French Bow - German Style?

[nathanmcnathan]

Hey everybody. Although I now use a German bow, before I had my own, I was stuck using my school's old French bows. After lots of time practising French-style, I found I really liked the German style a lot more - just felt more natural. So, I started using German bowing techniques and grips on French bows. Since then, I've bought my own bow, and I now use my German bow religiously. My question is, is there anybody else who plays - or used to play - a French bow, but German style? I'm just curious to whether this is common in the jazz side of TB (I'm primarily a jazz player, but I started out as orch.) I seriously doubt that this happens among orchestral players, but I think it might be more common amongst any jazz player who sometimes play arco.
Thanks!

[mattfong]

I've done it, to see what it's like playing German. I finally got to try a German bow the other day. I like it a lot, it's really comfortable. I'm not sure which I like better, but I'm considering buying a cheapish German bow so I can play both.

Another thing, it seems like French is more practical if you're standing, while German seems more practical for sitting.

[Andrew McGregor]

I did that for a while, playing orchestral, while I found a german bow. French bow really didn't work for me, gave me thumb problems.

[bumbleBur2slow]

i have played with both german and french bows, and i like french much better. i find that using german bows my hand tends to cramp up and it feels uncomfortable.

[nathanmcnathan]

I much prefer my German bow, and as mattfong said, it is much more comfortable for someone who plays seated (me). I think French bows, while useful for violin, viola, and cello, and no good for bass - the instrument is at too awkward of an angle for it to be comfortable. Sure, you can learn to be comfortable with it, but I feel that the German bow is instantly comfortably, and feels much more natural.

[Johnny L]

Originally Posted by nathanmcnathan

My question is, is there anybody else who plays - or used to play - a French bow, but German style?

I use a German bow and play underhanded, but on rare occasions I'll play it with a quasi-French overhand grip. To me, I get a better tremolo sound that way and use it for that stroke.

I've seen one great bassist use his French bow with an underhand grip on occasion, though he didn't use all the fingers to hold it. He seemed to let his last 2 fingers just dangle and not worry about them too much.

I was lucky to have been encouraged to develop facility with and respect both bows when I was taking lessons and learning to play. I think they both have a lot to offer, even though I myself prefer the German bow and underhand grip in most of my own playing.

[Freddels]

I have a french bow and my thumb does start to hurt after a while so I prefer to hold it in an underhand way as it's just more comfortable. I really should just buy a german bow one of these days.

[mattfong]

I read somewhere recently that Ray Brown apparently played a German bow French style.

Another thing is that, in my opinion, if you're proficient on both, you can probably play equally well with both, but when you're starting out (like I am, I'm a jazz player and fairly new to the bow), I've gotten the impression that at first, accuracy regarding string crossing is easier with French, while power and evenness of tone is easier with German.

But in the end it all comes down to personal preference, people's wrists are different and different playing styles will agree with different people.