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SPICCATO
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Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 (2 votes) 
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Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
May 2, 2011 - 6:05 pm
Member Since: September 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 16429

Spiccato is a bow technique where you bounce the bow on the strings. The faster the tempo the higher up on the bow towards the center you must play to achieve the perfect effortless spiccato. Keep the hair flat and allow the bow to bounce by itself. Avoid letting the bow come up too high off the strings. When practicing spiccato, experiment with different contact points on the bow, different bow stroke lengths and pressures.

 

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Oliver
NC

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May 2, 2011 - 6:41 pm
Member Since: February 28, 2011
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It appears that your bow is set at very high tension to facilitate the spiccato.  Is that a factor ?  How do you judge when your bow tension is correct considering that you may also encounter double stops later on and want a more slack bow ?

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Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
May 2, 2011 - 7:22 pm
Member Since: September 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 16429

If you try it you will see that the tension is not that high. This is a grip the string, pull it, then relax kind of technique. Use the weight of the bow rather than any muscle. This is why you need to do the slow spiccato close to the bridge. Faster spiccatos are easier because they bounce by themselves, even slightly faster. Learning this type of spiccato is also good for your finger flexibility. This exercise is more for practice than performance. The faster example is more what you will achieve in performance though probably not as fast.

When playing double stops you don't want a more slack bow. Twice as many strings require a little more pressure to vibrate. You should only have enough tension that the string will vibrate unless you need a strong dynamic.

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Mouse
March 30, 2023 - 11:27 am
Member Since: December 26, 2018
Forum Posts: 5306
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In case anyone is learning spiccato and sautille. 

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The Bumblebee Flies!

Please ignore any typos. My typing ability on a real typewriter did not transfer to these device key pads.

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ELCBK
USA
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March 30, 2023 - 2:45 pm
Member Since: June 10, 2020
Forum Posts: 7759
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I've been trying to use spiccato for tunes that have spots of short/fast notes with string crossings. 

I need this kind of articulation to help project cleaner/clearer tone - especially on lower strings.

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