How to Prepare a Cello Bow

Video Transcript

"FRANCIS JOSEPH SANTORI: Hello. More about the cello bow. Today, we're going to learn how to rosin the bow. First, we take it out of its protective case. We tighten the bow. I tighten the bow to where I can fit, barely fit my pinkie underneath the first digit, as you see. Cello rosin, I'm not endorsing any particular type of rosin. I like this kind. I learned something called ghost bowing, where you take your cello and you hold it in your bow position and pretend to bow a string, rubbing it firmly across the surface in a nice, straight line from end to end, being careful not to get it on to the different mechanical parts at the ends of the bow. You're just rosining the hairs of the bow. You can go at different speeds. You can adjust it. You can kind of feel it where it needs the rosin. You get a nice, even coat all the way across. Afterwards, there's a lot of residual dust on it that will get on your instrument very quickly. I give it a good, firm [SWINGS BOW IN THE AIR] to kind of shake the rest of it out."