Top 5 Myths of Bowing for Cellists

We cellists often dwell on the details of our bow arm from the position of our fingers to the angle of our wrist to the height of our elbow or shoulder. It seems that the closer a body part is to our bow, the more important it must be to our bowing, right? That’s where we actually touch our bow after all. 

Yet we play the cello with our entire self. Our body is a system where every part influences each other. I think many of us cellists recognize this. We emphasize the importance of taking care of the rest of our body - of staying balanced, flexible and stable - yet we still treat our arms as the primary active part of bowing and the rest of our body as the secondary passive part. I’d like to flip that equation around. 

Countless times, I’ve heard people say after a concert “Wow, that cellist has an amazing bow arm.” I’ve never once heard someone say “Wow, that cellist has an amazing bow pelvis.” Yet there are brilliant cellists literally without an arm, and none without a pelvis!

As we explored in the previous blog, by folding our body in different ways we create different depths of sound. The same is true for pushing and pulling our string. By using different places in our body and by moving in different ways, we can create different types of resistance in the string and therefore different sounds. Pulling from our chest creates a very different sound and articulation than pulling from our elbow. Pushing by turning creates a very different sound and articulation than pushing by side-bending. 

In addition to variety of sound, there are many other advantages to minimizing the work of our arms and spreading it throughout the rest of our body. The more passive our arms, the more free they are to sense the string and make micro-adjustments, so the overall consistency of our sound and articulation improves. Not to mention that taking pressure off our arms protects them from common injuries. 

Of course, at times, especially when playing fast, it is vital to use our arms actively. But the idea that cello playing comes mostly from our arms is a myth. It’s our entire self.

If you’d like to explore how passive arms can improve your playing, check out my online workshop for cellists called Bowing With Your Whole Self.