10 Viola Bow Hold Exercises | Herriman Viola Lessons

 

 

Learning how to hold a viola bow properly takes a lot of practice and patience. It especially takes time to train the pinky to stay curved and the thumb to stay bent. Today, I’m sharing 10 exercises that I use in my studio to train the hand to hold the bow properly. I initially learned how to teach these bow hold exercises from a Suzuki Book 1 training and have adapted them for use in my studio.

 

Pinky Taps

How to do it:

• form the bow hold and hold the bow horizontally with the bow hair facing the ground
• hold the tip with your left-hand fingers
• lift the pinky into the air while still keeping it curved, then “tap” it onto the bow in a quick motion (this is one repetition)
• continue for the desired number of repetitions (I recommend 10 per practice session)

 

Bow Swings

How to do it:

• form the bow hold and hold the bow vertically with the tip pointing towards the ceiling
• while keeping the thumb bent and pinky round, quickly swing the bow towards your body and back out again, ensuring to keep the upper arm still throughout the movement (this is one repetition)
• continue for the desired number of repetitions (I recommend 10 per practice session)

 

Circles

How to do it:

• form the bow hold and hold the bow at a 45-degree angle to the ground
• while keeping the thumb bent and pinky round, imagine you are drawing a circle in the air directly in front of you with your bow hand
• 1 circle = 1 repetition
• continue for the desired number of repetitions (I recommend 10 per practice session)

 

Tick-Tocks

How to do it:

• form the bow hold and hold the bow vertically with the tip pointing towards the ceiling
• while keeping the thumb bent and pinky round, lightly push your thumb towards the bow and let the tip lower slightly, then lightly push your pinky towards the bow and let the tip return to a 180-degree angle (this is one repetition)
• continue for the desired number of repetitions (I recommend 10 per practice session)
• this exercise is particularly helpful for developing flexibility in the bow hand fingers

 

Bouncing Ball

How to do it:

• form the bow hold and hold the bow horizontally with the bow hair facing the ground
• while keeping the thumb bent and pinky round, lift and lower the bow using only your wrist in a quick, successive movement
• perform this exercise for desired time limit (I recommend 10 seconds per practice session)

 

Thumb Lifts

How to do it:

• hold the bow horizontally with the bow hair facing the ground, using only the tip of your thumb
• hold the tip with your left-hand fingers
• lift the bow up and down using only the thumb muscles of the right hand
• continue for the desired number of repetitions (I recommend 10 per practice session)

 

Elevators

How to do it:

• form the bow hold and hold the bow horizontally with the bow hair facing the ground
• lift the bow up and down in the air (you may pretend to stop at different “floors”)
• continue for the desired number of repetitions (I recommend 10 per practice session)

 

Smiles

How to do it:

• form the bow hold and hold the bow at a 45-degree angle to the ground
• while keeping the thumb bent and pinky round, imagine you are drawing the mouth of a smiley face in the air directly in front of you with your bow hand
• 1 smile = 1 repetition
• continue for the desired number of repetitions (I recommend 10 per practice session)

 

Row Boat Circles

How to do it:

• form the bow hold and hold the bow horizontally with the bow hair facing the ground
• while keeping the thumb bent and pinky round, make a small circle going away from you, as if you’re rowing a boat
• perform this exercise for the desired number of repetitions (I recommend 10 per practice session)

 

Spider

How to do it:

• form the bow hold and hold the bow vertically with the tip pointing towards the ceiling
• use your fingers and thumb to “crawl” up the bow stick all the way to the tip, then “crawl” down the bow stick back to the frog
• continue for the desired number of repetitions (I recommend 3 per practice session)

 

If you haven’t learned how to hold the bow properly yet, learn how to do that here!

 

Heather

 

I’d love to work with you! Please contact me for more information about music lessons!