Like almost everything else on the double bass the bow isn’t standardised, even today, nor is its history simple. Sometimes the bow is played with the hand over the frog (the end of the bow where the hairs are secured and held away from the wood) like a violin. This is the French bow and is preferred in France, England, Italy and some other places.
Sometimes the bow is held underhand and for this technique a viol-type bow is used, because the technique is a survival from the days of the violone and bass viol. This was the technique used by Dragonetti.
