how do u bow a guitar?

corno

Vice Admiral of Notes, Dots & at times also Slurs
Sr. Regulator
Have you applied any rosin to the hairs of the bow?
I don't think that bowing a guitar varies much from bowing a "normal" orchestra stringed instrument.

Maybe this link can help you in your endeavours: http://www.folkofthewood.com/page2661.htm
 

Jules

New member
Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel doesn't use the bow: he opts for the violin instead and uses it as a bow!
 

Contratrombone64

Admiral of Fugues
It's not normal to bow a guitar in my experience (as a string player) and rosin is the key, for sure. However, if you do manage to bow a guitar you'll be playing all strings simultaneously, as the fingerboard is flat (unlike the violin, viola, 'cello or bass ... which are, by design, arched).

Also - guitar strings TEND to be metal (at least the lower ones), no amount of rosin with help a violin bow make it make a decent sound, gut strings ... that's a different proposition.
 

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
Buy an eBow

When first viewing the above, I thought this might be a joke ... however, being the curious person I am and with the internet at my fingertips, I found that there actually such an item as an EBow. That page gives a really great description - perhaps this is what "Sky Tunnel" was asking about back in 2005 ... :).
 
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heartscore

New member
It's not normal to bow a guitar in my experience (as a string player) and rosin is the key, for sure. However, if you do manage to bow a guitar you'll be playing all strings simultaneously, as the fingerboard is flat (unlike the violin, viola, 'cello or bass ... which are, by design, arched).

Also - guitar strings TEND to be metal (at least the lower ones), no amount of rosin with help a violin bow make it make a decent sound, gut strings ... that's a different proposition.

A few more thoughts about that: Its of course possible to bow a guitar with a violin-bow or cello-bow and you can prevent to bow all strings together by bowing only the high and low E. A good presentation whats possible on an electric guitar is given by Jimmy Page in "Dazed and Confused". You can also use a kind of spiccato on all strings together to get a staccato-chord sound. A good alternative to the Ebow could be the Fernandes Sustainer Kit, which is a normal Pickup with the same function, so you don't have to hold it while playing. But you can never reach the "dramatic" show-quality of using a real bow. Look at Jimmy Page and you know what I mean, but I think its more a show-effect that musically necessary.

Best regards from Germany
 

MorningStar

New member
I would like to point out that the Les Paul that Page uses for 'Dazed & Confused' has been setup with a tremendous arc of the strings to help facilitate the use of the bow.
 

intet_at_tabe

Rear Admiral Appassionata (Ret.)
Krummhorn

Thank you dear sir for your always polite services. I did not know what an Ebow was, but now through your courtesy with the link I do.

Respectfully!!
 

Deeru Piotr

New member
Ebow was very popular in the seventies, I remember Soon solo by Steve Howe (Yes) as a great example of its use
 

Soubasse

New member
And they work on acoustic (steel string) guitars as well. I was initially quite surprised first time I accidentally discovered that, but it makes sense when you consider that the strings on a steel string guitar are ... well, steel!

Now, there I was thinking that Steve Howe's solo on "Soon" was a combination of the lap steel (which have very good sustain) and a volume pedal ... :confused:
 

Deeru Piotr

New member
Now, there I was thinking that Steve Howe's solo on "Soon" was a combination of the lap steel (which have very good sustain) and a volume pedal ... :confused:
I think you're right! I don't know for sure, but I seem to recall seeing Steve Howe doing that part on the lap steel, so the lapsus is mine :rolleyes:
 

methodistgirl

New member
I can't say that I haven't tried it myself. I had a violin out of it's case
and my guitar on my shoulder. I just reached down and picked up the
fiddle stick and tried it out after hearing about Jimmy Page doing it and
thanks to VH1, I saw him playing his guitar with a bow. It sounded
pretty neat. The only difference is that I put the guitar down and
played it like a cello. Jimmy Page had his strapped on his neck.
judy tooley:grin:
 

John Watt

Member
No-one says the real reason you can bow an electric guitar here. High volume feedback. Anything that touches the guitar made a sound, and sliding it along a mike stand does the same thing better. I was backstage with my friend Ron Sexsmith when he opened for Suzanne Vega in Toronto. Mitchell Frome, her husband, and Tchad Blake, international producers, were sitting with me. I noticed Tchad's ring and tried to poke at it, saying I had seen it for sale in comic books, but he pulled it away. He said he spent $20,000 with a jeweller to make his work, for one to three strings. Perhaps you've heard that. as always, John Watt. tuneUupL8r!
 

John Watt

Member
Soubasse! Sorry to contra-dict you. I surprised a bassist friend late one night, when he visited me at the band house by the lake at Prudhommes near St. Catharines, Lake Ontario. He thought that since I was a full time musician, I would have heard the Yes album Relayer, with "The Gates of Delerium", a quiet section in the middle featuring the "soon, oh soon" vocals. I turned on the P.A. system, we sat back in the dark, looking over the distant horizon, and listened to it loud. Patrick Moraz was keyboardist/arranger for that one album and tour, already passed by. The next year I saw Yes in Buffalo with Rick Wakeman back on keys, and they only played the quiet part up to the ending. Steve Howe, a restless guitar player on his feet even with his classical approach, sat behind a double steel guitar with full pedals to sound like the record. He had no rings or accoutrements on his fingers. He didn't need them. Here's a Pink Floyd David Gilmour trick. This works on all strings, depending on what they are and what you use, but on a steel string guitar you can take a blues slide and rub it sideways quickly across the neck starting at the fifth to seventh fret to create sustained ringing harmonic overtones, used to great effect on "Echoes".
 

tinglyear

New member
Soubasse! Sorry to contra-dict you. I surprised a bassist friend late one night, when he visited me at the band house by the lake at Prudhommes near St. Catharines, Lake Ontario. He thought that since I was a full time musician, I would have heard the Yes album Relayer, with "The Gates of Delerium", a quiet section in the middle featuring the "soon, oh soon" vocals. I turned on the P.A. system, we sat back in the dark, looking over the distant horizon, and listened to it loud. Patrick Moraz was keyboardist/arranger for that one album and tour, already passed by. The next year I saw Yes in Buffalo with Rick Wakeman back on keys, and they only played the quiet part up to the ending. Steve Howe, a restless guitar player on his feet even with his classical approach, sat behind a double steel guitar with full pedals to sound like the record. He had no rings or accoutrements on his fingers. He didn't need them. Here's a Pink Floyd David Gilmour trick. This works on all strings, depending on what they are and what you use, but on a steel string guitar you can take a blues slide and rub it sideways quickly across the neck starting at the fifth to seventh fret to create sustained ringing harmonic overtones, used to great effect on "Echoes".

sounds interesting... might have to give it a try now then...
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