Cello Bows

There's a reason for the expression "tools of the trade" - so many pursuits go hand-in-hand with a right tool for the job. Music is no exception, and for orchestral strings, the tool in question is the bow. Developed centuries ago and carefully refined over the generations, cello bows have reached an impressive level of mastery. In fact, today's beginner bow can easily be as well-crafted as a decades-old professional model... and a new professional cello bow is nothing less than a work of art. So whether you're a beginning player shopping for a spare bow to go with your cello kit, or an experienced professional on the lookout for your next upgrade, there's something here for you.

It's no surprise that for tools so steeped in tradition, cello bows are most often made of the same materials they've been all along: brazilwood or a similar lightweight wood, with genuine horsehair. Bows made this way run the gamut from the super-affordable Bellafina Student Brazilwood Cello Bow to the Londoner Bows Three Star Cello Bow. The former is a practical model that easily fits into a student's budget, while the latter is a perfectly-balanced Pernambuco bow fit for the world's most prestigious orchestras.

One of the changes that's come to cello bows over time has been the increasing availability of alternative materials, which is something you can easily see by looking through the options in this section. For solid performance with slightly less weight than wood, check out a fiberglass bow like the String Centre FG Series Fiberglass Cello Bow. Or, if you want the most advanced bow with the lightest weight and greatest strength, consider a graphite or carbon fiber model such as the Karl Wilhelm Carbon Fiber Cello Bow or the Glasser Advanced Composite Cello Bow.

You may even wish to try a few different bows to put them to the test and find out with your own hands and ears which one is right for you. That's certainly a viable path to take - and even if you decide against a particular one, you can simply make it into your new backup bow just in case. Ultimately, nobody can know which cello bow is right for you better than you can yourself, so take a close look at the lineup to see which ones stand out to you and you'll be ready to go from there.