Rosining a Cello Bow

Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart.
~Pablo Casals

My son plays the cello. I have absolutely no musical talents whatsoever, so I am very proud that my son already, even after only a few months, can make such lovely noise on his cello. I do everything I can to help and encourage him. So today I learned how to rosin his bow.

It's not the hardest thing in the world to do, but if you are not a musician, it is not something you do regularly. These are the proper steps:

1. Make sure your hands are clean
2. Select a rosin (I just used the one we have - rosin selection: something to learn)
3. Tighten the bow to "ready-to-play" tension
4. Slide the rosin from bottom to top across the bow hairs several times
5. Test: Bow should make pleasant music without to much effort. If not, apply more rosin until the bow glides easily across the strings

 

Note: The above video was helpful in that it provides some indication of how tight the cello bow should be.

Something else I learned: Rosin can leave residue on the string and cello which should be wiped off after playing so it does not build up and become difficult to remove.