If you're new to playing the violin, you might be thinking, "what the heck do I do with the bow??"
You just want to start playing songs but are stuck trying to figure out the bare minimum you need to start using the bow.
This guide will tell you the most important things you need to know about your bow.
The most important violin bow parts are:
Stick
Hair
Screw
Grip
Frog
Tip
(Bonus) Rosin
Stick
The stick is the long piece of wood, fiberglass, or carbon fiber depending on what your bow is made of.
Hair
The hair is the part that makes contact with the strings and produces sound.
The hair varies from loose to tight depending on how you adjust it (using the screw).
When the bow is in the case the hair should be loose.
When you're playing it should be tight - but not too tight.
Make sure there is still a bend in the stick when you tighten the bow.
If the hair is not producing sound when you play - you need to apply rosin!
Screw
The screw tightens and loosens the hair.
Lefty-loosey, righty-tighty.
Grip
The grip is where you hold the bow.
It consists of the silver winding part and the thumb leather - but it's just easier to think of that entire section as the grip.
Frog and Tip
The frog holds the actual mechanism for tightening and loosening the bow hair, and separates the hair from the stick.
The tip is just the tip of the bow and holds the hair in place.
The most important reason to know of the frog and tip is for bowing motions.
A down bow starts at the frog, and moves towards the tip.
An up bow starts at the tip, and moves towards the frog.
(Bonus) Rosin
Rosin isn't an actual part of the bow, but it's needed to create friction for the bow to make any sound.
If your bow isn't making sound, or sounds thin and airy, put rosin on your bow hair.
Knowing all of the parts of the bow is one thing, and actually learning to play is another.
But don't worry, I'm here to help.
I'm Tyler, a violin teacher and music producer.
I've been playing the violin for 21 years and have taught private lessons for over 3 years in Atlanta and at Sweetwater's Academy of Music.
I understand what problems beginner violinists run into when they start playing, and saw how the traditional methods of teaching the violin are slow, hard to learn, and boring!
That's why I created VLN Studio, to make learning the violin as fast, easy, and fun as possible through modern genres of music, backing tracks, and interactive sheet music.
If you are an aspiring violinist who doesn't want to learn Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as their first song, lessons from VLN Studio might be for you.
I'll answer any questions you have about learning and playing the violin in a free 1-on-1 online lesson!
Sign up for a free 1-on-1 lesson here:
Or if you don't want a 1-on-1 lesson, join my online studio for free!
