a decision based upon your own experience. In rehearsal, keep your eyes on the concertmaster or the first desk of your section.   It is their job to make artistic decisions concerning the nuance of the bow.  Watch them!  See what they are doing, and then you do it, too!  Following is a glossary of bow strokes that we commonly call upon in the rehearsal of GCYO repertoire. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all the bow strokes in the string vocabulary, but is provided for you to study and to give us – string player and conductor – a common vocabulary. Please study these terms and become conversant in them.

I. On the String

Détaché (day-tah-sháy) is the “default” bowing for any passage requiring separate bows, and, in all likelihood, is the first bow stroke you learned in your early training.  Stylistically neutral, it is used in GCYO when separate bows are called for.  It is a smooth stroke, played separately, using any part of the bow.  There is continuous sound between down-bow and up-bow strokes.  For the détaché you may use:

• the hand or wrist (smaller strokes using less bow and generating  less sound) , such as in small détaché
• the hand  in conjunction with the lower arm, where most of the activity starts from the elbow joint (strokes using up to 2/3rds of the bow)
• the lower arm in conjunction with the upper arm, depending upon the length of the stroke, but still calling  upon a relaxed hand and wrist (strokes using the whole bow) such as in grand détaché.

Détaché porté (sometimes simply called por-táy) is a stroke using, again, separate bows, but now with each stroke more isolated from the others.  In GCYO, it is often played in the upper part of the bow with light pressure, with rapid bow speed, and above all, with a relaxed bow hand.  Pressure at “either end” of the stroke is light.  This bowing can be used when a note (or notes) are marked with a dash (called a tenuto mark) or when the desired effect is for cleanly articulated bow strokes with a singing, airy effect. Détaché porté is invariably used in softer dynamics, while weightier detaches, using more bow area are employed for louder playing.

Détaché lancé (sometimes simply called  lan-sáy) is a stroke that uses, generally speaking, more bow area and bow speed than porté.  There is more stop on either end of the stroke than in détaché, but without the “press and release” component of martelé.  In GCYO, lancé is often called for when an airy, energetic stroke – especially one using the whole bow – is needed. 

Martelé (mar-teh-láy) is loosely interpreted as meaning a stroke that is “hammered.” This does little, however, to describe the bow stroke.  Martelé is used for separate bow strokes that are evenly accented  (the Italian term for this being marcato) and noticeably separated by silence.  In martelé, the bow is set well into the string with the relaxed weight of the arm.  The bow goes into motion with the release of this weight, following which it glides easily to the other end of the bow.  At the opposite end of the stroke, arm weight is once again applied to prepare for the next stroke.  Thus, rather than being hammered down onto the string, the martelé bow stroke springs up from the string.  In GCYO, martelé is often used to simulate the separated bowing used in Baroque music, and for passages requiring sturdy and authoritative rhythm.

The half martelé is used in GCYO when a martelé attack is needed – especially in the lower part of the bow – to be followed by a vibrant bow stroke that ends without arm pressure.  Pressure is released at the “front” part of the stroke, and the arm remains relaxed through its completion. Half martelé can be used when a single, well-resonated  forte bow stroke is needed.  Half martelé is also used to good effect in a forte-piano situation, such as the one pictured below, when it is followed by a series of porté played near the tip.

Sautillé (saw-tee-ay) is used for rapid articulations, such as with 16th notes in a quick tempo. The sautillé stroke produces the sound of spiccato without the bow ever leaving the string.  With the bow poised at its balancing point, the player utilizes small motions coming from his/her wrist, making the bow hairs spring in and out of the string.  The player’s fingers remain very relaxed, and make only smallest necessary contact with the bow.

II. A Single Note On Each Bow With the Bow Off the String

Collé (co-láy) logically follows at this point in the discussion because it employs the initial downward pressure used in martelé and half martelé.  Rather than ending on the string, however, collé is a short stroke that is chipped off of the string.  In GCYO, the collé is an energetic stroke and sometimes has a greater “noise factor.” It is often played near the frog and for shorter note values, such as the second note in a hook.  We often use collé as a way to reposition the bow: to get the bow moving up, off of the string, on the way to a down-bow delivered from the lower part of the bow.  It can be used, however in other circumstances, such as when a phrase is ended up-bow and it is necessary for the stroke to be short and marked.

The use of a comma is often used to indicate that the bow needs to be repositioned.  Below, in measure 1, moving the bow back to the frog allows the player to execute each bow stroke as a long, powerful détaché.  In measures 2 and 3, the bowing as it comes would seem to work out on its own, until you discover that you would be stuck at the tip for the long down-bow in measure 3.  Lifting back following the initial D flat gives the player enough bow to execute the passage.

The term brush is generally used for bow strokes that are off the string.  In GCYO, brush strokes are used for the repeated notes (especially 8ths and 16ths) common to accompaniment figures in Classical music (the music of Mozart and Haydn) and composers who follow in their tradition.  In this circumstance, the bow stroke – which starts from above and then comes directly off the string – emanates from the balancing point of the bow – slightly below the middle, as shown in the photo to the left. In order to produce this and other off-the-string strokes, your bow hand must fall from the wrist into a natural shape with relaxed, flexible fingers, shown at right.  When practicing this stroke, either on its own on an open string, or in the context of GCYO music you are practicing, always stay relaxed and find that balance where the bow works for you.

It is light in nature, and is less “vertical” than the other bow strokes we commonly use called spiccato. Heavy brush strokes (also called dramatic spiccato) are similar to collé in tone color, but are used in passages when a series of notes (i.e. a series of 8th notes marked ƒ) needs to be marked with emphasis. Chanté (shawn-táy) spiccato calls for a long brush in the lower half of the bow, and is used when a well-separated but tuneful articulation is needed.

Like the brush stroke, the spiccato is an off-the-string stroke.  It is shorter and more pointed than a brush stroke, and is more “vertical” with regard to the string.  The bow is “thrown” onto the string anywhere between the frog and the balancing point (an inch or two below the middle) of the bow.  Whereas the brush stroke is capable of more sound because more of the bow is “brushed” across the string, the spiccato is capable of less loudness.  The direction to play with a “more spicky sound” means to emphasize the contact noise of the bow meeting the string, while at the same time minimizing the amount of pure pitch being produced. 

III. More Than One Articulated Note On Each Bow

When portato (por-táh-toh) is called for, a series of notes – two or more – are played on one bow stroke, but with each gently articulated.  This articulation is accomplished with a brief stopping of the bow or with an increase in bow speed and vibrato at the moment a new pitch needs to be enunciated.    In GCYO, portato is often called for when it is necessary to better connect separate notes occurring on the same bow, or when a feeling of “carry” from one note to the next is needed.  In this circumstance, when the desired effect is more legato, a relaxed, flexible wrist leads the stroke, with the fingers and forearm following close behind.  In the example below, the portati at the end of the bar reposition the bow – moving from the tip back up to the frog – thus facilitating the new forte in measure 2:

In GCYO, when there are two or more notes are on a bow performed off the string, we refer to this simply as slurred staccato.  In the genre of portato, slurred staccato is nearly always played on an up-bow with the individual notes dropped into and from above the string.

IV. Hooked Bows

Hooked Bows involve playing two notes on a bow. They are discussed here not because they constitute a particular type of stroke, but because they are very common to our bow vocabulary.  And many times they are played either badly or at least without the proper effect.  This is because hooked bow routines often require two and sometimes three types of strokes to be performed correctly. Often, the decision to employ hooks is made by the player or the conductor, who understands this to be stylistically correct for a given work. In Classical music, hooks correct bow direction and impart a characteristic lightness in style. In the above example, the “hooks” are actually slurred staccati, and are generated with a relaxed wrist stroke: Hooks are employed with two notes of unequal value to avoid the accent that occurs when a player has to “make up” a lot of bow area on the smaller note value.  In the example below, which could come from a Baroque work, each of the two notes is performed on the string martelé: the first with a longer, arm-generated   stroke, and the second with a shorter, wrist-generated stroke.

In this example, the long note is performed with a half martelé while short note is performed détaché

In this final example, the hooked bows help impart a highly rhythmic effect.  The entire gesture is performed best near the frog.   The first 8th note begins near the frog and is performed with a short, half martelé.  Though it could be argued that a full martelé stroke – one with weight on either side of  – is needed for the 8th note, this stroke will tend to stifle its sound.  A half martelé will let the 8th note resonate, and will avoid the “crunch” so often created with short martelés.

The first note of the hook – the dotted 16th – will start from somewhere below the middle of the bow and move quickly back towards the frog using a light martelé stroke.  A flexible wrist will lead this motion, followed by forearm and fingers.  The final note of the figure – the 32nd note – is performed collé, as near to the frog as possible.  This stroke is performed with great energy and entirely with wrist and fingers.  Because the collé stroke ends in the air, each ensuing 8th note will be engaged by dropping the bow on the string from above.

By Dr. Gary Auguste Robinson, Director, Greenville County Youth Orchestra