Preparing to use a Cello Bow

My name is Diana Flesner and I am here at the International School of Music in Bethesda, Maryland. In this clip, we will be talking about how to hold the bow and one of the best ways to get started is actually to practice with a pencil.

So, if you take any pencil and just drop it on the floor then reach down and pick it up. If you will notice, just the position of your thumb versus your fingers, the thumb is opposite naturally the second finger. This then will be the same case when you apply it to the bow hold.

Another thing about this is that there is space between the fingers. A great way to find that again is to sort of pretend that you dipped your hand in a bucket of water and shake it off, let everything drip down from here and if you notice the straight line from the elbow or the subtle line from the elbow through to the fingers and the natural space between each of the fingers. Again, you want to transfer this to the bow or the pencil hold.

Another thing to notice is that when you pick up the pencil or hold the pencil the thumb is curved out slightly convexly. It doesn t have to be a huge amount but just so that it maintains flexibility as opposed to locking in like that which is common when you transfer it to the bow.

So, when taking the actual bow once you have graduated from the pencil, you can hold the bow in your left hand just to have security. Again, go through some other steps like shaking out your arm and naturally, you want to rest these middle knuckles on the top of the stick of the bow so you can shake out your hand and then rest those on.

Then just curve the fingers down and the thumb convexly curved outwards is going to meet the stick where the black and the brown, right about there. So, again the fingers will curve over the top of the stick and all of them make contact on the other side except for the first finger which is curved more around the stick.

Something that s important to keep in mind is that the pinky is actually on the black part of the bow as opposed to drifting off the side or on the top. So, that should align through the right side of the hand. So, with this again, some reminders, there is space between every finger, the thumb is bent outwards and not squeezed in and the arm, the way that your arm responds by moving it either with the left hand or through the right hand and again just maintain this fluidity through the arm.

So, once you have established this you will be ready to move on to bowing basics which is what we will be covering in the next clip.