Hi, I'm new to this forum. I have a question about slurring and the bow stroke instructions above each bar. See, I have been cheating... I don't always follow the instructions for bowing (up-bow, down-bow marks) or slurring. Is this OK? Or is it absolutely necessary to follow the marks?

You absolutely must learn to follow the bow instructions.
For a variety of reasons.

1- there is a different feeling in the music.
2- when you play with others in a section you are supposed to match.
3 - 100 more reason I will leave for others.

JOhnlovemusic is right. You DO need to play them correctly. It definitely changes the feel of the music, and if you ever played with other people all your bowing would be off. Also the composers put those in on purpose not only for how it sounds, but to help you in certain bow spots.

You do need to follow them

i agree with the above, the direction of your bowing can have a certain affect on the sound of the music, like a song starting on an up bow will have a very bright sound right at the beginning and catch attention. as said already the bowing is put in for a reason, and generally because of sound and because there are some spots in the music that will be very hard if you don't have the bow going in the right direction in the beginning. playing it correctly will give you great sound and emphasis.
you will also not look like an idiot when playing in the orchestra, trust me been there before!

first I'm going to say that i agree with everyone else and you play as written.


now i could be wrong with this as it's been quite a while since I've studied theory, so if anyone could verify this that would be greatly appreciated.

however, I remember being taught that the first note of every measure should be a down bow.

with songs starting with an up bow, it's the end of a measure. the last beat after a rest so to speak.


is this correct? I don't recall where I first learned this but it's one of those things that stuck with me.

Generally, that is correct. Although there are many many exceptions to that, especially songs in like 3/4 and times like that.

Yeah, i had an evil song where i had to start with an up bow because it started out of time in the second beat of the bar. and yes 3/4 time songs do start like that sometimes. generally its down though i think. i always start them that way anyway

Re: "however, I remember being taught that the first note of every measure should be a down bow."

I'd have to say this is just wrong. There is a tendency to play down bows on accented notes, but no good musician accents the first note of a measure merely because it's the first note of a measure. You really have to examine the actual music.

Yeah, i had an evil song where i had to start with an up bow because it started out of time in the second beat of the bar. and yes 3/4 time songs do start like that sometimes.

It's reasonable to assume by "first note of a measure" it was meant the first thing happening in the measure including rests and not considering incomplete measures. A phrase in 3/4 is no more likely to being with an upbeat than a phrase in any other time signature.

I don't always follow the instructions for bowing (up-bow, down-bow marks) or slurring. Is this OK? Or is it absolutely necessary to follow the marks?

Are you playing solo, in an orchestra, or in some other sort of group?

Performers alter the written bowings all the time; it's quite common.

In orchestra it is necessary to abide by the bowing decisions of the section leader or conductor (the only musicians in this kind of ensemble with the authority to change notated bowings).

When performing solo, bowings are up to you, provided that 1) you have to taken into account the notated bowings and attempted to determine what effect was intended and 2) you are a mature and experienced player.

Yes, I am playing solo. Thank you so much for the information!