Violin bow on violin?

Question:My first time with a new violin, and I rub the bow down rosin a little, but I still can't create a good sound. Nowmally it just screeches or screeches and sounds a pitch. Did I miss something?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: My first time with a new violin, and I rub the bow down rosin a little, but I still can't create a good sound. Nowmally it just screeches or screeches and sounds a pitch. Did I miss something?

It can take a long time (weeks or months) of practice before you get the right combination of bow pressure, bow speed, and the right position on the strings, to get a good tone. You also have to make sure you have the right amount of rosin on the bow -- not enough and the bow slides across the strings without making enough sound; too much rosin will make you sound scratchy.

I taught myself to play the fiddle and for the first 6 months or so I could barely stand to hear the sounds coming out of it LOL.

Practice, practice and more practice. :-)

Oh sugarplum. Firstly, this doesn't make sense "rub the bow down rosin a little". Are you referring to your violin? This could be because you are edging towards the finger board rather than towards the bridge. You could also be pressing hard or not finding the perfect spot on your strings where they will sing and work in unison with the bow. Try not to press hard and to stay near the bridge when bowing. You might need new strings if it is that bad.
Good luck!

When you buy a brand new bow, it has to be primed. What you do is hold the rosin in the approximate location where you would bow anyway, and then pass the bow back and forth over the rosing from Frog to Tip (after tightening the bow hair to the point where you can just get the fingernail of your smallest finger in between the hair and the stick) about 100 - 150 times, back and forth. After the bow is properly primed, you should only have to repeat this motion about five to ten times before you play it from then on. The bow hair is made of the tail hairs of Mongolian Horses - or similar horses from a very cold climate. This hair has lots of cilia - or tiny hairs - that grow off of it. the tiny hairs trap and hold in the heat, but the rosin makes them stand up and cause the string to vibrate. Without being primed, the cilia don't have enough stickiness on their own, to grab the string and make it vibrate.

After the bow is primed, you have to learn how to pass the bow in a perpendicular line (straight across) between the fingerboard and bridge - just about center. This takes time and practice, but believe it or not, that rosin application technique I just talked about is an excellent way to learn this technique!

Get together with a friend who plays and compare notes. Have a brief discussion with an orchestra teacher at your nearest school. Stop by at the store where you bought the instrument. Amsco even has a DVD with a little workbook entitled how to play the Violin. There's always the private lesson route as well, and you don't have to go to the most expensive teacher in town. Many Junior College and University students would be more than happy to get you started for much less money than a standard teacher would cost. Remember that in music, you have to be willing to sound bad before you can sound good. It is part of the process of learning, and you will only truly appreciate it from the other side of your accomplishment. Best of luck no matter what course of action you take, and if I can help further, just give me a shout.

Find a private teacher.