How To Hold And Use Your Violin Bow.

Section Links: Intro Parts Tightening Rosin The Grip The Stroke Bow Pressure

Tightening your violin bow--How much is too much?

From what I have seen, fiddlers disagree about this. I don't use a lot of bow tension myself; but I have seen good fiddlers tighten their violin bows so much that the stick is almost straight.

You'll find the level of tension that is right for you, and right for your particular bow, if you keep a couple of things in mind:

First, you want enough tension so that even when you're playing with all the force and fire you can muster, the stick doesn't come in contact with the violin strings. If you hear that telltale "click" of the stick against the strings, stop and put a little more tension on your bow.
Second, you don't want so much tension that your bow tends to "bounce" off the strings when you change direction. When this happens, it is just about impossible to control the violin bow and play smoothly. Ideally, you want the stick to come close to contacting the violin strings without actually doing so.

A good way to find the right tension is to start by tightening the screw enough so that the gap between the hair and the stick at the mid point is about 3/4 (three quarters) of the thickness of the stick itself at the mid point. Try playing at that tension and see if the stick hits the strings. If it comes close, but does not come into contact, you're in good shape.

Whatever you do, don't forget to loosen your bow tension before your put your bow back into your case. If you leave your violin bow tightened all the time, it is more likely to warp (bend to the right or left) and need repair.