Continuing our discussion about posture, let’s talk about the right hand and arm.
You hold the bow with your right hand. To have proper control over the bow, you need to have a good bow hold. Disclaimer: everyone uses a slightly different bow hold, and your teacher may teach you in a slightly different way. The basics are the same though!
First, place your thumb in between the strings and the bow, where the frog meets the stick. The inside corner of your thumb should go right in that corner space.
Image Source: https://www.sagemusic.co/blog/how-to-hold-a-violin-bow/
Then, your middle and ring finger wrap around the bow, with the middle finger across from the thumb approximately.
Your index finger should then be placed on the bow, having it lean inwards.
The pinkie tip rests on the top of the stick, with the pinkie finger remaining slightly curved.
Your thumb should be relaxed. The thumb can bend and straighten slightly as you move your bow across the strings of your instrument. Example of Good "Franco-Belgian" Bow Hold
Image Source: https://www.sagemusic.co/blog/how-to-hold-a-violin-bow/
To see a video demonstrating how to achieve this bow hold, try this video.
When you are comfortable holding the bow with your right hand, you can try placing the bow on the strings of your instrument. The bow should be aligned perpendicular to the instrument strings when playing.
Example of Good Bow Positioning
Image Source: https://kiyoematsuuraviolin.com/7-ways-to-improve-tone-quality-for-beginner-violinists/
To keep your bow perpendicular to the string as you are playing, you should keep your arm movements fluid. Open and close from three places: the shoulder, elbow, and wrist. For down bows (moving to the bow tip), open with your shoulder, continue movement with your elbow, and extend to the bow tip by flexing your wrist in. For up bows (going back to the “frog”, the bottom of the bow), start closing your elbow, then straighten your wrist, and finally bring the bow to the frog by closing from your shoulder. Watch the video below for a demonstration of this.
Image and Video Source: https://youtu.be/-FD5fpfbd1I?si=_lTnz3Cf1o_v1zOU&t=77
