Welcome to our forum. A Message To Our New and Prospective Members . Check out our Forum Rules. Lets keep this forum an enjoyable place to visit.

AAA
Avatar
Please consider registering
guest
sp_LogInOut Log Insp_Registration Register
Register | Lost password?
Advanced Search
Forum Scope




Match



Forum Options



Minimum search word length is 3 characters - maximum search word length is 84 characters
sp_Feed Topic RSSsp_TopicIcon
Gettin' Personal... Your Bow Hair Tension Preference?
Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 (6 votes) 
Avatar
ELCBK
USA
Members

Regulars
April 4, 2024 - 4:03 am
Member Since: June 10, 2020
Forum Posts: 8956
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

It keeps slipping my mind to ask everyone (Violinist, Violists & Cellists) about this! 

How do YOU decide & measure the amount of bow hair tension to play with?

Yeah, it's VERY personal... a lot of variables involved between player & instrument, so I'm interested in YOUR point of view! 

 

When I began learning to play it seemed I only needed to consider a pencil, or 'pinky' diameter - for the space between my stick & the hair... and also a little 'pressure check' to ensure I wouldn't 'bottom out' against the stick.

Things changed when I bought my Arcus Viola bow (a little over a year and a half ago).  The Arcus seemed more sensitive (?) to fairly small hair tension adjustments I made - not only effecting play-ability, but also tone.  

Found myself going beyond the little 'pressure checks' I used to do, to somewhat more customizing for what I felt like playing.  I tried different tensions depending on what type of music, possible bow strokes, AND which strings I'd play on - usually worth a few seconds for me to think about.

🤔... I also try to adjust 'my bowing' for those SAME 3 reasons!  Think I'm just trying to stay aware of what's going on - BOND?  Okay, I said it. 😳  The bow has become more than a tool for me! 😱

 

...how about YOU?

Avatar
Gordon Shumway
London, England
Members

Regulars
April 4, 2024 - 5:42 am
Member Since: August 1, 2016
Forum Posts: 2815
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

It's not just personal, it depends on the bow too. I've got a JonPaul Carrera which was supposed to be stiff, but turned out to be flexible. I try to keep the hair fairly tight to make it resemble the stiff version more, but it tends to stiffen up during the course of playing, so I wind it down a little after a while to the clichéd pencil-wide gap. I just aim at having the hair almost touch the stick in the middle of the bow when I'm using maximum pressure.

I've seen pro orchestras on TV where a violinist's gap was a good inch. Maybe the wood was just too flexible due to old age?

Andrew

Verified human - the ignominy!

Avatar
stringy
Members

Regulars
April 4, 2024 - 6:29 am
Member Since: August 23, 2020
Forum Posts: 2454
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

For me it sounds and also feels different if the tension is wrong, regardless of the bow I have never used the pencil idea to measure a gap.

Cant beat a sunny day

Avatar
wtw
Members

Regulars
April 4, 2024 - 7:05 am
Member Since: November 10, 2018
Forum Posts: 353
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

I think I've always had a gap wider than a pencil. I'm not sure where that "rule" comes from, even though I've read it multiple times. Maybe it's just meant to give a basis for beginners?

Same as you, I adjust the tension so that the wood doesn't touch the strings while playing, and it depends on the type of music. Yes, it makes difference to the sound and playability. When I find myself having trouble getting the notes out easily, sometimes a little change to the bow tension solves it.

Avatar
Strabo
Members

Regulars
April 4, 2024 - 7:58 am
Member Since: October 4, 2021
Forum Posts: 226
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

I like it fairly tight, with a slightly wider gap than the usual “pencil” recommendation -- maybe 1/2 inch. The tight hair seems to give me better control than looser. 

I’m mostly self-taught so I don’t really know much about this. I guess that if I were properly trained, I would have better technique and thus be able to use looser hair. I imagine that looser hair may offer more options in bowing -- something like the old baroque bows. 

But that’s just what I think. I could be wrong -- and often am!

Avatar
AndrewH
Sacramento, California
Members

Regulars
April 5, 2024 - 1:58 am
Member Since: November 5, 2017
Forum Posts: 1794
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

For me, it depends on what kind of music I'm playing. With Baroque and Classical music, I like my bow hair a bit looser, which I think gives the bow a little more flexibility. For Romantic and later music, I tend to prefer tighter bow hair, which allows me to dig into the string more.

Avatar
ELCBK
USA
Members

Regulars
April 7, 2024 - 4:09 pm
Member Since: June 10, 2020
Forum Posts: 8956
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

@Gordon Shumway -

Thanks for mentioning there's a difference in bows!  

Bow sticks play a HUGE part in the 'variables' I was thinking of!  Brands, stiffness, wood vs CF, faceted vs. round shape, etc... even the hair type/grade and condition (new vs. worn) makes a difference when choosing what tension to have for the best sound & play-ability. 

@wtw -

When I find myself having trouble getting the notes out easily, sometimes a little change to the bow tension solves it.

I think this is a VERY important point!  Thank you! 

@stringy , @Strabo , @AndrewH - 

Great points!

Thank you for letting me know your thoughts on bow hair tension! 

I don't see where anyone ever talks about it, but I hope more folks see this as an opportunity for exploration. 

 

It's interesting that early Baroque bows had to have tension adjusted by how far a detachable frog could be wedged in place. 

SAZ-KK215-1.jpg

One of the most interesting bows I've seen is used to play Pontian Lyra/Kemenche/Rebec, around the Mediterranean - has NO frog!  Hair is just wrapped up where the frog would normally be - so the hand constantly adjusts tension by pressing/pushing on the hair!  Can you imagine... as if our bowing hand doesn't already have enough to do! 

Or... 

Avatar
Gordon Shumway
London, England
Members

Regulars
April 9, 2024 - 4:43 am
Member Since: August 1, 2016
Forum Posts: 2815
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

And further to what Andrew says, I've heard of people loosening their bowhair if the music requires much triple stopping. I've been wanting for a while to see what effect bow tension has on expressivity,  but I haven't tried it methodically yet. And if I had a carrera stiff, there'd be no need.

Andrew

Verified human - the ignominy!

Forum Timezone: America/New_York
Most Users Ever Online: 696
Currently Online: Mouse
Guest(s) 97
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)
Members Birthdays
sp_BirthdayIcon
Today None
Upcoming Fiddlerman, Dax, Epiphany, Grunyon, Lullyfan, DD, TonicScale, Bismarck, Violince, Doc Miller, Gjinja, Mariana, JillyR, callum bryne, ELCBK
Top Posters:
ELCBK: 8956
ABitRusty: 4354
Mad_Wed: 2849
Gordon Shumway: 2815
Barry: 2690
Fiddlestix: 2647
stringy: 2454
Oliver: 2439
DanielB: 2379
Mark: 2277
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 3
Members: 31758
Moderators: 0
Admins: 8
Forum Stats:
Groups: 16
Forums: 84
Topics: 10891
Posts: 138499
Newest Members:
Penina, mikehalloween SP, JesusGreen SPAMMER, dumpstop1 SP, rat BND, philthefiddler, oceanjay, sdcaller, sanderson11 SP, Petr Kopulety
Administrators: Fiddlerman: 16546, KindaScratchy: 1760, coolpinkone: 4180, BillyG: 3746, JoakimSimplePress: 0, MrsFiddlerman: 2, Jimmie Bjorling: 0, Mouse: 6220