The Bow Hold

To find the natural spacing of your fingers in the right hand:

1. Hold your right forearm parallel to the floor
2. Relax your hand and let it dangle

When holding the bow, bring your thumb and middle finger together. This positioning should be maintained as closely as possible during play.

• The thumb should be kept straight but not tense when holding the bow.
• Whether the thumb more curved or straight depends on the size of the object we are holding.
• When grabbing a large object, such as a water bottle, our fingers tend to curl around it. When pulling a thin object, such as paper, the thumb tends to be straighter.
• Treat the bow as a thin object that we pull. So keep the thumb straight.
• You would have to go out of your way to curl your fingers when pulling a book.

Practice bow holding using a pencil, as it mimics a smaller version of the bow-stick.

• you should feel that you are holding the bow in your fingertips
• the bow rests on your thumb for cello and more on your middle finger for violin; do not let it rest on the strings when you are playing
• your first finger should be passive and resting on the stick at the joint
• your thumb and middle finger are opposite each other and should be touching
• your pinky should be very nearly on top of the stick
  • the advantage of putting it directly on top of the stick is that it is very easy to maintain a feeling of balance
  • George Neikrug placed his pinky just a little lower so that he could manipulate the bow much better; more on this later