The upper arm is so held that with down strokes the elbow remains below the shoulder, until a third of the bow is left over. If the production of a louder tone is desired, the bowing is made closer to the bridge and in piano passages further away from it. The necessary power for producing louder tone is obtained only from the thumb, index finger, and wrist and the fore-arm is held as independently as possible of the upper arm.
Principal signs used for the left hand
and for the Bowing.
| ○ | open | string | ∏ | down bow | |
| 1 | 1st | finger | ٧ | up | |
| 2 | 2nd | ” | Sp. | (Spitze) at the point of the bow. | |
| 3 | 3rd | ” | M. | in the middle of the bow. | |
| 4 | 4th | ” | Fr. | (Frosch) at the heel (nut end) of the bow. | |
| G.B. | (Ganzer Bogen) whole bow. | ||||
| H.B. | half bow. | ||||
Use of the down and up bows.
As a rule, in every piece beginning with a full bar a down bow is used for the first note, and in a piece beginning with a single stroke on the up-beat (unaccented beat) or an up-beat consisting of several notes bound together, legato, the up bow is used. If the up-beat contains several notes, it must be so arranged that the last of these is played with an up bow. For example:—
Exceptions to the rule of beginning a full bar with a down bow often occur; for instance, if the first bar begins piano, gradually to forte, as in the opening of the Freischütz overture:—
