Bow Hold

Hans Roelofsen
demonstrates the "French" bow hold.
demonstrates the "French" bow hold.
- The overhand, or "French", grip
- The underhand, or "German", grip
netti were the most prominent representatives
of the two approaches, although these grips had become established long before their lifetimes.
The overhand technique was already becoming accepted as early as the 17th century, spreading out from France. Double bass players adopted the methods of dance fiddlers and held the bow like them, laying their thumbs firmly on the hair and four, or sometimes three, fingers on the stick of the bow. With the introduction of the bow screw, this grip became refined, principally by Bottesini, who popularised it in his tutor. Today it is used almost all over the world. The main exceptions are Germany and Austria, where the French grip did not become established and is consequently not practised. There are no sensible reasons for this, so there is hope that it will change and that highly talented players will not have to go out into the world with the "wrong" bow hold.

My variant of the "German" bow hold