How to Hold the Bow By Akilah Merriweather

First….  When approaching the bow of a stringed instrument, violin, viola, cello, or bass, first think of holding a pencil.  Violin/Viola  Hold the pencil vertically in front of you with your right hand, loosely, with thumb placed against the shaft of the pencil (bow).

Then…  Lower four fingers are wrapped around the pencil, with tips of fingers barely touching the palm of the hand.  The eraser end (tip of bow) of the pencil is at the top, the lead of the pencil (the frog of the bow) is pointing towards the floor.

 *If substituting the pencil with the real bow, this is the direction the bow should be in relation to the hand.

Then…  Envision the pencil being an egg in your mind…  Loosen the grip to where the space inside your palm, contains your imaginary egg, which should be envisioned where the longest length of the egg is parallel with the pencil.  Don’t break the egg!!

Then…  Turn your hand horizontally, with the pencil parallel to the floor.  Place your thumb around the bottom of the egg, while your four fingers are draped around the opposite side of the egg, opposite the thumb.

Then…  Your egg is now a pencil again!  The thumb remains curved and grabs the pencil with the tip. (The thumb should be placed with the tip or padding in the small space between the frog and the black finger guard on the bow).

 The forefinger is raised along the shaft of the pencil, towards the eraser, to where it grips the pencil (bow) in between the first two joints.  The pinky is raised to lie gently on the shaft of the pencil (bow).

Finally!  The ring finger should be covering the dot located in the middle of the frog of the bow.  Arc the hand clockwise with the wrist about 15°; you have a perfect bow hold!