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Tips on Making a Violin Bow Glide Over the Strings

You know how hard bowing can be if you are just starting to play the violin. Professional violinists make bowing look so easy by gliding the bow along the strings to create beautiful sounds. But you may find your bow sticking or wiggling when you try to play notes on your violin. Try these bowing tips to get your bow gliding over your violin strings to create wonderful music.
  1. Bow Hair

    • Check the tension of the bow hair to ensure a proper violin tone. Make sure you are using the full flatness of the bow hair on the strings. Use rosin on your violin bow to make it glide on the strings. Rosin is made from pine sap with different materials such as gold, lead, copper or beeswax added. Rosin creates a stickiness that pulls the violin strings to produce sound. Bow cleaners and hand oils impede the bow hair's ability to pull the violin string. Sand the rosin cake first before applying rosin to your violin bow to ensure that the rosin will stick to the bow hairs.

    Bow Grip

    • Try a fiddler's grip on your bow. Fiddlers hold their bows further up the back of the bow, away from the frog. This makes it easier to balance while bowing and produces less wobbling or wiggling of the bow. Try gripping closer to the frog as you get more comfortable with bowing techniques on your violin. Keep your bowing arm and hand relaxed with your little finger on top of the bow. Take a break if you feel your arm or hand tensing up.

    Bowing Technique

    • Practice using different pressures on the bow. Most of the bow pressure comes from your first finger. Too much pressure will make the bow slip and skid along the strings. Not enough pressure may make the bow wobble. Find the sweet spot on your violin. This is where the bow glides smoothly and produces a pure, sweet tone. Make sure you are bowing parallel to the strings and using the whole length of the bow to pull each string properly. Keep the bow in a straight line as you draw it across the strings. Give your arm and hand a periodic rest while practicing bowing techniques to prevent tiring.

Music Basics

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