Help With Spicatto (Violin)

His_Violinist · 06-07-2006, 08:50 AM

I've been playing violin for seven years now, and the All-State excerpt for next year presents a problem I have never quite been able to tackle. The horrid spicatto. It really comes down to my poor bowhand position, which should have been corrected years ago by my teacher. I tend to straighten my thumb and pinky, making spicatto pretty much impossible. Now I'm trying to correct this problem, as well as keep my wrist down as it tends to come up when I'm playing spicatto. But this doesn't seem to be working. Perhaps my hand needs to be more relaxed? I try this as well and it just seems sloppy and out of synch. Can any of the more experienced violin/viola/cello players help me out with this?

~FreT~ · 06-08-2006, 01:36 AM

Ooh, All-State. Sweet. Congratulations.

Yes, you need to relax your thumb and stuff. Do a detache bow first, increasing the speed, and it should naturally go to a spicatto.

Okay, I think I need to try it out and see how I can help you. I haven't done much of this thing.

~FreT~ · 06-08-2006, 06:58 PM

Okay, I tried it. I can't do the spicatto (in separate bows). But is yours a few notes in one bow?

His_Violinist · 06-20-2006, 07:31 PM

I worked through things with my private teacher. Basically, my wrist is too high when I play, and my fingers are placed completely incorrectly. So, I will have the fun task of re-learning how to hold my bow this summer. I'm a little annoyed that my teacher didn't point this out years ago, but I've been working on it with my scales and its getting better. Still can't do spiccatto. In my All-State excerpt we have to do sixteenth-notes in seperate bows, by the way. On Friday I'm leaving to go to a music camp in North Carolina for a month. Its one of the best camps in the southeast so I should get some instruction there.

Thanks for trying to help!

-Skye

~FreT~ · 06-21-2006, 05:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by His_Violinist

I worked through things with my private teacher. Basically, my wrist is too high when I play, and my fingers are placed completely incorrectly. So, I will have the fun task of re-learning how to hold my bow this summer. I'm a little annoyed that my teacher didn't point this out years ago, but I've been working on it with my scales and its getting better. Still can't do spiccatto. In my All-State excerpt we have to do sixteenth-notes in seperate bows, by the way. On Friday I'm leaving to go to a music camp in North Carolina for a month. Its one of the best camps in the southeast so I should get some instruction there.

Thanks for trying to help!

-Skye

Have fun and work hard, then. When you figure it out, could you teach me how to do it? How many years have you been in All-State?

~FreT~ · 09-05-2006, 01:05 AM

Oh, guess what... I kind of got a spicatto!

I was playing this fast passage one day and suddenly, I was flying. Yeah.

His_Violinist · 09-28-2006, 06:03 PM

I auditioned for All-State a week ago, and it went really well. Over the summer I worked with some really cool people and corrected my bowhand, and now spiccato is easy. Like you said, if you use a detache bow at the balance point (the point that you can balance the bow on one finger, between the middle and the frog, its a little different for every bow) and slowly speed it up keeping relaxed from your shoulder to your fingers, it naturally comes. You have to experiment a little, my bow gets a better sound with slower spiccatto closer to the middle, but when its faster it has to be at the balance point. In real spiccato, the bow doesn't actually come off the string, just sounds like it does. I hope this helps!

~FreT~ · 09-28-2006, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by His_Violinist

I auditioned for All-State a week ago, and it went really well. Over the summer I worked with some really cool people and corrected my bowhand, and now spiccato is easy. Like you said, if you use a detache bow at the balance point (the point that you can balance the bow on one finger, between the middle and the frog, its a little different for every bow) and slowly speed it up keeping relaxed from your shoulder to your fingers, it naturally comes. You have to experiment a little, my bow gets a better sound with slower spiccatto closer to the middle, but when its faster it has to be at the balance point. In real spiccato, the bow doesn't actually come off the string, just sounds like it does. I hope this helps!

You've returned! It's amazing!