THE ORCHESTRA: A USER'S MANUAL

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Introduction Orchestration Orchestration Resources Historical Andrew Hugill
  Philharmonia

VIOLIN


Section: Strings
Transposing? No

Construction
Range
Bowing
Plucking
Left Hand
Mute/Harmonics
Chords
Extended
Player's Tips and Tricks

Links

 

Extended techniques

NAME
DESCRIPTION
NOTATION
LISTEN/VIEW
COMMENTS
scordatura tuning
retuning the strings
a verbal instruction to retune, possibly with an additional staff to show new tunings
Mahler Symphony No. 4 (Movement 2) Do not retune more than a tone, and in general it is better to lower than raise the pitch of the string. Retuning takes time and care.
tap instrument
tap the body of the instrument with fingers or with the bow
verbal instruction, with x-shaped noteheads for extended passages
tapping Finger taps are common, but bow taps are to be used with care: no player would want to risk damaging the violin. If a bow tap is called for, the safest place to tap is the chinrest.
play behind bridge
playing the strings between the bridge and the tailpiece
verbal instruction, with x-shaped noteheads if necessary
playing behind bridge The standard bowing and plucking techniques may be used for this effect.
bow on bridge
bowing the strings directly on the bridge
verbal instruction, with x-shaped noteheads if necessary
bowing on bridge This is not the same as sul ponticello which plays near the bridge.
bow tailpiece
bowing the tailpiece
verbal instruction
bowing tailpiece Extremely quiet!
strike strings
striking the strings with the hand
verbal instruction
striking strings Pitches may also be fingered with the left hand.
scratch note
pressing down hard on the string with the bow to produce a rasping
verbal instruction, with x-shaped noteheads
scratch note As an obvious sign of bad technique, this sound is not flattering to the player.
'silent' fingering
fingering pitches with the left hand without bowing or plucking the strings
verbal instruction
  Very quiet.