The bow

The length of a violin bow is 73 cm, not including the button. It may weigh between 55 amd 65 g, the normal weight currently being 60 g.

Its basic constituents are:

a) A stick, generally made of Pernambuco wood (name of the state in Brazil where the essence comes from). One of the ends is called the head, the other, the nut. Pernambuco is a reddish wood, hard and flexible at the same time, possessing all the qualities necessary to make a good bow. It is said that the famous bow maker Tourte, called "Tourte the Elder", was the first to use this wood for making bows at the end of the 18th century.

b) Bowhair consisting of approximately 150 "thoroughbred" horsehairs fixed to the head in a groove and to the nut in a movable frog that slides along the stick thus allowing one to tighten or slacken the hairs. The frog is controlled by a button that monitors a screw lodged in a cavity in the nut.

Rosin is a resin (or a mix of resins) used to harden the microscopic rugged edges of the horsehairs that by rubbing set the string vibrating. Rosin should be used sparingly...

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