Beginner Bow Hand Strategy (Train Tunnel)

I know what you're thinking, "How can she possibly be writing about another violin bow hand strategy?" "Isn't she sick of bow hand strategies yet?" "We get the idea already!" The answer is NOPE, I don't think I'll ever be done finding ways to perfect my students bow hand. It is one of my fetish's and missions in life! 

This Beginner bow hand strategy focus's on opening up the entire righ hand to, softening the fingers, and creating a nice open tunnel through the hand and thumb area. Having an open tunnel area gives the fingers and hand room to be flexible for smooth bow changes, bow bouncing, and fast bowing. 

So, it's super simple. The goal is for the student to create a tunnel by opening up their hand, curving their fingers, and keeping their thumb from collapsing. The parent or teacher then tries to drive a 'train' through the tunnel, or run a 'mouse' through the hole (my car and mouse is usually simply a marker). My kids like to try not to let me even touch their hands with the marker...this is super tricky and near impossible, but it's fun to atleast try! As you can see from the video, we also drop the marker through to see if it's getting stuck on any finger or thumb that is not open enough. An example of how my kids and students will practice this throughout the week is to have 5 to 10 marker drops a day.