Hypermobile Joints and French Bow

Fletcher Lanning · #1 10-31-2009, 02:45 AM

This is an odd question but I just wanted to throw it out there and see if anyone else has dealt with the same issue.

I picked up a bow for the first time about two months ago. A local friend and bass player gave me an old French bow of his and I'm now playing with a local orchestra and getting occasional questions answered by a cello player.

The joints in my hand (especially the thumb and pinky) are hypermobile (some people call this double jointed) and it is giving me trouble keeping proper form with a French bow. I've thought of just giving up and looking for a German bow but most of the players I've seen that I like use French.

I know this is a pretty specific situation that most of you won't have seen but just wondering if there are any tips you can give to someone who can't afford private lessons.

Andrew McGregor · #2 10-31-2009, 03:19 AM

Even one lesson to set your grip right would be worth it.

But in the absence of that, be very careful... you can do bad things to your hand joints and tendons with a bass bow, so if you start getting pain STOP and lay off for a while.

German is indeed less likely to cause you trouble, at least with the thumb, but the pinky can be trouble with that grip. So again, the best thing would be to sit down with a teacher and figure out which is going to give you the least trouble. I won't prejudge that (German was the right answer for me, but that may not be for you).

Anyway, the best thing is to keep proper form... and the best way to do that is to relax. The bow only needs a tiny fraction of your hand's potential power, so there's no need for any great deal of tension. For comparison's sake, a physiotherapist once measured my right hand grip strength at 74 kg, and a bow weights only around 140g... meaning I have 500x the bow's weight in hand strength. So it's all about control, tension can only cause trouble. It's almost a matter of tucking the bow in your hand and letting the two just touch enough to stick.

CT DB · #3 10-31-2009, 08:54 AM

People with hypermobile joints have to rely more on their muscles to keep the joints in line. You will probably have a longer learning curve, and will have to focus on the correct grip for a longer period of time in the beginning, but once your muscles get strong enough, there shouldn't be a difference.

chancletarock · #4 11-03-2009, 12:53 AM

and it hasn't been a major issue to me. i'm pretty freakily double-jointed, too- how does it affect your hold?

something i'd like to share, also, is that when i picked up the bow it was after playing pizz for a long time, and i definitely had the thought "man maybe my hands are just not right for french bow" and i donno, i get a pretty nice sound out now. so really, as they say on TB, "get a teacher-" you won't regret it.

Fletcher Lanning · #5 11-05-2009, 03:13 PM

It is getting betting with practice. My biggest issue is keeping the joint at the bottom of my thumb curved outward while I'm playing. I wish I could put a splint on my inner hand to keep it out lol.