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RE: Holding cello bow

DescendingA — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 09:08:06 GMT

Thank you!

I believe the main problem was with placement and not enough bending of my thumb. Playing seems so much easier now!

Thanks again :)

RE: Holding cello bow

celloguy — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:57:52 GMT

Everyone's hand is different, so there will always be slight variations in individual finger placement. That being said, there are a few things I think are very important for a good bow grip (important to be able to develop advanced bow technique).

- The hand should be relatively relaxed with flexible fingers (this is most important, I think)

- The thumb needs to be curved AWAY from the frog/stick. (Think about it like this: Start by making a nice round "O" shape with your thumb and index finger, touching the tip of each together, like you are making the "OK" sign. This is the proper shape of the thumb.) Do not bend your thumb the other way ("banana" thumb) on the bow as this will "lock up" the whole bow hand making it inflexible.

The actual placement point of the hand on the stick is open to some variation (though many teachers will disagree with this!). The point at which you place your thumb on the bow really determines where the other fingers go. I place the tip of my thumb on the stick just barely in front of the frog. (My thumb actually touches the frog slightly, but doesn't really rest firmly against it.) My middle finger goes over the stick, almost exactly opposite the thumb, thus forming the main supporting part of the grip. The other fingers generally should curl over the stick similar to the middle finger, comfortably spaced apart. (My fingers generally end up spaced about 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart.)

My fingers are somewhat long, and my pinky ends up pretty close to the frog-eye, but I don't use the eye as a firm guide. (As I said before, I think the thumb placement is key.) The pinky and index fingers should stay very relaxed, providing only the slightest extra support to the weight of the bow, acting more as guide and control rather than support.

I found a few reasonably good photos at:

http://www.pohutukawa.com/orchestra/cello/bowhold/

Sorry for the lengthy response. I hope this helps with your situation.

Holding cello bow

DescendingA — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 14:34:53 GMT

I'm an adult beginner, self-taught on top of that:hehe:.
While evereything else goes more or less smoothly, I seem to have a problem with proper bow-holding. Up until recently, I was holding it relaxly, with index finger on wrapping, thumb bent near frog, and other fingers slightly curved on other side of frog/bow stick, stick slightly touching my palm. Then I saw somewhere that 4th finger (pinky) should be on eye on frog, and that advice was on numerous cello-related sites. The problem is, when I try holding it like that, my whole hand starts cramping after 15 minutes or so of playing. I'm doing something wrong, obviously! Or maybe my hands are too small ?
I'm wondering - is it really necessary for proper playing to hold bow like that , or are slight alterations allowed?
If not - what AM I doing wrong?

Thanks for your help!