Bowing Techniques (Important things to consider while applying your bow to strings)

If you feel dissatisfied with the tonal qualities you're achieving with your bowing technique, please consider the following tips and techniques:

1. Pressure of the Bow: This certainly can affect tonal quality...experiment with adding slight pressure and increasing it as you draw the bow. The first finger of your bowing hand is where most of the pressure is applied. You'll want to work with a qualified teacher on this since bowing technique it's such a critical aspect of learning to play well.

2. At what point on the strings is the bow applied. There's a "sweet spot" where the strings are the most responsive to the drawing of the bow without any harshness in tone. I've found this to fall right at the end of the fingerboard. You'll want to experiment yourself to determine where the "sweet spot" falls on your violin. Many time this can be directly between the end of the fingerboard and the bridge. If you play above the fingerboard, the violin loses presence and volume. Even so, you might some songs call for this mellower tone. If you play too close to the bridge, you'll notice that the sound becomes more trebly...and has a certain whistling quality.

3. The bow needs to be in a straight line above the strings drawing a perfect plus sign. As you draw the bow over the strings, you'll want to focus on keeping the bow as straight as possible...the plus sign should be as accurate as possible throughout your playing. Try practicing this technique by drawing the bow from the lowest part to the tip of the bow. As you draw the bow its entire length, carefully observe the angle you're playing...and make sure that you're drawing a straight line across the strings. Keep the speed of the bow consistent...be careful to allow the bow to exert its own pressure, against the string, through natural gravity.

4. Are you using the full flatness of the hair of your bow against the string. Many good violinists will use approximately 3/4s+ of the hair applied to the string as the bow is being drawn. To do this, simply angle your bow just slightly so that part of the hair is raised closest to you. Again, you'll have to experiment with this to determine if it improves the tone. You may find that variations of using both the flat surface of the hair and 3/4s will contribute to songs in different ways. Experimentation is your best research.

5. How tight is your bow hair? When tightening the bow hair, be sure to leave it slightly loose and not over tighten. Over tightening the bow hair leaves too much tension and can affect the tone and the arch in your bow. The wood of your bow should still have a very slight arch to it after tightening the bow hair correctly (it should not be a straight line). You should be able to tap the bow slightly on one of your fingers and determine that the hair will barely touch the wood part of the bow.

6. Did you apply just the right amount of rosin? If you have too much rosin, there will be a scratchy sound as you draw the bow...with too little, the tone will seem to disappear as you draw the bow. If you find that you've applied too much rosin, do not attempt to clean the hair. Cleaners and Oils can ruin the capability of the hair to grab the string and create a clear pitch. It's best to play until the rosin slowly dissipates. If you feel that the rosin doesn't appear to be applying itself to your bow, this can be determined by gaining a whispering tone instead of a full clear pitch, try sanding the cake of rosin with some sandpaper so that it has a rough surface.

7. Do you have the proper grip on your bow? A few things to consider include: do not grip your bow too tightly, do not add unnecessary pressure to the bow, be sure to rest your little finger on the top of the bow, and keep your entire bowing arm and hand as relaxed as possible.

Preventing Squeaky Tones

Many violins will have tonal characteristics that differ even within the same makes...some fiddlers look for a scratchy sounding violin; most violinists look for a deeper resonance with warmth...

Here are some further notes on preventing squeaky sounds:

1. The rosin cake was not properly started so that it will rub off on to the hair...this only requires some sandpaper so that there's dust on top of the rosin cake before you apply it to your bow...too much rosin will cause a scratchy sound; too little rosin will cause some squeaky tones and usually more of a whisper than a clear pitch...be careful not to use any type of cleaner or oils on your bow hair...

2. Be careful to keep your fingers from touching adjacent strings while drawing the bow...this will most definitely cause some squeaky overtones...

3. Make sure that your bow hair is properly taut...there should be a slight bounce to it...and the back ark of the bow should still show up slightly...

4. Make sure that you're pressing down with the tip of your finger as you play...if you let up even slightly, you will not gain a clear tone...

5. Make sure the bow is being drawn directly where the fingerboard ends...there's usually a sweet spot on every violin...if you draw the bow too close to the bridge, the tone becomes tinny and harsh; if you draw the bow too far up the fingerboard, you will not have good presence tonal quality...

6. As you draw the bow, try tilting it slightly away from you as you play...this will create less contact between the bow hair and the strings...and will usually soften the tone slightly...

Here are some tips and avoiding adjacent strings with your bow:

There could be a few of reasons why your bow is touching adjacent strings:
1. The bow hair is somewhat loose...and should be tight enough to bounce slightly...not too tight....

2. The strings themselves may need to be tuned up to pitch...if they're not tuned to concert pitch, they may be too loose to keep the bow above the adjacent strings...

3. You do not want to add any force, downward pressure, on the bow...the bow should be lightly resting on the strings as you draw it...

4. Your bridge may have been flattened by the previous owner so that it was adjusted for fiddling...many fiddlers will flatten the bridge so that there's less arch and the strings are relatively close to being on the same plane. This makes it easier to play double-stops (two strings at once) which is quite common in fiddling...

How to Prevent Violin Bow Bouncing