I’m Nathan Waller, a trumpet player who became an orchestra teacher. Like many others in that position, I found myself teaching beginning strings with more questions than answers, especially when it came to teaching a good bow hold. I started Arcofrog with one simple mission: to make string teaching more accessible and effective, particularly in those early days when success matters most.

I’ve taught elementary and middle school orchestra for over a decade, but my musical life began in 5th grade band on trumpet. I started cello in high school, studied conducting, and went on to earn a music education degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. I kept playing both instruments throughout college, but I quickly realized that teaching beginners on strings takes more than just knowing how to play.

The idea for Tadpoles started after my first experience teaching at a summer camp where we wrapped red tape around pencils and used them as “pencil bows.” Students brought them home to practice, only for us to re-teach everything when they switched to their real bows. I asked the veteran teachers if this was normal and the response was: ‘It’s the best we can do with this many kids and this little time.’

I began looking for something better: tools or methods that could help build a legitimate bow hold without creating bad habits or relying on crutches. Some things helped a little, but most weren’t intuitive for students and weren’t sustainable in a classroom setting. I knew I wasn’t the only one feeling out of place. For those of us who didn’t come from a string background, teaching bow holds can feel like an exercise in imposter syndrome with little guidance and no real tools to bridge the gap.

My cello bow hold was okay, and I knew what a good violin bow hold looked like. The problem was that I couldn’t accurately diagnose or prescribe remedies to the hundreds of ways to have a bad bow hold.

I studied every bow and bow hold guide I could find. I measured, tested, and refined. I spoke with professional string players and built dozens of prototypes. I tested them with my own students in real classrooms, and what emerged was Tadpoles: a simple, tactile tool that helps students form a pedagogically sound bow hold from the very beginning.

Tadpoles don’t replace your teaching method. They augment it. Whether you’re a seasoned string specialist or a band director teaching strings who is trying to stay a page ahead of the kids, Tadpoles are designed to meet you where you are. They reinforce your instruction, free up your time, and help your students build a strong foundation from day one.

Now my students go home and practice exactly the way we did in class, whether on the couch, in the car, or anywhere else. They return with bow holds that are solid and fundamentally sound, not habits that need to be undone. That means more time spent making music and less time spent fixing hands.

I wish Tadpoles had been around when I was studying music education. They give teachers, regardless of their primary instrument, the confidence to look at a students hand and know it’s right.