Using a Violin Bow

Series Summary

Music is one of the primary forms of communication on Earth. Whether the use of tones and melodies developed before, after, or in conjunction with spoken language is unknown; yet music is unique in that it helps us to talk to each other in ways that language cannot achieve. It creates a connection between people that is not limited by time, distance, or relationship; a song can speak to anyone, anywhere. That’s why music continually changes and grows, is still loved and still proliferates. Music is a living language. Proper violin bowing technique is one of the most important parts of playing the violin. In this free video series a classically trained violinist will teach you all about violin bowing. You will learn about using the full length of your violin bow and get tips on playing violin with the lower, middle and upper parts of the bow. You will also learn about sticcato violin bowing and how to loosen your violin bow hair. If you are interested in playing violin, let our expert show you how to begin with basic bowing techniques.

Video Transcript

"So in this series we're going to look more at the bow. I'm starting to talk more about bow distribution, your bow control, the various areas of the bow. Because what you're going to find that when you start playing is that there's different parts of the bow that are more conducive to playing certain sections. So in certain sections it will make more sense to use that bottom third of the bow. In some sections you'll find that using the middle part of the bow is more appropriate. And up at the tip, there are certain sections where that's going to be the most beneficial part of the bow to use, especially when you're playing tremolo. Really, that's going to be more in this upper part of the bow. And again, you just want to always make sure that you're using all of your bow. You don't want to only use a part of the bow. So you want to also become very familiar with playing from the frog to the tip and from the tip to the frog and getting used to the full bow movement. So in this series, we're going to look more specifically at the bow."