# Bow Hold Excercises?



## arturo

Hi, I am a six-year student of the violin, and going into my senior year of high school at a very competitive performing arts school, I want to really work on my bow hold. I spent the last three months polishing my vibrato and now that I'm beginning to really like it, I figure it's time to focus on my bow hold.

Are there any videos that teach a really good bow hold?
Any exercises I should do to have a better grip (so as to have a cleaner sound)?

I dropped my old violin teacher three months ago and I won't start lessons with my new one until September, but I just want hear all sides as to what makes a good bow hold/great bow technique.

Thanks!


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## MaestroViolinist

I am surprised that no one has replied to this by now. 

You're well on your way to having a good bow hold if you have a curved little finger on the end of the bow and your thumb bent outwards. But that's basic knowledge. A good bow hold means you should be able to change bow without hearing a gap. The best person I have heard who has perfected this is Itzhak Perlman. To do this as you change from an up bow to a down bow your fingers should continue up whilst your wrist and arm go down. Same goes for a down bow. Just practise that extremely slowly on an open string or a scale or even a study you know really well. 

Do you use the Russian way of bowing or the old way? (Russian way is to have elbow at the same level as wrist, old way is to have a "swans neck" as in having your wrist bent and your elbow down). Each technique has its advantages.


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## arturo

Thank you for replying! I believe my teacher is doing the Russian way, seeing as he is from Russia. My teacher is Taras Krysa, whose father, Oleh Krysa, studied under the famous David Oistrakh. He has been very rough on my bow hold and my posture, but I believe it is helping me greatly. I am still having trouble getting a clean sound changing the bow (what I mean is that it can be noticeable at times that I went from down bow to up bow). What is your prefered technique?


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