Books › The Violin: How to Master It, 1880 › scan 24
Scan 24
The Violin: How to Master It, 1880
10 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1a sign of getting straight. For this reason a second-hand bow is better than a new one; if it be deficient, the fault will be seen. When the pupil is of age to use a full-length bow, whether the bow be selected new or old, he ought to choose one by a good maker—Tourté, Dodd, Vuillaume, Vorain, or any one having a reputation to lose—and then select one suited in weight to his hand and taste. Some like a heavy and some a light bow, but as each of these qualities is an advantage in certain kinds of playing, I think a medium weight is best.
3Testing a Bow.
5In choosing the bow, first look along the top of the stick with the eye close to the nut, and see that it is perfectly straight—that is, not curved to the side, as well as towards the hair. Then screw it up till the bow is almost straight—much tighter than is required for playing, and again look along the top of the stick. Not one bow in ten will stand this test without warping to one side, especially close to the point, where the wood is thinner. If it remains even, unscrew it till the wood touches the hair, and look if the most prominent part of the curve in the stick falls exactly in the centre of the hair. If it does, it is worth buying, and you can only trust to good fortune that it will stand the test of years. Even humanity does not always do that, so it is not surprising that a bit of curved wood should at times fail. A new bow has generally some silvered thread wound round the stick near the nut to keep the fingers from slipping on the smooth polished wood. When this is worn off, it should be replaced by a layer of thin glove leather, neatly glued on, so as to show no joints or corners. This leather substitute is a great ease and comfort to the thumb of the right hand.
7The Hair of the Bow.
9The hair of the bow must be always slackened immediately after playing, and at intervals taken out and renewed—and that not merely when it is broken and worn to about half its proper width. Each hair, if looked at through a microscope, will be found to be serrated—to have a number of minute spikes running in one direction. These spikes are an important factor in the drawing out of a good tone; and for this reason one half—that is, about 60—of the hairs should be put upside down, so that both up and down bows may
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