Double Bass German Bow Hold

When holding a german bow the frog sits comfortably in the palm of the hand and the tip of the thumb is placed on the stick. The index and middle fingers lie against the side of the stick. The pinkie is curved and touches the bottom of the frog.

The image at left represents what the bow hold would look like during an upbow. When the bow is going downbow, the wrist will bend slightly and fingers will straighten out a bit. The flexibility of the fingers and wrist is crucial to later bowing technique.
For german bow players, the pressure (weight of the arm) comes through the thumb. In fact, the bow should be able to supported entirely by thumb and pinkie. By design, the german bow is capable of allowing a young player to produce a big sound on the bass with less effort than the french bow. The french bow, however, is more like the bows of the other instruments so many classroom teachers prefer teaching french bow.

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