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Playing Acciaccatura G5 & Main Principal Note G5
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Hi Everyone.
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I would like confirmation please of how to play Acciaccatura ...G5... & Principal Note ...G5... on the Violin.
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Methods I have in current use are:
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Method 1 of 3 = Continue bowing in same direction and make a slight "accent" (emphasis) on the principal note... [after first playing the acciaccatura].
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Method 2 of 3 = Play the acciaccatura first... Then release bow and play principal note. This I found interfers with smoothness [legato] .
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Method 3 of 3 = STRETCH Reach... Crossing strings. I play the acciaccatura on "E" String... and the principal on "A" string.
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I wonder how the professionally trained and others play ...the same note... as an acciaccatura and Principal Note.
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Thank you in anticipation of a response.
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Posted by PlayAgain dated 24th September 2016

Regulars



We have some more experienced people, and they will chime in eventually, but I figured I'd give it a try since people like to feel like they're not being ignored.
Caveat: I'm a beginner, enough so that I had to look up "acciaccatura". The definition I'm using is "a grace note performed as quickly as possible before an essential note of a melody, and falling before the beat."
My first thought is that anyone who asks me to play a grace note right before the main one that is the same note, is crazy. Given what a grace note is, and the capabilities of the human ear, I doubt it would be audible.
I'll assume you (or anyone else required to do this) fudges both the grace note and the gap between the two, and you're looking for the best way to make the fudging as minimal as possible.
My first thought, if being asked to do that would be a "stutter step", perhaps like one half cycle of a tremolo. This might be the same thing you were referring to as method 2, and it would definitely not be smooth. (But if you're playing the same note (on the same string), you'd have to lose some smoothness or the note isn't audible.)
To maximise smoothness and audibility both, I would say you'd have to use method 3. The difference in timbre would alleviate the need for a gap. The only big problem would be switching strings fast enough to qualify the first note as a grace note.
Method 1 should be considerably easier, and probably what people use when they can get away with it. In some pieces, the accent on the first part of the primary note might not be viable (when playing very soft or very loud, for example.) Then you'd have no choice but to use method 3 (or another method entirely).

Member

Maybe I'm over simplifying. What I would do is play the G on the E-string in the usual manner, but almost as soon as I start the bow, I would give the string a flick with the 3rd or 4th finger. The flick is so fast that you are basically cutting the G with a tiny bit before the flick and the rest after.
I think that how and where you cut the note depends a little on your personal taste and the intended effect.



To Charles
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Thank you for your reply.
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The "Strong. Alternative" word you use for ...less familiar with proper music procedures... Is quite harsh in the circumstances..
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I do thank you for your reply... It has lead me to Updated my CURRENT Play Decisions...
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UPDATED Current Play Decision 1 of 2 = I shall consider the Two G5 music notes as A Tied.... Demisemiquaver (thirty-second note) and Doube Dotted Quaver (eighth note) ...to be played in the same bow direction... With an emphasis on the delayed start of the beat.
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The delayed emphasis I feel with give listeners.... Somewhat of a different experience to other (different) pitch notes of the same value.
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UPDATED Current Play Decision 2 of 2 = I shall use a chromatic neighbour... Such as F# (F Sharp) rising to the G Natural. It appears to cause Zero conflicts as the notes before and after ... The G5 acciaccatura are also both G5's.
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Thank you again.
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Posted by PlayAgain dated Sunday 25th September 2016
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To RobB
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Thank you for Sharing Your method of playing... an Acciaccatura ...G5... & Principal Note ...G5... on the Violin.
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Later this year... I hope to see some "Celebrity Violinists"... here in the UK... and I hope to be able to ask them for their methods.
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In the meantime, I shall be using my UPDATED Current Play Decision 1 and 2. As I set out in my reply to Charles.
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Thank you again.
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Posted by PlayAgain dated Sunday 25th September 2016
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