Welcome to our forum. A Message To Our New and Prospective Members . Check out our Forum Rules. Lets keep this forum an enjoyable place to visit.

AAA
Avatar
Please consider registering
guest
sp_LogInOut Log Insp_Registration Register
Register | Lost password?
Advanced Search
Forum Scope



Match



Forum Options



Minimum search word length is 3 characters - maximum search word length is 84 characters
sp_Feed Topic RSSsp_TopicIcon
SPICCATO
sp_BlogLink Read the original blog post
Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 (2 votes) 
Avatar
Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
May 2, 2011 - 6:05 pm
Member Since: September 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 16555

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.

 

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

Avatar
Guest
Guests
May 2, 2011 - 6:41 pm

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 ?

Avatar
Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
May 2, 2011 - 7:22 pm
Member Since: September 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 16555

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.

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

Avatar
Mouse
March 30, 2023 - 11:27 am
Member Since: December 26, 2018
Forum Posts: 6263
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

In case anyone is learning spiccato and sautille. 

🐭

                  Learn Violin and Fiddle

                   on

                         Fiddlerman's Fiddle Talk Forum

Avatar
ELCBK
USA
Members

Regulars
March 30, 2023 - 2:45 pm
Member Since: June 10, 2020
Forum Posts: 8989
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

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.

Forum Timezone: America/New_York
Most Users Ever Online: 696
Currently Online:
Guest(s) 253
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)
Members Birthdays
sp_BirthdayIcon
Today augustoad
Upcoming anonkid, KindaScratchy, freesbee, paulinefiddle, Allenph, oneloudmime, MsJoy, Sandybourne, Ripton, Space., loveluach, husseinHr, reedc83, Guido, A. V. Suvorov, Scrap, JiminTexas, mcwey, Fashionandfiddle, Andie.Kae, Giovanni
Top Posters:
ELCBK: 8989
ABitRusty: 4367
Mad_Wed: 2849
Gordon Shumway: 2831
Barry: 2690
Fiddlestix: 2647
stringy: 2454
Oliver: 2439
DanielB: 2379
Mark: 2277
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 3
Members: 31767
Moderators: 0
Admins: 8
Forum Stats:
Groups: 16
Forums: 84
Topics: 10903
Posts: 138666
Newest Members:
peopleshost_1, SergeViner, ruchishah SP, lobos, foron, frefuhf SP, piero87, michaelrobinson SP, AuroraJTorres
Administrators: Fiddlerman: 16555, KindaScratchy: 1760, coolpinkone: 4180, BillyG: 3746, JoakimSimplePress: 0, MrsFiddlerman: 2, Jimmie Bjorling: 0, Mouse: 6263