Why Does My Violin Bow Bounce? (And How to Fix It)

🎻 ➡️ Grab your FREE Perfect Position Checklist: https://oberlin-violin-studio.kit.com... The perfect violin resource for beginners, this Checklist includes printable reminders of good violin and bow position, a visual map showing where to find all the notes in first position, plus easy sheet music with all of my fingerings included. I'm also constantly adding to this resource, so you'll get access to the future versions, too :) -------------------------- 🎻 If your bow shakes, bounces, or judders across the string, it's almost never the bow. It's tension — in your fingers, your arm, and usually your shoulder too. Most of us carry far more of it than we realize. In this video we fix it together, in real time--yay! We start at the point of the bow, where it barely shakes at all, using an inch or two and aiming for a sticky "peanut butter" sound. Then we add a deliberate release at every bow change, and work outward — a little more bow, then half, then into the frog, then a full bow from frog to tip. By the time we get to the part of the bow where bouncing usually happens, you've already built the habit that prevents it. Along the way I'll show you the contact point on your index finger that carries the weight of your arm, the difference between a heavy arm and heavy fingers, and the bow hold shape that makes bouncing almost impossible — knuckles down, round pinky, and a straight line from your elbow to the tip of your bow. This works whether you started last month or years ago. What we cover: 1. Why tension, not technique, causes most bow shake 2. The point-of-the-bow exercise that resets everything 3. The "peanut butter" contact sound 4. Breathing with your bow strokes 5. Heavy arm, light fingers — and where the weight actually goes 6. The chicken and the swan (and why you want neither) Chapters: 00:00 Why your bow shakes (spoiler: it's tension) 00:38 Exercise 1: tiny bows at the point 01:01 The "peanut butter" sound 01:20 Adding a release at every bow change 02:57 Using a little more bow 03:41 Breathing with your bow strokes 04:00 Out to the middle of the bow 04:11 Heavy arm, light fingers 05:03 The contact point on your index finger 06:12 Between the middle and the frog 07:20 Quarter to three-quarters: prime bounce territory 08:09 Full bow from the frog 08:40 Your pinky and finger shape 09:54 Straight line from elbow to bow tip #violin #violinlesson #shakybow #violinbowhold #learnviolin #adultviolinist #violinpractice #violintechnique