Choosing a bow for your Cello

Bows come in four varieties and it is good to know all four.

1) Plastic. This is usually what you get when you rent a student cello. Fine for your first few months while you are trying to figure out how to hold the bow.

2) Wood. There are various woods that are used to make cheap bows. Usually they are passed off as "brazilwood" or some vague term like that. These are usually cheap but are (barely) a step above plastic bows. You can use this as your first bow or as a cheap back-up bow. Start around $75 so really about the same price as that plastic thing you are waving around.

3) Carbon Fiber/Composite. These vary in quality and that is reflected in their price. They have one advantage over other bows in that they are fairly indestructable. I keep one as a back-up bow for playing outside in the heat/cold, etc. An expensive composite bow can give you a good sound, although compared to the next category it can sound a bit muted. Start around $200 and go on up.

4) Pernambuco wood. This wood comes from the caesalpinia echinata tree in Brazil and is the premier wood for making bows. There is something magical about the sound that comes from a well made bow with this wood. It has to do with the right amount of flex and stiffness as well as the way the bow allows the strings to vibrate. Well I am sure a luthier could give you a better explanation. The most expensive Pernambuco bow I ever tried was about $12,000. Yes you read that right. Bows can get expensive, way expensive.

So how much should you pay for your bow? A beginning-to intermediate student can get away with about $200. As you advance you should get a better bow, although at some point you need to make sure the bow and the instrument match. Different bows make different sounds on different instruments. As you look to upgrade from renting to buying a cello you can invest in a decent under $1000 or so bow. I really wouldn't buy a more expensive one until you are ready to move out of the under $10,000 range for your cello. As always, ask your teacher for help in buying a bow.