Instrument Care
- Tighten your bow before playing by gently turning the tension screw. Avoid making the bow hairs too taut---the separation between the bow stick and hair should be about the width of a pencil.
- Put a small amount of rosin on your bow before playing. Hold the rosin in your left hand, place the bow hairs flat on the rosin and slowly move the bow back and forth on the rosin.
- After playing the violin, gently clean it with a soft cloth to remove rosin build-up on the strings.
- Polish is rarely needed, and when necessary, only a commercial violin polish should be used. Cleaning the violin with furniture polish and/or water could damage the varnish and acoustics of the violin (water could also cause the violin seams to open).
- Loosen the hair on your bow before putting it back in the case.
- Do not store your violin in extreme hot or cold locations.
- If you live in a dry climate, you may want to consider using a humidifier made for violins (excessive dryness can cause cracking or the seams of your violin to open).