Original Bow-Right for 1/4 - 1/2 Violin (Medium Size) - Teaches Proper Bow Holding Technique

good, strong bow

As an adult student just starting out, my number one problem has been being able to keep my bow on the right part of the strings. I thought I would try this out. My instructor has decided to reserve his opinion for right now. He is a little afraid that I may become dependent on it. We have decided to just use it for warm ups for a while to see if it help to improve muscle memory. The hope is that it will reduce my habit of bow travel and teach me to control the bow better. After a week, I am seeing a slight improvement. I will update in a month or two with whether or not it is really helpful.Regarding the connectors that I have read about. Yes they are hard plastic. They have a groove in them which allows for mounting on the seam on the bottom of the violin. While I do have a student model violin ($100 for violin, case, rosin, bow, etc...) I have not seen any damage to my instrument so far. I suspect that this is one of those items that I will only use for a little while to correct a problem. I do not intend to still be using it when I progress enough to purchase a more expensive instrument, so for me the damage concerns are minimal. I see this item as a training tool that I will not use forever. I suspect it is going to be a great asset at this early stage in my musical development.UPDATE:I have been using this for a few weeks now and it has greatly improved my technique. I would definitely recommend for learners who are having difficulty keeping their bow in the correct position. I practice about half the time with it and half without so that I do not become dependent on it.For those who are concerned about scratches here is an experience I had this weekend that may help:I left my violin sitting in its open case on a counter with the Bow-right still attached. My German shepherd (trying to see out of the nearby window) knocked it off and the violin landed face down under the case. This fall caused the Bow-right to be pushed down on the violin to where the metal over the strings were actually touching the strings. (They are usually around 2 inches above the strings) I was mortified. I just knew that the violin was ruined or at the very least all scratched up. To my surprise the violin was fine. There were also no scratches caused by the Bow-right being knocked out of its grooves and pushed down onto the violin. I was a little concerned with the brackets scratching the instrument when I first received it, but at least in my case this appears not to be an issue. I also recently took my violin with me on a trip so that I could practice during down time. (So lots of putting the Bow-right on and taking it off) So far no scratches. Since I am new to the violin, I don't know much about the more expensive instruments, but the apparatus has not caused any damage to my instrument. I would definitely do this again.

If your adult and decide to pick up the violin, I would say this is probably a good way to get a jumpstart on knowing how to properly control your bow.As the number of reviewers have said, this item can scratch your violin and bow, The former due to the fact that it is under tension when you put it on the violin so you need to put it on with care and more than likely not put it on a violin that is of a very good quality (IE this is a student guide, hence it should only be put on a student violin!) The latter if you were moving too fast with the bow (slow and study is the name of the game to avoid damaging your bow).The biggest thing you need to keep in mind when using this product is that it's meant to keep you at the ideal location between the fingerboard and the bridge as well as the ideal way to hold the bowl with very little forward and back play , once again this necessitates that you play slow when you have this product on to avoid damaging the bowl but also to give you a good feeling for how to properly hold the bow.When I showed and played with this to my violin teacher, she said that she definitely saw improvement in my bow arm but said to think of it as a pair of training wheels, that it's only meant to be used for a short amount of time otherwise I could become dependent on it. She recommended alternating either every other day or halfway through a practice with using it. Good advice.

I want to get the basics down at home before we invest too much money in lessons since he is so young. This tool is so helpful. I consider it like having training wheels for a violin. The hardest thing for little ones is to place the bow in place without getting the horse hair caught on the metal wings.I sit close enough to guide bow placement initially. After already found the position to bow, I can let go an just let the LO experiment with the sound. The LO was actually able to squeak out a little song he made up. It was cute to see him bopping along and dancing to the rhythm. I don't think that would have been possible without lessons without this tool at such a young age.I saw that some reviews stated that this can be folded so that it fits into the violin case. I suppose that depends on your case type...it didn’t work for mine. It does flatten easily when it is off, the violin and folded into the case pocket, but I misunderstood this particular review to mean that you do not have to take the Bow Right on and off. If you can fold it while it is still on the violin, I'm completely missing something. I will say that it only takes a few seconds to take this on and off the violin.Overall, this is a helpful learning tool.Update:Improvement suggestions:Over time the metal shape must have warped due to little hands possibly bending it the wrong way. Now, it pops off the violin as soon as I put it on, which makes it almost impossible to use. Be careful to prevent warping if you’d like this to last.I would recommend a design that prevents the bow and horsehair getting tangled.

I have a love/hate relationship with this practice device. I'd go crazy if I used it all the time. And I use an old/inexpensive bow because the rubbing and scraping can't be good. It creates a terrible sound but it's a way to practice keeping my bowing from being crooked. I've been fiddling for about 10 years and am now trying to clean up my act with classical lessons. I can play by ear but this is improving the quality of the tone I emit. I'm not using it today....