How do you know if your rosin is old?

Question

okay... so i just bought a violin. i've never played it in my life but i've been wanting to learn really bad. anyways, i'm teaching myself how to play, so i'm kind of on my own (besides the book). so... how do i know if the rosin that i have is old?

Answer 1

If the rosin came with the violin, it's probably not too old.  I don't think I've ever tossed rosin out for "age".  Some times it breaks and crumbles, in which case I do toss it out.

If the rosin is shiny, you can use a paper clip end to create some dust on the top then run the bow across the dust.  That'll get you going.  Also, the heat from the friction of running the bow along the edge of the rosin will soften the rosin enough to transfer rosin to the bow.

Do not add mineral spirits or anything else to the rosin.  This could ruin your bow.

Answer 2

This may be off-base a little, but I'll tell you what I know of it. I had to powder about 1/2 a pound of rosin for a printmaking class once.

It'll start out like a rock, sort of like a hard-candy consistency. Any sort of residue you can scrape from it will still be SUPER sticky, however. Take something jagged and give the surface a little scraping to scrape up the polish-like look of it, and that should help you out. If you want to get it more liquidy, you could either add a drop or two of mineral spirits to it, of get it warmed up next to a lightbulb. Also...it's pretty cheap to buy a new chunk of it.

Answer 3

I once had some rosin that was so dry it was cracked down the middle and didn't smell at all. It was really obvious it would be useless to rub the bow with.