Yes, @ELCBK you have indeed sparked my interest! Thanks for the links!

Bowing is of course one of the biggest challenges in learning to play fiddle. I play mostly fiddle tunes and I'm currently focused on getting more out of my bowing. That means making use of drones, double stops, string crossings, grace notes, and so on. It means getting all four strings to work harder, more of the time, in order to add interest, harmony, rhythm, drive and color. 

My reading of history tells me that in early America the fiddle was sometimes the only instrument playing for a dance -- so it had lots of work to do. And many of the famous old time fiddlers -- e.g., Tommy Jarrell, Ralph Blizzard, Arthur Smith, etc. -- were masters at making the fiddle sound like a self-contained little band. 

I can make this happen to some degree on mandolin. Mandolin is a naturally chordal instrument and it allows for somewhat easy mixing of the melodic and supporting notes. Agile and accurate picking is required, along with strong feeling for the music and where it’s headed.

My current project is to try to get that sort of performance out of a fiddle. Of course bowing is not picking, and right now it seems way more difficult to get the same kind of agility out of a bow. 

So I’m starting an experiment with the shorter, lighter, possibly more agile baroque bow. I’ll start with an ultra cheap-o to get an initial sense of balance, weight, agility, and so on. Different grip, hand position and bow action could be needed.

It will be so interesting to see what comes out of this!

Progress report: My initial goal was to determine whether a baroque bow could help me with fiddle tunes. 

I bought an el cheapo bottom-of-the-line baroque bow. It was clumsy and hard to play so I returned it and looked for something a little better. Fiddlershop’s baroque bow was well beyond my budget for this experiment so I had to look elsewhere. My next try was a snakewood bow for $149 -- inexpensive for a violin bow. (I don’t know how to verify that it’s real snakewood, but it came from Shar so I presume that it’s legitimate.)

It looks like this bow might work out. It is not light at 58 grams but it feels good in the hand and on the strings. It has a lighter touch at the tip -- not as much bite as my Tourte bows -- but that is to be expected from a baroque bow.  I’ll need to adjust technique a bit, but I don’t expect that to be overly difficult.

The baroque bow is of course shorter than our normal full-size bows. It’s about the length of a 3/4 bow. I’m used to the shorter length as I regularly use a 3/4 for playing fiddle while relaxing on the couch. (I know that couch fiddling is probably not kosher, but I do it anyway...)

This baroque bow produces good tone -- maybe not quite as good as my regular bow, but plenty good enough for fiddle tunes. And it is nice and agile. String crossings are easy and fast.

So I consider that it’s worth my (valuable) time and energy to work with this bow and see if it can advance my larger project of getting the most out of my fiddle. As always, it’s a voyage of discovery and it will be great fun to see what I discover! 

I’m getting to like my new baroque bow. It is a $149 Shar bow, endorsed I am told by Rachel Barton Pine. I  presume that it was made in China. Weight is 58 grams, similar to my full size carbon fiber Tourte bow. The length is similar to a 3/4 size bow. It has no leather or meal windings. The snakewood stick is thinner than my modern bows.

These Shar bows have been around for a while so it’s not too hard to find internet comments about them. Laurie Niles, the curator of the violinist.com website, got one and gave it a positive review. I tried a $60 bottom-of-the-barrel baroque bow but it was heavy, unresponsive and quite unsatisfactory. So I raised my sights a little and got the Shar bow. 

The bow feels light in the hand, very agile, very nimble. Rapid string crossings are easy and intuitive. In comparison, the modern Tourte bow feels a bit stiff, maybe even a little clumsy. Note that my modern bow is quite excellent and I have no complaints about it, so this is not a comparison with a bad bow.

The baroque bow is generally a little less powerful than the modern bow. It is definitely weaker at the tip than at the frog so a long note tends to fade at the top of the stroke. This is both a positive and a negative. It is easy to modify the tone and shade the color of notes, so that makes the bow quite expressive. But long strokes require careful attention to the weight of the bow to maintain even tone and volume. In contrast, the modern bow handles long notes quite easily, almost automatically. 

The modern bow is also more percussive and better able to create strong emphasis. Accenting a note with the baroque bow requires a more significant dig. Bouncing the bow is tricky and it is easy to lose control. Chopping will take some practice. 

Overall, the Baroque bow seems to require a more active right hand. I find myself sometimes using significant pressure on the stick with the index finger in order to manage the bow’s weight on the strings and the resulting tone and volume. Active bow management is also what gives this bow its nuance and subtlety.

The baroque bow seems to have a multidimensional character, with tone and volume varying depending on the position of the bow, speed and weight on the strings. In contrast, the Tourte is very consistent and predictable. It’s a little like driving a lightweight and twitchy sports car versus a solid and stable sedan

After using this bow for about ten days, I like it very much. Its nuances and agility make it quite fun to play. I definitely have work to do in order to maximize the bow’s power and percussiveness, but I think that with practice it will work out well.

I acquired this bow to see if it would advance my goal of getting better use of all the strings, enriching harmony and rhythm. So far, all the early indications are positive. Speedy string crossings are easy, and double stops and drones can be nuanced with light touches and grace notes. All in all, this is quite an interesting project and I think the baroque bow may earn a place in my tool kit.  

@ELCBK

The baroque bow fits fine in my case. The pocket for the bow tip is plenty deep enough to allow for even about  3/4 size bow.

In early music in particular, every note should be shaped – even the shortest. Once you have acquired some control of your bow speed, there will be a wider range of sound shapes you can make. 

This is an excellent quote that captures the essential nature and charm of the baroque bow. It is interesting and enjoyable to discover the gradations of tone that can be produced with not too much effort. 

And there is definitely a learning curve in developing appropriate bow control. The baroque bow requires a somewhat higher level of my attention and focus than the modern bow.

And, like everything else with the fiddle, progress comes s-l-o-w-ly...