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Bow Hold Buddies

 
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Musicalion
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Joined: 15 Apr 2009
Posts: 16
Location: Kirchseeon near Munich, Germany

PostPosted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 3:28 am    Post subject: Bow Hold Buddies Reply with quote

Has anyone tried the new Bow Hold Buddies? http://www.things4strings.com/
They're supposed to guarantee a correct Galamian bowhold for beginners.
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Eve Abraham
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Shirley
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Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 178
Location: West of Denver, Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 12:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

M ~ I hope someone has had experience with the Bow Hold Buddies - they look intriguing! Shirley
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techfiddle
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Joined: 17 Jun 2009
Posts: 122

PostPosted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 5:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No; this is really, really junk; any time you have some kind of mechanism like that, the risk of injury is great. Think Robert Schumann and his piano finger machine that caused him to lose entirely the ability to play, at all. Stay away from this stuff.
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SMaus
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Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 14

PostPosted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 6:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Every hand is different. The makers of these accessories assume that hands are built exactly the same. No matter what your hand looks like, you are pushed to hold the bow as if your hand had the same shape as the designer's hand.
This is obviously not the case. Therefore these accessories are complete nonsense and won't help at all. On the contrary. You lose money and chances are good that you spoil your bow hold, build up tension in the wrong place, rely too much on the doubtful "help" of this stuff etc etc.
Forget it and spend your money otherwise.
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RuthBrons
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Joined: 19 Mar 2010
Posts: 6
Location: West Orange, NJ

PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 12:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you Eve, for your question last year regarding the Bow Hold Buddies bow accessory, which was posted literally within days of the product's launch.
Unfortunately, the initial responses were not based on experience, as only less than a dozen samples had been shipped out at that time.
The skeptical remarks can be forgiven, though, due to the unprecedented features of these patent-pending teaching aids.

Now that these accessories have been available for an entire year, I can report a few facts:

Bow Hold Buddies have been enthusiastically received at a dozen music education conferences,
national and international, as either an invited session presenter or in the exhibit halls.

Several thousand teachers and students in over 40 countries have now used Bow Hold Buddies with great success,
which has lead to endorsements from several editor/authors of method books [Suzuki Viola School, Sussmanshaus Method, and ABC's of Violin].

Bow Hold Buddies have been reviewed favorably by Strad, Strings, and Music Teacher magazines.
Look for Bow Hold Buddies to be featured AGAIN in the upcoming October issue of Strad!

In my own large studio the accessories have done their job, and I love being able to turn my attention to other topics.
My entire studio received highest marks for bow hold at their American String Teacher's Association Certificate Advancement Program [ASTA CAP] exams this spring,
and all but my youngest and newest students have now weaned off the thumb/index support part of the two-part accessory.
Many advancing students like to still use the pinky support part, the Hold Fish accessory.
Players can use the Hold Fish accessory indefinitely, as it neither interferes with the bow balance nor impedes finger flexion,
and does does preclude customary contact with the bow.

The only negative feedback received is that, especially in the a few of the smaller cases, one may need to think outside the box a bit to safely stow a bow with the accessory installed.
If the lower of the two bow racks doesn't work, a common solution is to bypass the case's bow storage feature altogether and just lay the bow on top of the violin blanket, nestling the accessorized end of the bow in the scroll storage area.
And, of course, there have been many requests for additional colors --
the Hold Fish accessory is now available also in Concert Black and Frosty Clear!


Things 4 Strings accessories are available through The Potter Violin Company, www.Amazon.co.UK, andwww.things4strings.com.
www.things4Strings.com will soon be updated to offer the Hold Fish accessory and discounted Studio Kits, in addition to the Bow Hold Buddies accessory set [and the CelloPhant accessory for beginning cellists].

Sincerely Submitted,
With Best Wishes,
Ruth
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Ruth Brons
Inventor of Bow Hold Buddies[tm] Instant Bow Hold bow accessory for Beginners
www.things4strings.com
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Shirley
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Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 178
Location: West of Denver, Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 9:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ruth ~ I enjoyed reading your post - very interesting! Thanks for posting. Shirley
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Becky
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Joined: 09 Apr 2007
Posts: 83

PostPosted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 6:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I found out about the bow hold buddies at a music convention a year ago. Two of my students in particular were having a difficult time with their bow hold and I had them try using bow hold buddies. The older student (middle school) began playing the violin last year and started used a bow hold buddy about 2 months into playing. After a few months he weaned off the big piece and kept using the fish to help his pinky. He is now playing without the bow hold buddy and his bow hold is among the best of all my students. It worked great!
The younger student (1st grade) is still using his bow hold buddy. His bow hold is great. We could probably wean him off it, but it's more comfortable for him this way and I don't see a problem letting him continue using it longer.
I would highly recommend the bow hold buddies. They are very different from Robert Schumann's device. The bow hold buddies help the fingers stay in place for a proper (and very comfortable and natural) bow hold.
Yes, every hand is a little different, but the bow hold buddies seem to provide enough flexibility to account for this. All my students have tried the bow hold buddies and loved them! (but only 2 used them long-term). Sometimes the bow hold buddies had to be adjusted to better fit a hand, but it was quick and simple to do this.
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