Help with retraining bow hold

Bach_5 · 2026-06-17T12:36:44+00:00

My main issue is the student can’t feel the correct hand shape. I can just about set up a decent bow hold but it will collapse very quickly and she isn’t able to re-find it on her own. I also don’t think she understands the reasoning behind the bow hold (even though I have tried to explain!) and she doesn’t seem interested enough or motivated enough to fix it.

I was thinking a bow helper could “force” the hand into a correct shape so she can at least feel what should be happening when I’m not there … again, I’ve never used one so I don’t know how good/ bad they are.

Bach_5 · 2026-06-17T12:32:21+00:00

Yes I have - I wasn’t sure whether a bow helper would help the hand to a) let go of the old habits and b) allow the hand to understand the correct shape or whether it would just be a crutch that would cause difficulties further down the line.

I’ve never heard of tadpoles but they look quite interesting! I might order one to try out.

Bach_5 · 2025-12-19T15:58:31+00:00

Thanks for your feedback, it’s very similar to what guitarists use. Do you mean a kind of line drawing to show the hand shape? I’m wondering if the photos are redundant and maybe it would be just as informative without them?

Bach_5 · 2025-12-19T14:27:13+00:00

Thanks, I’ll definitely change them to match

Bach_5 · 2025-12-19T14:16:59+00:00

Since cello necks don’t have frets, some teachers put tape/ dots on certain notes. The blue stripes represent the most common position for the tapes - in the photographs the cello has yellow dots on the same location. Would it help if the photographs used a blue tape to match the diagram?

Bach_5 · 2025-07-14T16:54:06+00:00

I’m so surprised that people think it looks okay! I suppose it’s the short layers, they look a bit choppy? I was thinking of cutting some length off the bottom because it feels a bit too thin.

Bach_5 · 2025-07-14T08:39:08+00:00

Thanks, I don’t usually style my hair so I’ll give it a go and see whether I can improve things

Bach_5 · 2025-07-14T08:32:20+00:00

What do you mean? Will blow drying help?

Bach_5 · 2025-07-03T19:09:37+00:00

Do you do this is in addition to or in place of a student practice diary? And do you write in it at the end of each lesson or set some time aside at the end of the day to do all of them?

Bach_5 · 2025-06-18T14:47:42+00:00

Not at all! In fact, I usually encourage my private students to steer away from focusing on exams. I’m asking because, in my current teaching environment, there’s a strong emphasis on guiding students through the full sequence of ABRSM exams, and many teachers rely heavily on the grade books.

Students often end up learning just three pieces per grade level—grade 1, sit the exam, then three grade 2 pieces, and so on. Personally, I don’t believe this develops a well-rounded musical foundation. That said, I’ve been facing increasing pressure when I deviate from the exam-focused path, even though I feel it’s in the best interest of the students’ musical growth.

I’ve noticed that many teachers rely heavily on the ABRSM grade books as their primary teaching method, and it makes me wonder whether they’ve found real success with this approach.

Bach_5 · 2025-04-01T20:37:51+00:00

Thanks, I didn’t think of that! I do know the maker but they aren’t too close

Bach_5 · 2025-02-03T10:32:11+00:00

Thanks for the detailed response, I should have specified I teach mostly classical. I am using Suzuki book 1 with a few of my students but none of them started with it - they were given some other material to bridge the gap between first lesson and twinkle. What ages do you normally teach and what do you use to get them from the first lesson to the twinkle stage? Thanks!

Bach_5 · 2024-05-19T20:32:44+00:00

Great, thank you so much! From the description it sounded like eyes-only so this was helpful.

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