Top 5 Myths of Bowing for Violinists and Violists

We string players 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. That’s where we actually touch our bow after all. 

Yet you play the violin and viola with your entire self. Your body is a system where no one part exists in isolation and every part influences every other. I think many of us recognize this. We emphasize the importance of taking care of the rest of our body - of staying balanced, flexible and stable - but we still treat our arms as the active part of bowing and the rest of our body as the passive part. I’d like to flip that equation around. 

Countless times, I’ve heard people say after a concert “Wow, that violinist/violist has an amazing bow arm.” I’ve never once heard someone say “Wow, that violinist/violist has an amazing bow pelvis.” Yet there are brilliant violinists/violists 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 weight and 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. 

Here are two examples of pushing and pulling the string in different ways that create different sounds.

David Oistrakh moves bow-against-violin. Sometimes he moves his violin with him as he turns creating a wispy sound. Sometimes he moves around the violin creating a more concentrated sound.

Itzhak Perlman moves violin-against-bow creating a thicker, deeper sound.

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 become, the more free they are to sense the string and make micro-adjustments, so the overall consistency of our sound and articulation improves. As a bonus, by taking pressure off our arms, we protect against 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 whole 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.