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How to hold a violin bow

July 25, 2022
Posted in: Violin

There are many ways to hold the violin

bow. Starting with a beginner bow hold
we'll show you how hold the violin bow
correctly like a pro.

Jeremy
Staff | Sage Music

Table of contents

How To Properly Hold A Violin Bow.

There Is No “One Way”.

The Franco-Belgian Violin Bow

Hold

The Russian Violin Bow Hold

How To Hold The Violin Bow

Set The Thumb At The Frog

Place Middle And Ring Fingers

Over The Stick

Place Your Index Finger

Place The Pinky

How Do You Hold A Fiddle Bow?

Why Do We Hold The Violin Bow In

This Way?

Conclusion – You Are Now Ready To

Hold The Violin Bow The Right Way.

As a beginner violinist, you may have some

challenges with how to properly hold a violin
bow. But if you follow this step by step guide
to mastering your bow hold, you will be able to
hold a violin bow with ease. With some self-
discipline and patience, you’ll masterfully learn
how to hold the violin bow correctly.

How to properly hold a

violin bow. There is no
“one way”.

There are many ways to properly hold a bow,

but it effectively boils down to two main
schools of thought: the Russian Bow Hold,
and the Franco-Belgian Bow Hold. You can be
successful with either hold, so there is no one
proper way to do it.

The Franco-Belgian violin bow

hold

The Franco-Belgian bow hold is a more

popular choice in modern violin performance.
It was taught by masters of violin teaching
such as Ivan Galamian or Shinichi Suzuki.

Violinists such as Joshua Bell, and Itzhak

Perlman use this bow hold, which relies on a
flexible thumb, active pinky, and an overall
square frame.

The Russian violin bow hold

The Russian Bow hold is not often seen in 21st

century violinists. The hand is very pronated
towards the index finger, with the pinky being
straight. Jascha Heifetz and Nathan Milstein,
two of the greatest violinists in history, used a
Russian Bow Hold.

We’ll stick with the former in this guide – the

Franco-Belgian bow hold – as it works well for
all styles of music.

In order to help you work up to a proper bow

hold, it's best to do two beginner bow holds
first: a pencil bow hold, and then a balance-
point bow hold.

If you are a beginner, start here with the pencil

bow hold, and then progress to the balance
point bow hold.

Moving through the stages will help you have a

better violin hold in the future, and learn it well.
My students who are taking violin lessons
always have a better violin bow hold when they
progress through all three holds.

They will help you understand the bow hold

before your muscles strengthen enough to hold
the bow properly and without fatigue.

Once you've completed those first two, come

back here for the franco-belgian violin bow
hold.

How to hold the violin bow

Now that you've done the preparatory holds,

let's hold the violin bow like a pro.

1. Set the thumb at the frog

Set your right hand by the frog so that your

thumb is at the point where the U-shape of the
frog and the stick meet.

2. Place middle and ring fingers

over the stick

Drape your middle and ring finger over the stick

and onto the frog. Depending on the size of your
hand, the ring finger may be the only finger
physically on the frog.

3. Place your index finger

Your index finger rests on top of the stick

between the middle and top joint. There’s often
a cushion called the “pad” that your index finger
can rest on.

4. Place the pinky

Curl your pinky so the fingertip is sitting on top

of thes stick.

Awesome work! You’re now holding the violin

bow like a pro.

Check out the following images for some more

images of how to hold the violin bow correctly.
You’ll also see some images of the most
common errors beginners make with the bow
so that you can avoid them.

The correct way to hold a violin bow.

The correct way to hold a violin bow.

The correct violin bow hold from the back view.

The correct violin bow hold from the back view.

The correct violin bow hold from the pinky side.

The correct violin bow hold from the pinky side.

Notice the picky is curved and on it's tip.

Correct thumb position on the violin bow hold.

Correct thumb position on the violin bow hold.

We're only using the pencil here to make it easy to
see the thumb position.

Incorrect thumb position on the violin bow.

Incorrect thumb position on the violin bow. Notice

that the tip joint on the thumb is extended (bent
backwards) and not flexed (bent forward, or
closing) as it should be.

The fingers are not over the violin bow stick as

they should be. This is incorrect.

The hand is too high on this violin bow hold. The

wrist is also too far flexed.

The pinky finger is locked and not curved, or

slightly flexed as it should be.

How do you hold a fiddle bow?

Great news, fiddle players! You can relax,

because the bow hold for a violin and for a
fiddle is exactly the same. Why? Because a
fiddle and a violin are the same instrument! The
only distinguishing feature is the style of music
you are playing on the instrument.

Why do we hold the violin

bow in this way?

As with many inventions, the violin bow

underwent many changes that improved both
the quality of the bow and its playability. In the
Renaissance Period, violin bows were shaped
like a “bow and arrow”, curved opposite the
way modern bows are today. Bows also had a
shorter life span, and would often be thrown
out when they no longer worked as intended.
Compare that to today, where a bow can be
consistently rehaired to give it the same
qualities it had when first bought or used.

With the massive changes to the bow over the

past few centuries, how to hold the violin bow
naturally changed too.

The violin’s predecessor, the viol, had no

standard method to hold, and a lot of what we
know today about bow holds prior to the late
1700s came from drawings or paintings of
violin performers.

Cavarozzi's "Still Life with Violinist"

Cavarozzi's "Still Life with Violinist"

Credit: https://londonartweek.co.uk

As society approached the 20th century, more

and more violinists wrote literature about
bowing and how to hold the bow.

A well-constructed bow hold will improve your

tone quality, as well as reduce tension in the
right hand. The thumb, middle finger, and ring
finger (or “bunny bite”) establish the grip and
core foundation of your bow hold.

As we saw with both the Russian and Franco-

Belgian bow hold, the hand tilts towards the
bow’s tip. The tilting of the hand in that
direction is called pronation. This pronation
distributes the weight of your arm into the
index finger. More weight means a deeper,
fuller sound, which became vital for performers
as concert halls grew bigger and bigger.
Pronation also allows for more stability and a
consistent tone when bowing down, or from
frog to tip.

The pinky finger works opposite the index

finger. In the lower part of the bow, below the
balance point, the pinky takes over and
supports the weight of the bow to avoid too
much weight on the string. Too much weight on
the string equals a rough, scratchy tone, and
we definitely don’t want that!

All 5 fingers are essential to a well-constructed

bow hold . Think of your hand like a see-saw.
When the index finger is weighed down, the
pinky lifts. The pinky presses down as the
index finger lifts. The bunny bite is the hinge of
the see-saw, allowing the index and pinky
finger to exchange the weight from one
another.

But weight distribution can’t happen if there’s

tension in the right hand. It feels counter-
intuitive to be both structured and relaxed, but
the balance between these two concepts
promotes better sound and an exciting variety
of bow strokes with top-notch articulation.
Relaxed, flexible fingers also give you the
“nearly” silent bow change.

Consider a paint brush, and the flexibility of

each hair on the brush. When you drag the
brush across a canvas, the bristles lag slightly
behind the stick itself. When you change
direction, there is a split second where the
bristles move opposite the direction of your
hand. Your fingers act as the bristle, with your
arm being the stick itself.

Conclusion – You are now

ready to hold the violin
bow the right way.

In conclusion, a spectacular bow hold is

essential to a spectacular sound and
successful performance. The bunny bite
establishes the foundation your violin bow
hold.

The index finger drapes along the stick and the

pinky finger placement on top of the stick
allows for weight to distribute freely across the
entire bow stroke.

It’s through pronation and supination of the

bow hand that promotes a resonant and
consistent tone.