Violin Bow Hold - No Holds Barred - Premium Feature - The Strad

Violin Bow Hold: No holds barred
1 NOVEMBER 2021
The position of the fingers on the bow can make all the difference to dynamics and tone production. Rok Klopčič
examines the bow holds of leading violinists and pedagogues, in this feature from October 2007
Traditionally, Carl
Flesch’s classification
of three main bow
holds in his book The
Art of Violin Playing
has dominated
discussions about the
ideal position of the
right hand. I believe
that these
classifications focus on
matters of relatively
minor significance.
Instead, here I will
look at the element of
bow hold I consider
the most important:
the position of the
fingers in relation to
that of the thumb.
Consider the thumb,

fixed at the end of the
frog, as the centre of
all bow holds. Then,
the crucial aspect to
examine is the
variation in the
distance of the four
fingers from this
centre in the
technique of different
players. Without
moving the thumb, the
rest of the hand can
glide up or down the
stick, towards or away
The right hand is the focus of mysteries surrounding the ‘ideal’ bow hold
from the point of the
bow. Every tiny
change in the distance
of the fingers from the
thumb influences the
entire technique of
the right hand and can change the quality of the tone produced. It is therefore worth investigating the different
ways in which this aspect of bow hold has been approached by various artists, and which techniques have been
recommended by different teachers. Looking at the possibilities and the players who used them can help us reach a
better understanding of the options and their varied effects.
Two very different violinists, Max Rostal and Tossy Spivakovsky, recommended quite different positions for the
hand in relation to the thumb. In his book Handbuch zum Geigenspiel, Rostal put forward the view that the thumb
should be under the first finger or between the first and second fingers.
I played using this technique for several years and would not recommend it. Spivakovsky preferred a position that
placed the thumb under the little finger, or between the third and little fingers. His bow hold may have contributed
to his excellent tone, which I was able to admire during his recital at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 1957.
I was not alone:

Samuel Applebaum
referred to
Spivakovsky’s legato
during this
performance as
‘miraculous’. After
reading Gaylord Yost’s
thought-provoking
book The Spivakovsky
Way of Bowing I
experimented for a
few days with this bow
hold, unfortunately
without encouraging
results. However,
Spivakovsky’s shining
example arguably
justifies further
experimentation:
there may be some
violinists who have an
aptitude for this
technique.
In Samuel and Sada

Applebaum’s book
With the Artists,
Harold Berkley is
quoted as saying:
‘Most artists agree
that the centre of
balance is between the
thumb and the second
finger.’ This view is
upheld by various
books and articles in Casals gave an influential lecture on bow hold
which other artists
ERNEST LOWE
and teachers reveal a
similar belief in the
synergy between the
thumb and the second
finger. Paul Rolland refers to the ‘fulcrum’ and the ‘axis’, Demetrius Dounis to ‘the centre point’ and ‘the centre of
the hold’, Lucien Capet to ‘le centre’, Ivan Galamian to the ‘circle’ and Isaac Stern to ‘the centre of pressure, the
circle’. Pierre Baillot, Henryk Wieniawski, Abram Ilich Yampolsky, Percival Hodgson and Yehudi Menuhin are also
known to have shared a belief in this bow-hold technique.
When the bow is held in this manner, a fulcrum is created by the thumb and second finger, with a lever on each side:
the first finger exerts positive pressure, and the fourth finger negative pressure. The application of both kinds of
pressure is essential to attain a dynamically even tone: on a down bow, when the bow is approaching its tip, it is
necessary to increase the positive pressure; on an up bow, when the bow is approaching its frog, negative pressure
should be applied. These are the basics, but various artists have found ingenious ways to create a fuller, stronger,
more beautiful tone with less physical effort, by making additional small changes in the placement of the fingers
and in the bowing action.
Every change in the distance of the fingers from the thumb influences the
technique of the right hand and can change the tone quality
Isaac Stern proposed the idea of applying pressure to the bow with the second finger and the thumb
In my opinion, the most valuable adjustments to the basic position of the fingers are those made by Galamian and
Lev Zeitlin. Both violinists made adjustments that put more emphasis on the lever for positive pressure. Zeitlin did
this by moving the hand further towards the point of the bow, so that the thumb is between the second and third
fingers; Galamian created the ‘Galamian spread’ by ‘placing the first finger at a slight distance from the second
finger’. Galamian’s method is well known, though Josef Gingold put forward the opinion that Galamian renounced it
in his later years. Zeitlin’s renown has not spread far outside Russia, and his idea is not widely known. But his bow-
hold philosophy is interesting for two reasons.
First, it shows that there was no uniform Soviet or Russian school of violin playing: Zeitlin’s contemporary
Yampolsky was an advocate of positioning the thumb under the second finger. Second, Yuri Yankelevich was
familiar with this method and recognised its drawbacks: ‘The result of Zeitlin’s quest for a strong, big tone and a
dense contact of the bow with the string did, to some degree, make the playing of the “light” bowings more difficult.’
Is it possible that Galamian himself experienced similar doubts about the Galamian spread.
As well as the position of the fingers, the pressure applied by them is of crucial importance. Stern proposed the
promising idea of applying more pressure to the bow with the second finger and the thumb. He said: ‘I exert a good
deal of pressure with the middle finger and the thumb.’ Hodgson described it thus: ‘The second finger presses
downwards, and the thumb upwards. When the first finger is added… the transmission of any necessary power
appears to be effortless.’ The same procedure was suggested by Dounis for parlando bowing: ‘The main pressure is
chiefly achieved by the thumb. It presses upward against the first finger.’ All three violinists apparently supposed
the second finger to be opposite the thumb, but I believe that for this pressure to be really effective the second
finger should be moved a miniscule – almost imperceptible – distance away, towards the point of the bow.
Another aspect of bow-hold technique to consider is the

feeling that should be retained in the right hand. Some
violinists have described this vividly: Berkley wrote about
a ‘springy, almost spongy, feeling in the knuckles’, and
Galamian makes reference to a ‘system of springs’ and
‘resiliency and the springiness in the functioning of the
whole arm from shoulder to fingertips’. This consideration
of the whole of the right arm when holding the bow, with
a horizontal straight line from the elbow to the hand,
together with the thumb being opposite the second
finger, is now very much the norm for the majority of
violinists worldwide.
Finger positions as according to different authors
Several years ago, while serving as a jury member during
the Lipizer Competition in Gorizia, I asked a few of my
colleagues who they thought had initiated the bow hold
centred around the thumb and second finger. Nobody
knew the answer – and neither do I. But let me suggest two influences: Berkley’s book The Modern Technique of
Violin Bowing, and the playing of Stern, whose bow hold presumably resulted in his miraculous tone. I would also
speculate that a lecture given by Pablo Casals in Paris immediately before the start of the Second World War may
have had an effect. When I asked Henryk Szeryng about his own bow hold he implied that he’d been influenced by
Casals’s lecture, and he told me how the audience had reacted to Casals’s idea. Apparently Casals’s pupil Diran
Alexanian said: ‘He’s my master, but this is mad!’
FURTHER READING
Samuel and Sada Applebaum With the Artists
Percival Hodgson Motion Study and Violin Bowing
Yuri Yankelevich On the Early Stages of Teaching Violin
Read: 7 bow hold insights from historical string players
Read: 10 tips on maximising tone quality & projection
Read: Aaron Rosand on how to produce a beautiful tone

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Violin Bow Hold: No holds barred

Consider the thumb,

I was not alone:

In Samuel and Sada

Another aspect of bow-hold technique to consider is the

Read: 10 tips on maximising tone quality & projection

Read: Aaron Rosand on how to produce a beautiful tone

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