The art of bowing.

[Johnny Layton]

The more experience I get with bowing, the less I think about it and just let things flow naturally...how I would want to sing it. But I do remember my first days very well struggling with the most basic bowing patterns and looking with awe at all the high school and college kids who could spiccato so well.

I play German bow and don't do so well with French (though I do have a couple of French bows to play with). One of the first things I worked on was getting my wrist to loosen up while my thumb rested on the stick. At first, I had to hold the bow "Streicher" style but after a while I could do it.

I still feel I have a lot to learn but I'm glad I've made it as far as I have too.

[David Powell]

I've tried a few times to bow the head of "Take Five". That one is still a bit beyond me in Eb. I might try it transposed.

I am doing the whole head of "Footprints" bowed and I worked really hard getting a good sequence for the strokes. I am cheating a bit on the positions, compared to how Stanley Clarke plays it. I play the whole thing above the heel and use the open G string for the pick-up note or drop that note an octave to the BB string up at the heel. For the melody I use mostly the same position and the open D and G. I'm hanging at the 5-Spot now without my bass so I couldn't tell you what the strokes are, but they work.

I don't play too close to the bridge unless I am above the octave in the upper range of thumb position. In first position, I bow closer to the FB. It really just depends on the position for me. The lower the position, the closer to the FB usually.

I use the black hair also, which seems to be far more sensitive to where you bow the string. It's more challenging, but when you get it right, it is so different from the white hair. To my ear it is better, but the articulation has to be perfect or it will scratch or squeak.

One question I have is about pulling with the fingers and hand (German bow) as well as wrist before engaging the whole arm? It's totally a German bow thing, but I wonder who else uses this attack? This seems to give me more control on the attack, but I have to really "think it" into motion. It's more work than just sawing away at it.

[Jeff Moote]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

There are a few schools of drawing the Bow that I am personally aware of. One is the heavy strong attack on each note. Another is a smooth execution where you do not hear the attack. A third is where it draws softly at the start and quickly swells to the desired tone.

I have used all three mentioned as needed. The first and last style should be used as needed for the music. The middle one where you have control of the note from the start should be the normal way to bow. This I find the hardest to maintain as it requires great practice as well as a Bass (with good bowing strings) that responds well to your Bow. Also, the quality of your Bow will greatly aide in this approach.

I'm with Ken. A clean and even stroke from frog to tip in both directions should be the default. Any articulation and dynamic should be only when called for in the music. I thought this is how everyone was taught? Maybe I just have good teachers?

Originally Posted by David Powell

I use the black hair also, which seems to be far more sensitive to where you bow the string. It's more challenging, but when you get it right, it is so different from the white hair. To my ear it is better, but the articulation has to be perfect or it will scratch or squeak.

I don't think this is really a black hair thing as much as the strings and your technique. I have to work really hard to get my bass to squeak now, but in my earlier days with different strings and less developed technique that's all I got! Good arco strings with a good stroke should speak well no matter the hair colour or how much rosin (within reason) or where you bow along the string (again, within reason). I use black hair, btw, but I don't feel it makes as big a difference as many say. It's more coarse and "gritty" for sure, but that's about it.

[Richard Prowse]

I use black hair too and really like how it responds.
The thing about the B section of 'Take 5' is that I'm trying to get the feel right. I started playing it in Gm simply because I have played with guitarists who seem to prefer playing it in that key... I must admit that I've never tried it in the original key because it sits so well on the bass in Gm.
I'm interested to try David's 'finger pull thing' and will have a go tonight. I must admit that I've been a bit slack on bowing exercises... probably not a good thing to overlook as I bow more than I pizz.
However, I'm still interested in any thoughts about bowing that Take 5 middle section.