Hello,

I am very naive when it comes to violin bows and really don't know what I'm looking for - my daughter is using an old family heirloom 3/4 size violin, which we have had done up at the luthiers, and he reckons that now as an outfit it is worth in the region of £200 and is a lovely little violin, the bow wasn't up to much and I think he charges about £40 to rehair it. At the time I decided I'd get her a cheap bow (£25) which was a waste of money the wood was rubbish and it is now practically unusable.

I don't want to spend a fortune as she is a 10 year old grade 4 player, who will grow and the full size that we have lined up for her will need money spent on it.

Am I better off buying another new bow - if so recommendations please, or getting the old, not too bad bow rehaired.

with thanks

D x

A somewhat unconventional approach, but one I've known people do, is to buy a reasonable quality full-size bow - one that will at least be worthy of re-hairing when required! A good bow will always do an instrument justice.

Be mindful however that a full-size bow won't fit into some 3/4 size cases. A lot depends on the shape/design of the case.

That might be a good option actually, she is using a padded out full size case that she had for Christmas as the one that came with the violin looks like the ones used for guns in the godfather films, which I had to use as a child and hated. So it will fit, so will have a word with teacher and see whether he would have an issue with it, as I know it is something that her old teacher would have not approved of.

My daughter recently has gone up to a full size violin, but used a 3/4 antique french trade violin for 2 years. After 12 months on the 3/4 violin, the German Pernumbuco bow we had purchased separtely, was obviously not adequate enough for playing the more advanced pieces she had begun to perform. After trying a few bows out we actually settled on a Coda Prodigy Carbon Fiber bow which cost approx £190. We also tried a Glasser Carbongraphite bow from Elida Trading which was very good, but a bit on the heavy side, but that said, was cheaper, and certainly pulled a lot more volume from the violin and the tone was favourable in comparison to the pernumbuco.

A lot of debating has been done on Carbon bows, but as a 3/4 size is obviously for a child, it is a safer bow to have in the environments they find themselves in, it had good balance and played better than a £500 french bow we tried, and when we had finished with it we managed to sell it on ebay for in excess of £100.

I personally would discourage playing on a bigger bow than is needed as they tend to get in bad habits in not keeping a straight bow as it is obviously too big and as they bring the bow down they curve it around.
Although no expert, am sure the teacher will advise if this would be a practical move.

Bad workmen blame their tools. With the correct teaching bad habits can be prevented from forming in the first place.

Even adult players with not so long arms will try to bow around corners, but we don't switch them to a shorter bow because of it. A full-size bow is big for most players, unless you are 6+ feet tall or have very long arms. It is the teacher's responsibility to ensure that the pupil (regardless of age) learns correct use of the bow they are using and only bows to a maximum where their arm becomes almost straight. Any further and the shoulder is then moving the bow backwards.

As a very experienced teacher myself, who has seen the '3/4 violin - 4/4 bow' combination used before in advancing players who have particularly tiny hands (inc. adults), it offers just one possible solution for acquiring a good quality bow. Whether this meets with individual approval often depends on how rooted or progessive a teacher's thinking is.

As your daughter is already working at around grade 4 standard it sounds as though she would definitely benefit from a better bow - not only to develop her playing at her current standard but also to enable her to progress and develop her playing for at least the next couple of grades.

If she has only just grown into a 3/4 size violin I expect that she will feel much more comfortable and balanced using a 3/4 size bow for at least the next year to a year and a half. Many luthiers have buyback schemes where they will buy a bow back from you for the amount that you paid at a later stage provided that you are trading the bow in for another, better (ie more expensive!) one. A good improvers bow will give her playing a significant boost at this stage.

Ask your teacher for advice, it is possible that they know of a good 3/4 bow looking for a new home which has been outgrown by anther pupil.