Right-Hand Relaxation Principles

Keep your feet on the ground!

Sit fairly straight to keep a straight back.

Shoulders should be passive and entirely relaxed.

With the thumb on the bow, make a round grip (like you have an apple in your hand) and lead the articulation with your index finger (pictured below).

Keep your elbow down and relax the wrist a bit.

At the middle of the bow, the elbow should rise a bit so we can apply pressure without the involvement of the shoulder (pictured below).

At the tip of the bow, the elbow should rise a bit more, but primarily the lower arm extends out (pictured below).

We should be able to start a note with the same articulation at the tip as we do at the frog.

The balance point of a bow is much closer to the frog, so we have to apply more pressure with the index finger at the tip to get the same sound.

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