BOW-vember: Back to bow basics

It is said that the bow is the voice and breath of the cello. 
If that's the case, we should be treating it SO WELL!  Think of those singers we all know who baby their voices with hot water/honey/lemon concoctions, wear scarves year round, and refuse to talk on the day of a big performance...

If we humble cellists show our beloved bows just a little bit of that kind of respect, we'll be on our way!

So, how should we properly care for our bows?  

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Basic Bow Care

Thanks to Sharmusic.com for this excellent article on bow maintenence: http://www.sharmusic.com/Pages/How-To/Bow-Care-and-Maintenance/

Included in this article is a helpful video on rosining your bow:

Scratching of the rosin in order to make it "stick to your bow hair" is a completely unneccesary step, in my experience. I find that the rosin will stick to the hair easily even without being roughed up.

I do want to emphasize the fact that a bow works best when it is rosined from frog to tip--and not in little sections at a time. I find little spots of extra rosin from the uneven application will sometimes make my bow's grab inconsistent along the length of hair.

I don't know about you, but I need MORE inconsistencies in sound production like I need a hole in the head!  

How to tell if you need a rehair

This is something that the members of Two Cellos probably never have to consider, since they are probably shredding through their bow hair daily.  I bet their rehair checklist goes like this:

Played a concert?  
Check.
Well, it's time for a rehair!

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For the rest of us, there's this article, courtesy of Strings magazine: http://www.allthingsstrings.com/Bows/CARE-MAINTENANCE/How-to-Tell-If-You-Need-a-Rehair