Violin Fiddle Priming a New Bow ... How to Prepare a Brand New Violin or Fiddle Bow for Playing

by Mickey Cochran

Folk of the Wood Acoustic Music Instruction

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Please be aware, priming a new bow requires a few steps:

1. Make sure the rosin has been properly started...to do this, use a medium grade sandpaper...rough up the surface of the rosin with the sandpaper so that there's quite a bit of dust freed up...you might want to do this over a wastebasket...

2. Make sure the bow hair has been tightened properly...not too loose and not too tight. Slowly work the rosin into the bow hair with small strokes from the bottom of the bow to the top. Be careful not to rub too hard or too fast as to avoid building friction. This may take upwards of 10 to 15 minutes of priming since this is the first time rosin will be applied to your new bow.

3. After step 2, try drawing the bow over the strings...if there's only a whisper of tone being emitted, repeat step 1 and 2. Sometimes the rosin dust needs to be built up quite a bit more...you can tell there's sufficient rosin on the bow hair if while drawing the bow across the strings, there's a solid tone being emitted.

4. To determine when to further apply rosin, listen for a whispering tone being emitted as the bow is drawn on the strings. Usually, if you're playing about an hour a day, you should only have to apply rosin every few days...and even then, only for 30 to 60 seconds or so.

Take Note: if you're still not getting a tone out of your drawn bow, and you've already tried step 1 and 2 two times through, you may have another issue.

A. Make sure that your strings are tuned up to proper pitch...
B. Make sure that you're applying the bow stroke at the right position...between the bridge and the end of the fingerboard.
C. Make sure that the bow hair is properly tightened...if too loose, there may not be much tone emitted when drawn on the strings.
C. There's a possibility that your bow hair has been tampered with...if for instance someone attempted cleaning the bow hair, or the strings, with a commercial cleaner such as windex...or if your strings have been accidentally cleaned with an oil-based wood wax...this would cause the bow to literally slip off the strings and have no grab at all...

If none of the above works, go to your local music store to determine if there's another problem...or, better yet, try to hook up with a good violin/fiddle teacher...

Good Luck on Your Musical Journeys...Mickey

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