When I learned classical violin as a youngster, I was taught to hold the bow with the thumb and fingers wrapped around the frog.

But experienced folk fiddlers almost always seem to hold the bow further up the stick, with their thumb and fingers nowhere near the frog.

Is there some real advantage to this different kind of bow hold, when playing folk tunes? Or is it just tradition?

I'm definitely not planning to try changing my own 'classical' way of holding the bow, after all these years, even when I'm playing those same folk tunes! I'm just asking out of curiosity.