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How to Take Care of a Violin Bow

The bow is delicate and must be taken care of well. A good bow is expensive and, since making them is an art form, they are not easily replaced. A new bow will almost always have a different tone or texture than an old bow.

The first rule is that the bow should be put away immediately after use and always be kept in a safe place. The violin case is the first choice. The case is most often hard and is designed to keep the bow safe.

Rosin

Rosin is a waxlike material available at music stores. It applies to the bow and keeps it playing well. It helps the hair have friction with the bow so it can play. The more a bow wears the less friction there will be and the harder the instrument will be to play. The rosin also has a great benefit of keeping the hair from wearing out. The rosin sticks to the rough parts of the hair and the string rubs against the rosin as a medium between hair and string. There is a delicate balance because too much rosin is not good and not enough is not good. A few strokes every few practice sessions is probably enough. Don't always rosin in the same place (on the rosin) because you can wear a fine line in it and it effectively wastes a lot of it. Rosin up your string in various positions on the rosin.

Hair Tension

After playing, you should loosen the hair tension. This is simple because all you do is turn the frog one turn. When you open the violin case to practice you simply turn the frog and it is tensioned properly for play.

Releasing hair tension allows the tension to remain stronger for playing. Bow hair that is under constant pressure will tend to loosen and wear out at stress points.

Cleaning

The bow gets dirty so slowly and slightly. You may think the bow does not need cleaning, but it is misleading to think this. The bow will accumulate rosin, dirt, was, and oils from playing. To keep the bow clean, it is a good idea to wipe it down once a week or after long playing sessions. You should use a soft dry cloth. Don't use water, put it in the dishwasher or put some dish detergent on it because it will ruin the bow.

If you do not clean the bow, the movement will become more staccato and less legato because of a stickiness that builds up in the frog grip area. Make sure and keep this area clean with a dry soft cloth.

Occasionally, when the bow doesn't seem to work well, you might clean it, rub some talc on the stick, and replace the frog. The frog won't last forever. It gets worn out like any other thing.

Bow Case

If you have a five thousand dollar bow, you might want a separate bow case. Most players put the bow in the top of their case and it works there fine. The enemy to the bow are dropped cases that induce shock. Shock tends to disturb the bows more than anything else.

Players that have a bow that they love or have spent dearly for will want a separate bow case. These separate bow cases have lots of foam that holds the bow so perfectly that shock potential is dropped drastically. The longer bow cases are the best because they allow for more foam to be inserted into the case. A bow should never travel against hard material, but that is what happens in many peoples cases.

Humidity and Temperature

A bow can crack or bread from temperature and humidity changes. The head is often the place where the bow cracks. You should be particularly careful when changes are sudden or when playing with a very old or ancient violin bow.

Carelessness

Most often a bow is damaged from careless activity. It may seem harmless to set the bow down and go get a drink or take a break. You might wave the bow around having fun or pretending to be the conductor. All this harmless fun often results in damaging the bow because they are so sensitive to any shock. Always keep the bow in sight and put it away when you aren't playing or when leaving the area. This is a good rule to keep the bow working nicely.

Rehairing

Eventually, any good bow will need to be restrung with hair. To do it well, it takes some experience. It is a good idea to go to a real technician with experience in bows. Make sure and find out what kind of hair is going to be used. The hair quality makes a huge difference. It isn't the place to skimp on $.