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. The violin is capable of great subtlety of dynamics
and tone colour:
D4 >
E5 <
F5 >
B5 >
C6 <
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.
About down and up bows:
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.
About down and up bows:
(Middle bow)
Middle of the bow, or the balancing point. This is not normally indicated.
About the
middle of the bow:
au talon
au talon (Germ. Frosch. It. tallone) =
bowed at the frog. Works best loud.
au talon:
au talon
punta d'arco
punta
d'arco (Fr. pointe. Germ. Spitze) = bowed
at the point. Good for delicate effects.
punta d'arco:
punta d'arco
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:
col legno battuto/tratto
'battuto'
= hit
with the wood of the bow
G3
Ab3
Bb3
Db4
F4
E5
B5
E6
Mahler, Symphony No. 4, 172-173:
'tratto'
= drag wood of the bow across the string(s). Use with extreme caution! Players do not like to damage valuable bows.
G3
Bb3
Bb4
E5
B5
G6
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:
spiccato
martelé
Literally,
"hammered" notes. Also indicated by accents. In a single
bow, but very separated notes.
martelé
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
ricochet
Usually abbreviated to ric. An uncontrolled bouncing on the string. Sometimes notated with multiple dots over the note.
sul G
Played on a single string until otherwise indicated, thus sul G, sul D, sul A, sul E. Lends a particular colour to the timbre.