From Zero to Mozart
Stage 0SetupLesson 9 of 11 · The bow

The geography of the bow

Scores and teachers talk about where in the bow you are and which way it's going, constantly. "At the frog." "Upper half." "Whole bow." Learn the map now so those instructions mean something.

Along the bow

screwfrogthe hairthe stickmiddletiplower halfupper half
The bow, end to end. Tighten the hair with the screw before you play — about a pencil's width of gap in the middle — and loosen it every time you finish. Instructions constantly say which part to use: 'at the frog', 'upper half', 'whole bow'.

From your hand outward: the frog (also "the heel"), the lower half, the middle, the upper half, the tip (also "the point"). The parts feel different — the frog is heavy and powerful, the tip is light and needs help from your arm.

Which direction

  • Down-bow — written ⊓, like a little table — you pull, moving from frog toward tip. It naturally gets a bit heavier as you go.
  • Up-bow — written V — you push, tip back toward frog. It naturally gets lighter.
54 bpm
Open D: one whole down-bow, then one whole up-bow. Press play, then bow along — slow and even.

Strong beats often fall on down-bows — that's a Baroque default, "the rule of the down-bow", not a law.

Where it crosses the string

bridgefingerboard1ff2f3mf4mp5pthe bow starts here
The five sounding points, bridge to fingerboard — each about a bow-hair wide. Nearer the bridge (1) is louder and fuller; nearer the fingerboard (5) is softer and flute-like. Start every open-string sound in lane 3.

The bow travels in a straight lane parallel to the bridge — never drifting onto the fingerboard or climbing the bridge. Where the hair meets the string, between bridge and fingerboard, is the contact point (or sounding point), and you steer it. Galamian divides that space into five lanes: lane 1 at the bridge is loud, full and hard to control; lane 5 at the fingerboard is soft and flute-like. For now, start every note in lane 3 and keep the bow straight.

The usual mistake

  • the bow skidding toward the fingerboard as it nears the tip — the arm collapses; keep reaching;
  • climbing the bridge near the frog;
  • changing the bow hold to change strings — instead, raise or lower the whole arm to a new level, like stopping a lift on a different floor. The hand and bow just come along.