What is violin rosin for?
The rosin creates friction, allowing the bow to grip the strings and make them vibrate more clearly. Violinists and violists tend to use a lighter rosin for their instruments, while darker rosins are used for cellos and double basses.
Why do we tighten and loosen the bow?
TIGHTEN TO PLAY, LOOSEN TO PUT AWAY The importance of this rhyme is to remind you that you not only need to tighten the bow to tension when you are playing, it is also absolutely crucial to loosen that tension when you pack up your instrument after playing or practicing!
How tight should an erhu bow be?
I personally feel that the tension in Erhu bows should be loose to the extent that the bow hairs form an angle with the strings when it is resting against them. The bamboo should be resting on the sloping side of the resonator.
What happens if your bow is too loose?
Remember that your violin bow is fragile. Making your bow too tight can cause lots of problems such as: It will be harder to control (especially as you expand your skills beyond the basic up-and-down bow strokes). Too much tension can snap the head right off.
Why does my bow sound scratchy?
Too much rosin on the bow hair produces a scratchy, unpleasant sound, while too little will cause the tone to fade out during your bow stroke.
How do I know if my bow has enough rosin?
Here are two possibilities: Acoustically: you shall strike the bow across the strings as a test. If the bow does not slide easily and produces no sound or only a faint, thin sound, then the bow hair does not have enough rosin. But if the bow is very scratchy, then it may have gotten too much rosin.
Why is my violin screeching?
If you find yourself squeaking often, here are a few common reasons: You may not have the right amount of rosin on your bow hair. Your fingers may be accidentally hitting any other strings. Bow hair is too tight or too loose.
Should you rosin your bow every day?
As with most string instruments, you should rosin your bow every time you play! You might want to gently blow or knock off any excess from the bow after you’ve rosined it. Also, remember to take a cloth or handkerchief and carefully clean the lower part of the fingerboard once in a while to remove extra powder.
Does bow rosin go bad?
Additionally, your rosin should be soft enough that the bow leaves a dusty path when drawn across the block. If it remains shiny and free of dust, you are unfortunately working with old rosin. Generally, a block of rosin will last for anywhere between six months and two years.
Is dark rosin bad?
Dark rosin is not necessarily a bad thing. Some high quality material that has gone through a long curing process can result in dark rosin that is extremely high quality. That said, anyone asking why their rosin is dark is probably doing so because the quality is not high.