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:''This article is about the bow used to play a string instrument. For the musical instrument called "bow", see musical bow''
In music, a 'bow' is a device pulled across the strings of a string instrument in order to make them vibrate and emit sound.
A bow consists of a carefully chosen stick (usually wood) with some other material stretched between its ends. The type of bow used to play instruments of the violin family has many hairs stretched between its ends, but bows used in other cultures often stretch a single piece of string between the ends of the wood.
Fine modern bows used to play string instruments of the violin family (the violin, viola, cello and double bass) are usually made of pernambuco wood from Brazil and are strung with horsehair. When choosing wood to make bows, a violin or a bow maker must choose sound quality above all. A common practice is to reserve the best and most beautiful wood for a maker's most expensive work. Some bows are made nowadays from synthetic materials, such as a carbon fiber epoxy composite, or fiberglass. Carbon fiber bows have become very popular, and some of the better carbon fiber bows are now comparable to the finer pernambuco sticks. Lower quality bows can also be made of synthetic materials and less suitable types of wood.
For the 'frog' (which holds and adjusts the near end of the horsehair), ebony is most often used, but other materials, often decorative, are used as well; these include ivory and tortoiseshell. Near the frog is the grip, which is made of a wire, silk, or "whalebone" wrap and a thumb cushion made of leather or snakeskin. The tip plate of the bow may be made of bone, ivory, mammoth ivory, or metal, such as silver.
A bow maker or ''archetier'' typically uses 150 hairs from the tail of a horse for the bows for violin family instruments. White hair generally produces a smoother sound and black hair (used mainly for double bass bows) is coarser, producing a rougher sound. Lower quality (inexpensive) bows often use nylon or synthetic hair. Rosin, a hard, sticky substance made from resin, is regularly applied to the bow hair to increase friction.
In making a bow, the greater part of the woodworking is done on a straight stick. According to James McKean (reference below), "the bow maker graduates the stick in precise gradations so that it is evenly flexible throughout." These gradations were worked out by François Tourte, discussed below.
In order to shape the curve or "camber" of the bow stick, the maker carefully heats the stick in an alcohol flame, a few inches at a time, bending the heated stick gradually to the proper shape. A metal or wooden template is used to get the exact model's curve and shape while heating.
The art of making wooden bows has changed little since the 19th century; most modern composite sticks roughly resemble the Tourte design, although the Incredibow marks a serious departure from it, having a "straight" stick cambered only by the fixed tension of the synthetic hair.
The characteristic long, sustained, and singing sound produced by the violin, viola, violoncello, and double bass is due to the drawing of the bow against their strings. This sustaining of musical sound with a bow is comparable to a singer using breath to sustain sounds and sing long, smooth, or ''legato'' melodies. Without the bow the violin family could only be played pizzicato.
In modern practice, the bow is almost always held in the right hand while the left is used for fingering. When the player pulls the bow across the strings (such that the frog moves away from the instrument), it is called a ''downbow''; pushing the bow so the frog moves toward the instrument is an ''upbow'' (the directions "down" and "up" are literally descriptive for violins and violas, and are employed in analogous fashion for the cello and double bass). Harnoncourt (1988) noted that the symbols for down-bow and up-bow are likely derived from early notation of "n" and "v" respectively, standing for ''nobile'' and ''vile'' (noble and ignoble, roughly), as the down-bow is usually utilized for the strong (more noble) beats.
Generally, the downbow stroke is used for the strong musical beats, the upbow for weak beats. However, in the viola da gamba, it is the reverse; thus violinists, violists, and cellists look like they are "pulling" on the strong beats when they play, whereas gamba players look like they are "stabbing" on the strong beats. The difference almost certainly results from the different ways in which the bow is held in these instrument families: violin/viola/cello players hold the wood part of the bow closer to the palm, whereas gamba players use the opposite orientation, with the horsehair closer. The orientation appropriate to each instrument family permits the stronger wrist muscles (flexors) to reinforce the strong beat.
String players control their tone quality by touching the bow to the strings at varying distances from the bridge, emphasizing the higher harmonics by playing sul ponticello "on the bridge," or reducing them, and emphasizing the fundamental frequency by playing sul tasto "on the fingerboard".
Infrequently, composers ask the player to use the bow by touching the strings with the wood rather than the hair; this is known by the Italian phrase ''col legno'', "with the wood". ''Col arco'', "with the bow", is the indication to use the bow hair to create the sound in the normal way.
The question of when and where the bow was invented is of interest because the bow made possible several of the most important instruments in music today. Authorities give different answers to this question, and this article will give only the predominant opinion.
Scholars are agreed that stringed instruments as a category existed long before the bow. There was a long period—possibly thousands of years—in which all stringed instruments were plucked.
In fact, it is likely that bowed instruments are not much more than a thousand years old. Eric Halfpenny, writing in the 1988 ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'', says "bowing can be traced as far back as the Islamic civilization of the 10th century ... it seems likely that the principle of bowing originated among the nomadic horse riding cultures of Central Asia, whence it spread quickly through Islam and the East, so that by 1000 it had almost simultaneously reached China, Java, North Africa, the Near East and Balkans, and Europe." Halfpenny notes that in many Eurasian languages the word for "bridge" etymologically means "horse," and that the Chinese regarded their own bowed instruments ''(huqin)'' as having originated with the "barbarians" of Central Asia.
The Central Asian theory is endorsed by Werner Bachmann, writing in the New Grove. Bachmann notes evidence from a tenth century Central Asian wall painting for bowed instruments in what is now the city of Kurbanshaid in Tajikistan.
Circumstantial evidence also supports the Central Asian theory. All the elements that were necessary for the invention of the bow were probably present among the Central Asian horse riding peoples at the same time:
★ In a society of horse-mounted warriors (the horse peoples included the Huns and the Mongols), horsehair obviously would have been available.
★ Central Asian horse warriors specialized in the military bow, which could easily have served the inventor as a temporary way to hold horsehair at high tension.
★ To this day, horsehair for bows is taken from places with harsh cold climates, including Mongolia [1], as such hair offers a better grip on the strings.
★ Rosin, crucial for creating sound even with coarse horsehair, is used by traditional archers to maintain the integrity of the string and (mixed with beeswax) to protect the finish of the bow; for details, see these links: 1, 2.
From all this it is tempting to imagine the invention of the bow: some Mongol warrior, having just used rosin on his equipment, idly stroked his harp or
A cello bow
In music, a 'bow' is a device pulled across the strings of a string instrument in order to make them vibrate and emit sound.
| Contents |
| Materials and manufacture |
| Bowing |
| History |
| Origin |
| The modern Western bow |
| Types of bow |
| Historical bows |
| Other types of bow |
| Maintenance |
| Nomenclature |
| See also |
| Sources |
| External links |
Materials and manufacture
A bow consists of a carefully chosen stick (usually wood) with some other material stretched between its ends. The type of bow used to play instruments of the violin family has many hairs stretched between its ends, but bows used in other cultures often stretch a single piece of string between the ends of the wood.
Fine modern bows used to play string instruments of the violin family (the violin, viola, cello and double bass) are usually made of pernambuco wood from Brazil and are strung with horsehair. When choosing wood to make bows, a violin or a bow maker must choose sound quality above all. A common practice is to reserve the best and most beautiful wood for a maker's most expensive work. Some bows are made nowadays from synthetic materials, such as a carbon fiber epoxy composite, or fiberglass. Carbon fiber bows have become very popular, and some of the better carbon fiber bows are now comparable to the finer pernambuco sticks. Lower quality bows can also be made of synthetic materials and less suitable types of wood.
For the 'frog' (which holds and adjusts the near end of the horsehair), ebony is most often used, but other materials, often decorative, are used as well; these include ivory and tortoiseshell. Near the frog is the grip, which is made of a wire, silk, or "whalebone" wrap and a thumb cushion made of leather or snakeskin. The tip plate of the bow may be made of bone, ivory, mammoth ivory, or metal, such as silver.
A bow maker or ''archetier'' typically uses 150 hairs from the tail of a horse for the bows for violin family instruments. White hair generally produces a smoother sound and black hair (used mainly for double bass bows) is coarser, producing a rougher sound. Lower quality (inexpensive) bows often use nylon or synthetic hair. Rosin, a hard, sticky substance made from resin, is regularly applied to the bow hair to increase friction.
In making a bow, the greater part of the woodworking is done on a straight stick. According to James McKean (reference below), "the bow maker graduates the stick in precise gradations so that it is evenly flexible throughout." These gradations were worked out by François Tourte, discussed below.
In order to shape the curve or "camber" of the bow stick, the maker carefully heats the stick in an alcohol flame, a few inches at a time, bending the heated stick gradually to the proper shape. A metal or wooden template is used to get the exact model's curve and shape while heating.
The art of making wooden bows has changed little since the 19th century; most modern composite sticks roughly resemble the Tourte design, although the Incredibow marks a serious departure from it, having a "straight" stick cambered only by the fixed tension of the synthetic hair.
Bowing
The characteristic long, sustained, and singing sound produced by the violin, viola, violoncello, and double bass is due to the drawing of the bow against their strings. This sustaining of musical sound with a bow is comparable to a singer using breath to sustain sounds and sing long, smooth, or ''legato'' melodies. Without the bow the violin family could only be played pizzicato.
In modern practice, the bow is almost always held in the right hand while the left is used for fingering. When the player pulls the bow across the strings (such that the frog moves away from the instrument), it is called a ''downbow''; pushing the bow so the frog moves toward the instrument is an ''upbow'' (the directions "down" and "up" are literally descriptive for violins and violas, and are employed in analogous fashion for the cello and double bass). Harnoncourt (1988) noted that the symbols for down-bow and up-bow are likely derived from early notation of "n" and "v" respectively, standing for ''nobile'' and ''vile'' (noble and ignoble, roughly), as the down-bow is usually utilized for the strong (more noble) beats.
Generally, the downbow stroke is used for the strong musical beats, the upbow for weak beats. However, in the viola da gamba, it is the reverse; thus violinists, violists, and cellists look like they are "pulling" on the strong beats when they play, whereas gamba players look like they are "stabbing" on the strong beats. The difference almost certainly results from the different ways in which the bow is held in these instrument families: violin/viola/cello players hold the wood part of the bow closer to the palm, whereas gamba players use the opposite orientation, with the horsehair closer. The orientation appropriate to each instrument family permits the stronger wrist muscles (flexors) to reinforce the strong beat.
String players control their tone quality by touching the bow to the strings at varying distances from the bridge, emphasizing the higher harmonics by playing sul ponticello "on the bridge," or reducing them, and emphasizing the fundamental frequency by playing sul tasto "on the fingerboard".
Infrequently, composers ask the player to use the bow by touching the strings with the wood rather than the hair; this is known by the Italian phrase ''col legno'', "with the wood". ''Col arco'', "with the bow", is the indication to use the bow hair to create the sound in the normal way.
History
Origin
The question of when and where the bow was invented is of interest because the bow made possible several of the most important instruments in music today. Authorities give different answers to this question, and this article will give only the predominant opinion.
Scholars are agreed that stringed instruments as a category existed long before the bow. There was a long period—possibly thousands of years—in which all stringed instruments were plucked.
In fact, it is likely that bowed instruments are not much more than a thousand years old. Eric Halfpenny, writing in the 1988 ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'', says "bowing can be traced as far back as the Islamic civilization of the 10th century ... it seems likely that the principle of bowing originated among the nomadic horse riding cultures of Central Asia, whence it spread quickly through Islam and the East, so that by 1000 it had almost simultaneously reached China, Java, North Africa, the Near East and Balkans, and Europe." Halfpenny notes that in many Eurasian languages the word for "bridge" etymologically means "horse," and that the Chinese regarded their own bowed instruments ''(huqin)'' as having originated with the "barbarians" of Central Asia.
The Central Asian theory is endorsed by Werner Bachmann, writing in the New Grove. Bachmann notes evidence from a tenth century Central Asian wall painting for bowed instruments in what is now the city of Kurbanshaid in Tajikistan.
Circumstantial evidence also supports the Central Asian theory. All the elements that were necessary for the invention of the bow were probably present among the Central Asian horse riding peoples at the same time:
★ In a society of horse-mounted warriors (the horse peoples included the Huns and the Mongols), horsehair obviously would have been available.
★ Central Asian horse warriors specialized in the military bow, which could easily have served the inventor as a temporary way to hold horsehair at high tension.
★ To this day, horsehair for bows is taken from places with harsh cold climates, including Mongolia [1], as such hair offers a better grip on the strings.
★ Rosin, crucial for creating sound even with coarse horsehair, is used by traditional archers to maintain the integrity of the string and (mixed with beeswax) to protect the finish of the bow; for details, see these links: 1, 2.
From all this it is tempting to imagine the invention of the bow: some Mongol warrior, having just used rosin on his equipment, idly stroked his harp or
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