My 9-year-old just started bass in school orchestra, and I am giving him lessons to supplement his lessons at school. I always did French bow and never really even held a German bow, but I found with him he had a lot of trouble with keeping a good hand position, and that he had a tendency to bend his arm too much at the elbow and crank his wrist in an awkward way in order to maintain contact with the string. He asked me about German bow, and I showed him everything I knew about it in about 4 minutes, and he said he wanted to try it.
I bought him a German bow, and lo and behold, the second he put it in his hands it fixed most of his right hand problems. He naturally holds it in the perfect hand position, keeps his arm straight, keeps good weight and contact with the strings, seems to have a better feel for string changes ... now I am only occasionally reminding him to keep the tip up.
All this to ask, has anyone had a similar experience teaching young kids the two different bow types? And, since I don't know much about German, what should I be looking out for now that he is going forward with German?
I bought him a German bow, and lo and behold, the second he put it in his hands it fixed most of his right hand problems. He naturally holds it in the perfect hand position, keeps his arm straight, keeps good weight and contact with the strings, seems to have a better feel for string changes ... now I am only occasionally reminding him to keep the tip up.
All this to ask, has anyone had a similar experience teaching young kids the two different bow types? And, since I don't know much about German, what should I be looking out for now that he is going forward with German?
