Topmusicanswers
Rules for Tightening Your Bow
- Place the end of a standard pencil between the bow hair and stick, at the bow's center. Tighten until you feel the pencil fit within the space. ...
- Until you get more familiar with this technique, keep a short golf pencil in plain sight in your violin case.
- What is the device used to tighten and loosen the bow?
- Which way do you turn a bow to loosen it?
- Why isn't my bow loosening?
What is the device used to tighten and loosen the bow?
The fiddle bow itself generally is constructed so that the player can tighten or loosen the hair at will; on most stringed instruments the player is able to make immediate changes by manipulating the bow hair with the hand while playing, thus producing various tone qualities.
Which way do you turn a bow to loosen it?
Insert the short arm of an Allen wrench (most commonly a 3/16 size, usually included with the bow) into the bolt and make sure it is properly slotted. Then, turn the wrench either clockwise to tighten the bolt or counterclockwise to loosen it. Adjust the tension of each arm of the bow to the preferred weight.
Why isn't my bow loosening?
Occasionally when a bow won't tighten it's because the eyelet is stripped. ... When a bow won't loosen, the hair is too short, and there is no way to go back into the bow to adjust the length the way you can sometimes do when the hair is too long.
