I just bought a brand new 4/4 violin, I can`t seem to get the bow to work or play. I tried out a friends old bow on my violin and it played just fine but my bow doesn`t play. What am I doing wrong and how can I fix it. I am not taking lessons anywhere and am teaching myself to play. My bow seems to feel as tiight as my friends. Do I need to rosen the heck out of the bow first to get it to play?

Thanks for any tips.

If it is a brand new bow then yes, you`ll need to rosinate it a lot. However, what type of bow did you buy? Did it come as a `set` or did you buy it seperately, because there are loads of different types of bow out there and they can all act differently. I think I heard once that chinese bows are really light and bouncy, unlike carbon-fibre bows. However, don`t quote me on that!

There may be someone else here who can help, I mean I`m only a beginner and I teach myself too, so I`d go with the word of someone older and wiser

Hope this helps anyway