A discussion of the bow:
A general feature of bass bowing is that the bow is much shorter than other stringed instrument bows, so there tend to be more changes in bow direction during musical phrases.
arco
arco = bowed (as opposed to plucked). It is assumed that a passage
is bowed unless marked otherwise. However, once a 'pizz'
indication has been given, 'arco' must be indicated for
the next bowed passage. Where unusual bowing techniques are used, 'ord'
or 'norm' will return the player to normal bowing. Here is a selection
of normal bowed notes marked with 'hairpins', to give an idea of the
range of bowing pressures available:
C2 - B1
G2 - F2
A2 - Bb2
D3 - C3
E3 - F3
Down bow
Bow travels from frog to point. Strong, and therefore used often on downbeats. There is no need to indicate bowing unless a specific pattern of up and down bows is required.
Up bow
Bow travels from point to frog. Weaker sound than down bow, and therefore used often on upbeats. There is no need to indicate bowing unless a specific pattern of up and down bows is required.
tremolo
Rapid up-down bows. A
measured tremolo subdivides the beat accurately according to the number
of bars through the note stem. An unmeasured tremolo (usually indicated
with the word trem) is a very rapid alternation of up and down
bows.
Tremolo
Tremolo sul pont.
au talon
au talon (Germ. Frosch. It. tallone) =
bowed at the frog. Works best loud.
punta d'arco
punta d'arco (Fr. pointe. Germ. Spitze) = bowed at the point. Good for delicate effects.
col legno
col legno (Fr. bois de l'archet Germ. die Bogenstange) = with the wood (but see the next entry). When only col legno is indicated, players often use tratto but engaging an amount of the hair of the bow. It is best to specify the method.
col legno:
tenuto
Full note values, played with alternate bows, full length.
portato
"Carried" notes (Fr. louré). Played in a single bow, but with
slight breaks between notes.
portato:
spiccato
Very short notes, sometimes notated as staccato with the word 'spicc.'
Played ="off-the-string",
i.e. bounced bow. A spiccato played in a single down bow is
called saltando, and in a single up-bow is called volante.
spiccato
marcato
Literally, "measured" notes. Notated with a verbal instruction. An "in the string" sound, performed either in a single bow or in alternate bows.
martelé
Literally,
"hammered" notes. Indicated by accents. In a single
bow, but very separated notes. The accents might have staccato dots too, since this is really an extension of staccato playing, producing a very heavy sound on the bass.
martelé:
jeté
"Thrown" bow, producing a controlled bouncing on the string.
ricochet
Usually abbreviated to ric. An uncontrolled bouncing on the
string. Sometimes notated with multiple dots over the note.
ricochet:
sul G
Played on a single string until otherwise indicated, thus sul E, sul A, sul D, sul G. Lends a particular colour to the timbre.