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(3 votes) 
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Hey all, the video explains it all so I'll let it (me) do the talking lol... Thanks in advance!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....7Rz0lkXP4g
~Chris
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Good vid. One thing that my violin teacher told me about bow bouncing is that if it is too tight then it will be prone to bounce. It helped me to keep mine just loose enough so the hairs do not make contact with the bow when you play.
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I, too, have really struggled with bow bounce. It's driven me nuts at times. I've learned that there are a number of things that can cause the bow to bounce. I'm sure others will weigh in on all the possible causes. As a fellow beginner (1 year), I can't venture to say what's causing it for you, especially since I couldn't see much bounce in your video.
Now, one year later, I think I can say that I've nearly tamed the bounce. For me, I think the trick was finally acquiring the feel for maintaining consistent pressure along the length of the bow as it travels across the strings. It seems to require a very subtle shift in the pressure I place with my fingers.
The breakthrough for me came when I started learning a quick traditional tune called Jefferson and Liberty (a.k.a. The Gobby O). My teacher recommended playing it using the upper end of my bow for better agility.
When I started focusing more on the tip end of the bow, it seemed to help improve my consistency of pressure along the entire length and the bouncing went away.
I'm not saying every piece should be played that way; it was just a good exercise.
When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.
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scotty: I usually try to keep my bow at about a #2 pencil diameter for tension. Sometimes a bit less depending on the temp/humidity. I'll keep a close eye on this thanks!
KindaScratchy: Thanks a bunch, yeah it's kind of hard to hear/see on this video. Of course my bow decided not to bounce nearly as much as it usually does. Par for the course right? lol. I'll try the bowing at the tip as well to see how that pans out!
RU, PF, Ray, Daniel and a bunch of others in the chat were working with me a bit as well. Turns out my bow hold is off too so lots of work to do here!
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Yeah FiddleDetroit, I hear you on this > My bow will go just NUTs sometimes > It just FREAKS out and starts doing this bounce thing all over my strings. > Out of control energy etc. I have noticed that since I have been working more with the MIGHTY METRONOME > It has dissipated.
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I think the bounce might be tension in your wrist/fingers/grip; it seems a little tight and not absorbing the shock/pressure, which then all goes through the bow. I often get a lot of horrible bow bounce during certain moments of increased tension, so I practice rectifying this by playing a sustained, frog-to-tip/tip-to-frog, dramatic note that begins from a rapid switch from shorter notes.
One of the short passages I often use to practice maintaining flexibility and an even amount of tension/pressure is 1:30 of this song:
(Whole note A, eighth note D, whole note A, eighth note G, whole note A, and then similar for the B-flat part)
Find a tune you like to practice this otherwise tedious task! (Quick change from rapid up/down to a long down bow beginning at the frog, since down bows often cause more of a bounce due to the added weight of the frog end.)
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StoneDog: It really can get annoying can't it lol. I need to start using the metronome... Got like 5 versions of one in various formats, just seem to want to pick up and play. Thanks for the tip, I'll start cracking down on using the dusty nome lol.
Johannes: Thanks a bunch! I do notice a heavy tension in my hand and wrist and yeah I think my grip is off completely lol. I'll be using this example for practice, sounds like a fun song. Don't know what the words are saying but the melody is great! Will look for other songs with this method as well to get practicing and even out.
Honorary advisor
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I didn't notice the tightness in your hand. I was mainly listening for sound. It is definitely important to relax your bow hand. I would also try using more bow. All thought all of the comments were valid points for someone to check.
I will be the first to admit that relaxing my bow hand and using more of my bow are still works in progress.
Duane
"Violin is one of the joys of my life."
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HDuaneaz: Thanks for the tip, I have been trying to add more bow starting today and with all of the great help here I'm improving.. Slowly, but none the less it's a starting point haha. I'm working on focusing more on my bow grip especially and keeping that elbow up, which is much harder than I thought it would be. Get a nice workout in the bicep while practicing ha ha. Thanks again all, hopefully after some time here I'll get a good 'progress' video up 
. Here's to starting in to month 2 of 'real' playing 
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The good new Chris is that your left elbow, position, wrist look good. Your violin sits real nicely on your collarbone/shoulder.
Your bowing is fairly straight and you have nice angles with your right arm and using the elbow properly. Lot's of things going right for you.
The bad news (not really bad, just thought it would work against good news 
) is that your right hand is not flexible.
Think that you want to pull the bow and not push it. Your hand should pull the bow down then be flexible enough to change slightly to pull it up. Your fingers should straighten slightly on an up bow and curve more on a down bow. This should eliminate your bouncing. I hope. 
Ask your teacher to show you what I mean.
I didn't hear the bouncing but you were playing mostly at the upper half. The crocked bow will probably not cause your bow to bounce.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Pierre, Thank you for the help with this! Glad that the other things are going right so that maybe the hand issue will be easier to deal with than correcting a bunch of other things too. I watched the video a couple times along with some other recordings I have of practices here and am able to see exactly what you are saying. I will have my teacher show me a few ways to get my hand to relax a bit, it seems that it just wants to sit like a board rather than flow though when I really pay attention to it I can loosen up more and do notice the difference! Thanks again
King
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Chris, one thing I did notice is that your bow appear's to be straight up and down on the string's, like at a 90 degree angle to them. I find for myself that by tiltiing the stick away /forward helped me with the bouncy thing.
You're sounding good.
Ken
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