Bowed guitar is a way to play a guitar, whether acoustic or electric, using a bow instead of a pick to make the strings vibrate. This method is similar to how a viola da gamba is played. Unlike violins, which are typically bowed, guitars usually have a flat bridge and strings that are close together. These features make it harder to play individual notes on the middle strings when using a bow. This technique is often linked to musicians like Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and the Yardbirds, as well as Jónsi of Sigur Rós. Eddie Phillips of the British band the Creation was one of the first rock guitarists to use a bow in their 1966 song "Making Time."

Pickaso Technique

The Pickaso Technique is a special way to play the guitar using the Pickaso Guitar Bow. This method works differently from regular bows, which have trouble with the guitar’s flat, curved surface. The Pickaso Bow lets players move it inside the guitar’s sound hole, allowing them to bow one or two strings at a time on acoustic guitars. The bow has a narrow shape and hair on both sides, which helps create longer notes and gives players more control when bowing single or double strings. This expands the guitar’s ability to make a wider variety of sounds.

Bowed guitar players

• Eddie Phillips was one of the first 20th-century guitarists to use a bow. His bowed guitar is heard on The Creation's song "Making Time."
• Jimmy Page, of Led Zeppelin and The Yardbirds, is one of the most famous bowed guitar players. His bowed guitar is heard on "Dazed and Confused" and "How Many More Times" from the album Led Zeppelin, "In the Light" from Physical Graffiti, and "In the Evening" from In Through the Out Door.
• Jónsi (Jón Þór Birgisson), the vocalist and guitarist for the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós, often uses a bowed guitar.
• Jonny Greenwood, lead guitarist of Radiohead, plays bowed guitar live on "Burn the Witch" and "Pyramid Song" to create sounds similar to whale cries. With the band Smile, he plays bowed guitar on "Colours Fly" and uses a bow to play bass guitar on "A Hairdryer."
• Jeff Martin of the Canadian rock band The Tea Party plays bowed guitar on some of his earlier songs, such as "Save Me" from the album Splendor Solis.
• Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo occasionally plays bowed guitar, most notably in the intro to "Hey Joni."
• The Besnard Lakes also use bowed guitar. Avant-garde composer Scott Fields often uses bows, including modified bows, in performances and recordings, such as "Mamet," "From the Diary of Dog Drexel," "We Were the Phliks," and "Beckett."
• Claudio Sanchez from the American rock band Coheed and Cambria often uses a bow during live performances.
• Pink Floyd's Roger Waters used a bowed bass guitar on the songs "Lucifer Sam" and "The Scarecrow."
• Lee Jackson of The Nice used a bowed bass guitar on the songs "Intermezzo from the Karelia Suite," "Hang on to a Dream," and "My Back Pages."
• Tim McTague of Underoath uses a bow in the songs "Writing on the Walls," "To Whom It May Concern," and "Casting Such a Thin Shadow."
• English instrumentalist and composer Mike Oldfield played bowed guitar on his album Amarok.
• Skyler Skjelset of Fleet Foxes uses a bow during live performances of "Drops in the River" and "I Am All That I Need / Arroyo Seco / Thumbprint Scar."
• Russell Senior of Pulp used a bow during live performances of "Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)."
• Italian guitarist Sergio Altamura frequently uses a bow. In some pieces, he attaches a violin bridge to his guitar or uses a self-created electronic bow.
• Whitesnake's Adrian Vandenberg and Steve Vai used a bow during live performances of the song "Still of the Night."
• Igor Haefeli, guitarist of Daughter, uses a bow on the songs "Love," "Still," and "Lifeforms."
• Cliff Williams of AC/DC played a bowed bass with his previous band, Home, on the song "Lady of the Birds."
• Mike McCready of Pearl Jam played a bowed guitar on the song "Pendulum" from the album Lightning Bolt.
• Kristoffer Lo of Highasakite was seen using a bow on his guitar during a live performance of the song "Lover, where do you live?"
• Þorbjörn Steingrímsson of the Icelandic black/death metal band Zhrine uses a bow on multiple songs during both studio recordings and live performances.
• Kris Angylus (Kristopher Fairchild) of the drone doom band The Angelic Process used a bow on the guitar for much of the band's music.