When I started, I applied rosin like it was skill, until my hand actually got stuck to the bow. The fiddle sounded like shoite, and I felt the same.

So I did what Sharon suggests, but got the bow hair into a Gordian knot, and spent an age untangling it.

Then I soaped the strings down, as I was amazed how much gunk was clotted on them, as Sorch says.

The result was amazing, so now I clean the strings regularly, and only bung the cake down the horsehair once a week (playing every day).

Skipjack