Playing With the Bow (Arco)
Playing with the bow is called arco playing. This is the most common method of playing the violin. As with pizzicato, the best way to begin playing with the bow is to play just the open strings of the violin.
Hold the bow in the manner described earlier in Lesson 1, and place the hair of the bow on the open A (2nd) string near the frog of the bow. The bow should be at right angles to the string. Draw the bow slowly across the string all the way to the tip. This is called a down stroke, and is indicated with the symbol 
.
As you play the down stroke, make sure your right wrist and forearm are relaxed, as this will create the best sound. After you reach the tip of the bow, hold it steady for a moment and then slowly push the bow back across the string until you reach the frog.
This is called an up stroke, which is indicated with the symbol a. Once you can produce a good sound on the open A string, try playing each of the open strings with a down stroke and then an up stroke. If you are having trouble achieving a consistent sound, you may need to rub some more rosin on the hair of the bow.
To make sure you only sound one string at a time, you will need to lower your bowing arm slightly when moving from a lower string to a higher string (e.g., open G to open D) and raise the arm slightly when moving from a higher string to a lower string (e.g., open E to open A).
When moving between strings, do not lift your bow off the strings, but change the sound to the new string by changing the angle of the bow. It is important to work on bowing technique with a teacher right from the beginning so that you do not develop any bad habits which you later have to correct.
Practice playing the open strings arco in the order shown below. Count 1, 2, 1, 2, etc, as you play, and alternate your bow strokes. Each 1 count will be a down stroke with the bow and each 2 count will be an up stroke.
