STUDY UNITS VIOLIN BASICS LISTENING ROOM MUSIC BASICS

Bowing Directions & Special Effects

NOTATION NAME DEFINITION

An accent placed over or under a note means the note should be emphasized
Accent
by playing forcefully.

Play with the bow (bowing directions such as arco are often used after a
Arco
plucked, pizzicato section).

Talon is French for frog, and this term means a particular section of music
Au talon
should be played with the bow at the frog (other terms for frog are nut or heel).

Bariolage is a French term which means an “odd mixture of colors,” and

directs the string player to achieve a contrast in tone colors by playing on
different strings. An example of barriolage is when the same note is played,
Bariolage
alternating between open strings and stopped strings, or by playing a repeated
passage, oscillating between two, three, or four strings. Fingering is often used
to indicate bariolage.

Bow lift Lift the bow, and return to its starting point.

“With the wood.” Col legno means to strike the string with the stick of the bow
rather than the hair (it is also called col legno battuto) When there are
extended col legno passages in music, some professional violinists use
inexpensive bows for these sections in order to avoid damaging their
Col legno expensive bows.

Col legno tratto is less commonly used, and indicates the wood of the bow
should be drawn across the string (use with caution, this can damage the
wood of the bow).

Down Bow Begin the bow at the frog, and pull the bow from the frog to the tip.

Flautando Bow slightly over the fingerboard.

Punta
Bow at the point or tip of the bow.
d’arco

Sforzando means forced or accented, and is usually attached to a single note

Sforzando or chord. It generally indicates the note should be played loudly with a sudden
accented emphasis.

A curved line grouping notes together, indicating the notes included in the slur
should be played in the same bow. Unless otherwise indicated, notes in the
slur should be played legato. When slurs are used with dots over or under the
notes, this indicates a slight separation should be used between the notes (the
Slur
terms slurred staccato or dotted slurs are often used to describe this
technique). When a slur is placed between two notes with the same pitch, this
is called a “tie” and the two notes are played in one bow for the duration of
both notes.

Sul
Play with the bow near the bridge. The result is a glassy, whispery sound.
ponticello

Sul tasto Bow over the fingerboard. This produces a soft, flutelike sound.
 Tenuto Play sustained or broadly, and hold the note for its whole value.

Tie Connect two or more notes of the same pitch with one bow.

Bowed tremolo indicates the note should be played with very short, rapid and
unaccented bow strokes, moving the bow back and forth for the duration of
the note value (tremolos are usually played in the upper third of the bow, and a
light wrist motion is used to achieve them.)

Tremolo Tremolos are either measured (a clear subdivision of the note’s rhythmic
(bowed tremolo) value) or unmeasured (play the note as fast as possible). Tremolo signs are
indicated by short slanted lines through note stems. For example, one line
through a stem indicates eighth note tremolos, 2 lines mean sixteenth note
tremolos, and 3 lines indicate unmeasured tremolo. If tremolos are placed on a
beamed note, the beam counts as one of the lines.

Tremolos may also be played between more than one note, and this is called
fingered tremolo (it is also known as slurred tremolo). Instead of the bow
Tremolo rapidly moving, the fingers rapidly alternate between the two notes of the
(fingered tremolo) interval, while the bow smoothly plays. Fingered tremolo is generally notated
by incomplete beams being placed between two notes of an interval to
indicate the rhythmic value of the tremolo.

Up bow Begin the bow at the point or tip, and pull the bow from the point to the frog.

These terms are sometimes used to indicate what part of the bow should be
used:
WB, LH, UH, MB Whole bow
WB = Whole Bow; LH = Lower Half; UH = Upper Half; MB = Middle of the
Bow.

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©2009 RK Deverich. All rights reserved.

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©2009 RK Deverich. All rights reserved.