One of the most challenging aspects of teaching beginner-level strings is determining how to introduce students to the bow. If presented too early, students struggle to maintain correct body position, left-hand position and bow-hand shape simultaneously. If presented too late, students become impatient and we risk high attrition rates. One method of addressing this problem is to examine how we perceive the initial stages of bow training. Using the bow should not be an all-or-nothing endeavor. Rather, it should be a gradual and sequential process that prepares students for the détaché bow stroke. This process is known as pre-bowing exercises. 1

Despite the fundamental importance of pre-bowing exercises, there exists a dearth of information on the topic. For instance, it is not exactly clear, at this point, how to define prebowing exercises, since no explicit definition exists. Moreover, the author knows of only one sequence of strategies, which is presented in the American String Teachers Association Curriculum. 2 The purpose of the present article is two-fold: 1. to construct a definition for pre-bowing exercises by analyzing information provided in the ASTA String