ABSTRACT
Franz Simandl’s New Method taught a bow hold which remains relatively unchanged. Franz Simandl’s instructions for drawing the bow are also essentially unchanged: “The arm is held in a natural, unrestrained manner.” Ludwig Streicher taught a widely accepted underhand approach in the twentieth century. “Thumb is over the stick so that the joint itself is what is holding the bow, not the length of the thumb. The French school teaches “middle, ring, and last fingers closer together, and the index finger separated. The thumb is under the stick in the groove of the frog.” Basses are often called upon to play pizzicato and the technique is included in nearly all modern methods. The earliest methods often taught just a few strokes, reflecting the low expectations for the player and instrument in the nineteenth century.
