Bowing the body of a string instrument (which can include bowing the sound box, neck, tuning pegs, or scroll) produces a quiet sound whose amplitude differs according to the place bowed, bow pressure and bow speed. At most the sound is a whisper of the bow hair moving over the wood. A good example of this technique in a musical work is Helmut Lachenmann'sToccatina, a piece written in 1986 for solo violin which uses many extended techniques.
Bowing on the bridge
Bowing the bridge, second method
Bowing on the bridge produces two different effects depending on how it is done. If it is done while the performer is in normal playing position, the sound produced is quiet, whispery and a bit squeaky. This method could more properly be called 'bowing over the bridge', since the bow hair is usually still in contact with the strings. Sul ponticello (bowing near the bridge) is a similar, more common technique.
The other method involves the performer holding the instrument in their lap, placing the bow parallel to the instrument and firmly dragging it across the side of the bridge. In this case the sound is loud, high pitched and squeaky. An example of this playing technique can be found in Gérard Grisey'sVortex Temporum (1995). Helmut Lachenmann often uses a soft version of this technique, creating a quiet, white-noise-like sound.
Bowing on the fingerboard
Bowing on the fingerboard (sul tasto or sulla tastiera) creates a soft thin tone. The effect is a muffled and flute-like sound (the technique is often also called flautando).
Bowing the tailpiece
Drawing the bow across the tailpiece creates a very quiet resonant sound. Because the tailpiece is large and heavy this sound is general of a quite low pitch.
Scratch tone
A scratch tone is produced by bowing the instrument in normal playing position, but applying very hard pressure to the bow. This produces an extremely loud and grating sound.
This fairly common extended technique involves bowing the instrument on the afterlength, the short length of string behind the bridge. The tone is very high and squeaky. 3rd bridge is a term more used on electric guitars or prepared guitars, but is the same technique. Playing the instrument at a string part behind the bridge causes the opposed part of the string to resonate. The tone is louder at harmonic relations of the bridge string length. On violins the tone can be very high, even above human hearing range. Depending on the instrument the pitch of the tones may or may not be perceived (cellos and double basses are more likely to produce recognizable pitches because of the longer length of their strings). This technique is used extensively in Krzysztof Penderecki'sThrenody to the Victims of Hiroshima. Another interesting example is found in Ferde Grofé'sGrand Canyon Suite where bowing behind the bridge on a violincadenza is used in the representation of a donkey's braying.
This technique uses the stick of the bow, where the player flips the bow around so the bow hair is facing up. This technique produces a faint sound.
Plucking techniques
On string instruments plucking the strings is called pizzicato.
Cellist performing a buzz pizzicato. Note the fingernail placed parallel to the string.
Buzz pizzicato
Buzz pizzicato is created by placing a left hand finger parallel to the string and plucking the string forcefully so that the plucked string buzzes against the fingerboard. An example of this can be found at the beginning of Zhou Long'sSong of the Ch’in (1982).
Snap pizzicato
Also known as Bartók pizz, snap pizzicato is used extensively in the music of Béla Bartók. (It is commonly thought that Bartók invented the technique, but Gustav Mahler already in his Seventh Symphony was the first to direct its use.)[1] The technique consists of plucking the string away from the fingerboard with the right hand with sufficient force to cause it to snap back and strike the fingerboard creating a snapping sound in addition to the pitch itself.
Nail pizzicato
Nail pizzicato is another technique invented and used extensively by Bartók. To perform a nail pizzicato, the performer plucks the string with only the fingernail (in standard string performance technique the player uses the pad of the finger). The resulting sound is a bit more harsh and metallic.
Tapping techniques
"Silent" fingering
A performer can stop the strings with their left hand in an unusually forceful maneuver and thereby produce a percussive effect. Although quiet, the name “silent” is a misnomer and refers to the fact that the bow is often not applied when performing this effect.
Slapping the strings
The strings can be struck with the hand or with another object to produce a loud ringing or percussive sound. The performer's right hand is often used for this which leaves the left hand free to finger pitches or dampen the strings.
String instruments can be tapped just about anywhere. The body of a string instrument, since it is a resonant cavity, can resound quite loudly when struck with the fingers or another object.
Miscellaneous effects
“Chewing”
An effect sometimes used for humorous effect by string players, “chewing” is performed by loosening the bow hair and placing the bow, bow hair side up, against the back of the instrument. The bow is then rotated causing the bow stick to pop and crunch as it goes over the coarse bow hairs. This effect, which sounds remarkably like a person chewing something crunchy, is fairly quiet and could benefit from amplification.
Bow screw glissando
Parts of a violin bow
The bow can be held vertically and the screw of the bow placed firmly against a string either at the location of a fingered note or at some other point. The string can then be plucked with the right hand and the screw of the bow can be simultaneously dragged up or down the string. The effect of this is to produce a quiet rising or falling ping. This effect is used in Helmut Lachenmann's Toccatina.
Turetzky, Bertram (1989). The Contemporary Contrabass. New and revised edition (originally published in 1976). Berkeley, California: University of California Press. ISBN978-0-520-06381-5.
Shaken Not Stuttered by Anne Lanzilotti – a free online resource demonstrating extended techniques for strings with masterclass videos and notation suggestions
Cello MapArchived 2017-10-29 at the Wayback Machine by Ellen Fallowfield – a practical resource for those who are interested in performing and writing contemporary music for cello
The cello ( CHEL-oh), or violoncello ( VY-ə-lən-CHEL-oh, Italian pronunciation:[vjolonˈtʃɛllo]), is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 and A3. The viola's four strings are each an octave higher. Music for the cello is generally written in the bass clef, with tenor clef, and treble clef used for higher-range passages.
The double bass, also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched chordophone, in the modern symphony orchestra. Similar in structure to the cello, it has four or five strings.
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument, that is usually fretted and typically has six or twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strings against frets with the fingers of the opposite hand. A guitar pick may also be used to strike the strings. The sound of the guitar is projected either acoustically, by means of a resonant hollow chamber on the guitar, or amplified by an electronic pickup and an amplifier.
The violin, colloquially known as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino piccolo and the pochette, but these are virtually unused. Most violins have a hollow wooden body, and commonly have four strings, usually tuned in perfect fifths with notes G3, D4, A4, E5, and are most commonly played by drawing a bow across the strings. The violin can also be played by plucking the strings with the fingers (pizzicato) and, in specialized cases, by striking the strings with the wooden side of the bow.
In physics, acoustics, and telecommunications, a harmonic is a sinusoidal wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the fundamental frequency of a periodic signal. The fundamental frequency is also called the 1st harmonic; the other harmonics are known as higher harmonics. As all harmonics are periodic at the fundamental frequency, the sum of harmonics is also periodic at that frequency. The set of harmonics forms a harmonic series.
In musical instrument classification, string instruments or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner.
Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument:
A pull-off is a stringed instrument playing and articulation technique performed by plucking or "pulling" the finger that is grasping the sounding part of a string off the fingerboard of either a fretted or unfretted instrument. This intermediate- to advanced playing technique is done using the tip of a finger or fingernail on the fretting hand. Pull-offs are done to facilitate the playing of embellishments and ornaments such as grace notes. Pull-offs may be notated in sheet music or improvised by the performer, depending on the musical style and context.
The erhu is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a Southern Fiddle, and is sometimes known in the Western world as the Chinese violin or a Chinese two-stringed fiddle.
In music, extended technique is unconventional, unorthodox, or non-traditional methods of singing or of playing musical instruments employed to obtain unusual sounds or timbres.
Jazz bass is the use of the double bass or electric bass guitar to improvise accompaniment ("comping") basslines and solos in a jazz or jazz fusion style. Players began using the double bass in jazz in the 1890s to supply the low-pitched walking basslines that outlined the chord progressions of the songs. From the 1920s and 1930s Swing and big band era, through 1940s Bebop and 1950s Hard Bop, to the 1960s-era "free jazz" movement, the resonant, woody sound of the double bass anchored everything from small jazz combos to large jazz big bands.
The electric upright bass (EUB) is an instrument that can perform the musical function of a double bass. It requires only a minimal or 'skeleton' body to produce sound because it uses a pickup and electronic amplifier and loudspeaker. Therefore, a large resonating structure is not required to project the sound into the air. This minimal body greatly reduces the bulk and weight of the instrument. EUBs must always be connected to an amplifier and speaker cabinet to produce an adequate audible sound. The EUB retains enough of the features of the double bass so that double bass players are able to perform on it.
A violin consists of a body or corpus, a neck, a finger board, a bridge, a soundpost, four strings, and various fittings. The fittings are the tuning pegs, tailpiece and tailgut, endpin, possibly one or more fine tuners on the tailpiece, and in the modern style of playing, usually a chinrest, either attached with the cup directly over the tailpiece or to the left of it. There are many variations of chinrests: center-mount types such as Flesch or Guarneri, clamped to the body on both sides of the tailpiece, and side-mount types clamped to the lower bout to the left of the tailpiece.
Playing the violin entails holding the instrument between the jaw and the collar bone. The strings are sounded either by drawing the bow across them (arco), or by plucking them (pizzicato). The left hand regulates the sounding length of the strings by stopping them against the fingerboard with the fingers, producing different pitches.
Violin acoustics is an area of study within musical acoustics concerned with how the sound of a violin is created as the result of interactions between its many parts. These acoustic qualities are similar to those of other members of the violin family, such as the viola.
Playing a string harmonic is a string instrument technique that uses the nodes of natural harmonics of a musical string to isolate overtones. Playing string harmonics produces high pitched tones, often compared in timbre to a whistle or flute. Overtones can be isolated "by lightly touching the string with the finger instead of pressing it down" against the fingerboard. For some instruments this is a fundamental technique, such as the Chinese guqin, where it is known as fan yin, and the Vietnamese đàn bầu.
The 3rd bridge is an extended playing technique used on the electric guitar and other string instruments that allows a musician to produce distinctive timbres and overtones that are unavailable on a conventional string instrument with two bridges. The timbre created with this technique is close to that of gamelan instruments like the bonang and similar Indonesian types of pitched gongs.
A third bridge can be devised by inserting a rigid preparation object between the strings and the body or neck of the instrument, effectively dividing the string into distinct vibrating segments.
Guitar picking is a group of hand and finger techniques a guitarist uses to set guitar strings in motion to produce audible notes. These techniques involve plucking, strumming, brushing, etc. Picking can be done with:
Piano extended techniques are those in which unorthodox or unconventional techniques are used to create the sound.
Playing the cello is done while seated with the instrument supported on the floor. The fingertips of the left hand stop the strings on the fingerboard to determine the pitch of the fingered note. The right hand plucks or bows the strings to sound the notes.
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