I am an adult that has been playing music for many years and have recently decided to take up the violin. I have been playing the violin for approximatey three months and yet I still have not been able to develop a consistantly smooth bowing technique. My teacher is convinced that I am pinching the bow with my thumb, but I feel as if I am not applying any pressure at all. Also, the bow seems to wobble back and forth in my hand. When I bow on the E string, the bowing is practically vertical, so it is difficult for me to maintain the proper bow hold. Gravity helps on the other strings, but not when bowing on the E string. I practice 2.5 to 3 hours a day and I concentrate on what I am doing. Shouldn`t these bumpy bowing and poor bow hold problems be nonexistant now? I send occasional emails to my teacher asking for advice or comment, but she rarely answers them for whatever reason. I don`t know any other adult teachers or students of classical violin, so it is difficult for me to get an idea of what normal progress is.
Comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jack

There are many types of bow grips. The most popular is (I think) the German bow grip. That might be the one your teacher`s teaching you.
Think of the bow as a lever (it is, duh); your thumb as the fulcrum. Your thumb is only there to act as a pivoting point for your bow.
On the tip-side is your index finger, or your "power finger". The pressure on the strings comes partly from your index finger pushing on the tip-side of the bow, and partly from your wrist turning counter-clockwise. On the screw-side is your pinky. It acts as a "balance finger". Most of the time, only a little pressure needs to be applied. To balance the bow; the more pressure exerted on the tip-side, the more pressure is needed to the screw-side to compensate it. Your bow ends up with more pressure on the tip-side than the screw-side because you need pressure on the strings. To put more weight on the strings, push harder with your index finger and your wrist and softer with your pinky.

One more thing. The Germans like to have their elbow hanging low (how Suzuki likes it) because the weight of the elbow helps keep the bow steady on the strings, and that makes a less bouncy bow. The Asians have their elbow up high for ease of bowing movement. To them, the elbow interferes with accurate bowing.

Thanks Harvey. I really do appreciate your response. I was already aware of everything that you told me, but your explanation was excellent and reassuring. Yes, that appears to be the method that I am being taught.
Fortunately, I have had a lot of success since I posted my request for assistance. It turns out that I did not have my two middle fingers down on the frog far enough. I didn`t think that would be critical, but in my case, it definitely was. Those two fingers were riding the top of the bow (I was experimenting in an effort to obtain a smoother wrist movement). The tradeoff was that the bow was rocking back and forth in my hand. I have been practicing just holding the bow with the correct grip and also doing long bow strokes using that grip on all passages for the time being. The combination of the more secure bow hold and the constant fluid movement of the long bows has not only made my sound smoother, but has enabled to achieve a much better tone.
Thanks again Harvey.
Jack