reference. He uses a pre-tied bow now, but might choose to be more picky in the future!</p>
<p>Personally, I find any sort of necktie an abomination. I hate the notion of having something tied around my throat when I am singing. My solution has been to cultivate a long, bushy full beard. It is large and thick enough to allow me to tie all neckwear much more loosely than would pass without the camouflage. When wearing a tux, my bowtie is completely invisible.</p>
<p>Baritonevoce, you are welcome. My son didn’t wear a tie for most auditions–just an open collared black shirt–but did wear a straight tie for one, loosely tied (he likes the Windsor knot).</p>
<p>BassDad, what a great idea, to grow a tie-covering beard. It’ll be a while for my son…I’m wondering, can violin and viola players play with a big beard?</p>
<p>An interesting question regarding facial hair and the upper strings. Many players of violin and viola will complain of the ubiquitous “violin hickey”, an annoying little rash that tends to develop under the left side of the jaw under the chin. It’s caused by irritation from the instrument’s chin rest or body, and can be a bane depending on an individual’s playing habits and styles, as well as skin sensitivity.</p>
<p>My son has fairly sensitive skin, easily prone to irritation and sunburn. He has on occasion sported a goatee type arrangment, but will keep the vegetation closely trimmed so as not to grow in neck and under chin areas.</p>
<p>I would imagine a beard more of a hindrance for most, as it could make the instrument slip, serve as a sponge in soaking sweat during playing, and some players may well not like the insulating, sound deadening aspects a beard in contact with the instrument body might produce.</p>
<p>In recent memory, Glenn Dicterow sports a goatee type arrangement and I visually recall Pinchas Zukerman as being bearded at various points in his career. No one else immediately comes to mind.</p>
<p>Full beards may be more common in fiddlers, who often employ more of a shoulder hold as opposed to chin hold contact with their instruments. Charlie Daniels comes to mind here. I’m sure there are others.</p>
<p>(PS. I would not have envisioned BassDad as being the full beard type. So much for mental images.)</p>
<p>Showed the bowtie video to our British choral scholar yesterday and he was amused. He said that he insisted on wearing a bowtie to school at age 6, until he had a uniform with a straight tie. As a choral scholar in an all-male choir at Cambridge he was the go-to man for tying scholars’ bowties. Got teased a bit but was in great demand, and tied them a wee bit snug if necessary…</p>
<p>Sorry to disappoint, but my chin has not seen the light of day since my own college years. If you want a fair approximation for your revised mental images, think of a 3/4 scale model of Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies then add eyeglasses.</p>