GENERAL REMARKS ON BOWING--A USEFUL METHOD OF COMBINING SCALE PRACTICE
WITH THE STUDY OF VARIOUS BOWINGS--SMOOTH BOWINGS--CRESCENDO--
DIMINUENDO--THE SLUR.
BOWING.
The student should always strive to produce a beautiful pleasing
tone from his instrument. Rapidity of execution can be acquired with
downright hard work, but great skill, prompted and controlled by a
fine sense of tone quality is necessary to obtain a full tone, without
it partaking of a hard, forced quality, or accompanied by scraping
so pronounced as to be most unpleasant except perhaps to people at a
great distance from the player. To acquire this skill, and also in some
measure to educate the ear to the various tone-colour effects which are
possible on the violoncello, much thoughtful practice is necessary.
The student must not only _know_ the correct movements which the hand
and arm are to make in performing any particular style of bowing, but
with much practice, he must so develop the muscles of his bow-arm, that
they respond instantly to effect the slightest change in the amount of
pressure required for the different degrees of sound-volume, or for the
various parts of the bow used.
Eventually it will be found that it is possible to produce a complete
change in tone-colour, which will prove a great relief to a continued
tone of one character. Thus by using a whole length bow, without any
pressure for a note of a certain description, the quality of tone
produced will be far different to that obtained by using half the length
of bow, with pressure applied to make up the sound volume. This and
other changes in tone-colour will gradually unfold themselves to the
student, if after thoroughly mastering the correct way of holding the
bow, he practises the following bowings according to the directions
given.
VARIOUS BOWINGS APPLIED TO SCALE PRACTICE.
It is a mistake for a young player to imagine that after he has once
"been through" the scales with his teacher, he need never bother
himself about them again. When the major and minor scales in three
octaves can be played from memory, it will be found to be of great
assistance in keeping the intonation correct in all the keys, to adopt
a system of daily scale practice. The number of scales taken each day
must depend upon the amount of time which each student has at command;
it is advisable, however, to be content with one kind of bowing each
week, and even longer may be devoted to bowings which are difficult to
master, or in which the student happens to be backward. The advantage of
studying the various bowings after this method, is that the attention
of the student, not being occupied with reading the music, can be fully
directed to the management of the bow.
SMOOTH BOWINGS.
[Illustration: (EX. 1)]
The scales in semibreves, must be played with whole bowings. The student
should endeavour to produce a clear, round tone, which must be of
_even_ volume throughout the whole bow-stroke. To accomplish this, a
correct motion of the arm and wrist is necessary, the first finger must
gradually increase the pressure on the bow as the head is reached,
being again relaxed as the bow is pushed to the heel; to apply the
necessary pressure without causing any inequality in the tone, is the
secret of fine legato playing. To change the stroke of the bow requires
the assistance of the wrist and fingers, thus, in the down stroke when
the bow is within a couple of inches from the head, the movement of the
arm ceases, the hand moved at the wrist continues the stroke, and also
reverses the bow for the up-stroke. In the up-bow the rounded position
of the wrist when the heel is approached, will not allow of an exactly
similar movement; to accomplish a neat change of bow-stroke at the heel,
it is necessary to let the fingers _give_ slightly, which allows the bow
to be carried forward about an inch, and the stroke reversed after the
arm movement ceases. These slight wrist actions are required to prevent
a peculiar kind of scrape being heard, this sound, although permissible,
and even necessary in certain kinds of bowing, is most objectionable
in smooth legato playing. To prevent any harshness in the tone, the
pressure on the bow must be nicely regulated at the change of stroke.
[Illustration: (EX. 2)]
To be able to produce a fine crescendo is a grand accomplishment. The
bow must be lightly placed on the strings at some distance from the
bridge; as the stroke proceeds, more pressure with the first finger is
gradually applied, the bow is caused to approach the bridge and at the
same time is drawn more rapidly. In performing a crescendo passage with
the down bow, the strongest possible pressure must be applied as the bow
is drawn to the point. The gradual swelling from _piano_ to forte, must
be accomplished without any break in the tone being perceptible; a great
amount of practice is necessary to give the ability to produce a full
round tone at the forte, without a disagreeable hardness in tone-quality.
[Illustration: (EX. 3)]
In a decrescendo the reverse action takes place. The bow is placed very
firmly on the strings near the bridge, great pressure being applied. As
the stroke proceeds the pressure is gradually withdrawn, the bow moves
more slowly, and approaches the fingerboard.
[Illustration: (EX. 4)]
The effect of Ex. 4 is a combination in one bow of the crescendo and
decrescendo effects given in bowings 2 and 3. The bow must be used very
sparingly at the crescendo, so that sufficient may be left to sustain a
bold forte, for the middle of the semibreve, and also to allow the tone
to be gradually diminished. The student cannot devote too much time to
the study of this difficult bowing; if properly mastered, great command
of the bow, in a slow bow-stroke, will have been obtained.
[Illustration: (EX. 5)]
Scales played with two minims slurred (Ex. 5) should have whole smooth
bow-strokes. In approaching an open string, care should be taken to
prevent any break in the bow-stroke, or any roughness being perceptible.
The open string should first be caused to vibrate with the friction of
the bow, the pressure then being applied. Equal divisions of the bow
are necessary for each minim, the bow being lightly placed at the heel,
with slightly increasing pressure, as the point is neared; this is
required to keep the tone-volume equal with that produced at the heel.
[Illustration: (EX. 6)]
Four crotchets slurred, are to be played with the same kind of bowing as
Ex. 5, but here there are four notes to one bow-stroke. Each crotchet
should have its full time value allowed, and the stroke should be
equally divided, so that each note gets about a fourth of the bow.
Equality of tone, and smoothness are the chief characteristics of a good
performance of this and all similar slurred bowings. There should not be
the slightest break between each crotchet, one note only being left off
as the next is sounded.
[Illustration: (EX. 7)]
Smooth detached crotchets may be played with the upper half of the bow.
In this style of detached bowing, each note must be approached and left
without any roughness, a clear division of the notes being suggested
rather than any decided break made. When moving from one position to
another, no gliding is allowed, each note separate, but smooth.
[Illustration: (EX. 8)]
In Ex. 8 the whole octave is played with one bow stroke. In scale
practice, it will be advisable for the student at first to repeat the
tonic, so that a proper sense of the correct phrasing is felt, thus--
[Illustration: (EX. 8_a_)]
[Illustration: (EX. 9)]
Various divisions of slurred quavers may be practised, where each group
contains the same quantity of notes, the same length of bow-stroke must
be given each slur. Ex. 9 should be played with the upper third of the
bow. The student should not acquire the habit of making the second
quaver shorter than the first; each note must have equal duration. This
bowing may also be practised with the middle third of the bow.
[Illustration: (EX. 10)]
Where one group contains more notes than another, it is not always
advisable to use the same amount of bow for the smaller slur. To
preserve the same tone-quality throughout in Ex. 10, it should be bowed
as follows:--Place the bow on the strings near the heel; for the first
three quavers, draw it just beyond the middle, then give the two tied
quavers an up-stroke, using about a third of bow; for the remaining
three quavers, draw the bow quite to the point. The octave higher
commences with an up-bow, the action being exactly reversed until the
heel is reached.
[Illustration: (EX. 11)]
In playing two octaves slurred, besides observing all that has been
written concerning smooth slurred bowings, the student must be careful
to adopt a proper system of phrasing. It is perhaps advisable in scale
practice to suggest in the phrasing, the commencement of another octave.
This may be accomplished by dwelling slightly on the leading-note (in
this case B), or by accenting the tonic of the upper octave.
Whatever method is adopted, must not be such as to seriously disturb the
even run of the semiquavers.
[Illustration: (EX. 12)]
Detached quavers should be practised with the upper third of the bow, in
the same manner as the crotchets in Ex. 7. The wrist is assisted by the
fore-arm.
[Illustration: (EX. 13)]
Smooth detached semiquavers should be played with the point of the bow,
using the wrist only. They may also be played with the middle eighth of
the bow, but if a very smooth performance is desired, it is better to
keep near the point. This prevents the bow from getting a springing
movement, and causes the notes to be "rubbed" out of the instrument.
Much practice is necessary, to get the fingers of the left hand to
work in sympathy with the movements of the bow. The fingers must be
pressed firmly on the strings, at first the student must exert himself
to put forth the necessary pressure, afterwards, when the muscles of
the fingers are fully developed, this will be done unconsciously. When
playing in the middle of the bow, care must be taken to prevent any
scraping sound being produced by too much pressure on the bow, or by not
regulating the pressure when reversing the bow-stroke.