Topmusicanswers
It allows hair tension to be adjusted to suit one's playing style, as well as certain techniques like spiccato (bouncing the bow off the strings).
- Why do we tighten and loosen the bow?
- What happens if you tighten your violin bow too much?
- What happens if you don't loosen your bow?
- Why do you loosen violin bow?
Why do we tighten and loosen the bow?
The importance of this rhyme is to remind you that you not only need to tighten the bow to tension when you are playing, it is also absolutely crucial to loosen that tension when you pack up your instrument after playing or practicing!
What happens if you tighten your violin bow too much?
Too much tension can snap the head right off. It causes over-stretching of the bow hair (which means you'll have to re-hair your bow more often, and it may eventually warp its camber).
What happens if you don't loosen your bow?
with carbon fiber or fiberglass you are unlikely to damage the bow itself. What leaving it tight will tend to do is stretch out the hair. Loosening consistently will postpone that day, and save you SOME money. Wooden bows are much more of a problem, much more likely to lose their curve and camber.
Why do you loosen violin bow?
When you are finished playing, loosen the hair on the bow enough that there is no tension and the hair is resting on the curved middle section of the stick. Do not loosen the hair too much. Super loose hair could easily catch and break on your violin case.
