String Instrument Extended Techniques

String instrument players can use a variety of special techniques, also called “extended
techniques” to create special or unique sounds on their instrument. Many composers, especially
modern composers, use these special techniques to create a unique tone or atmosphere in their
composition.

Bowing Techniques
Double Stop
The technique of playing two notes simultaneously on a bowed stringed instrument.

Tremolo
A trembling effect created by moving the bow from side to side rapidly using a very small
amount of bow. Italian.

Spiccato
A bowing technique in which the bow bounces lightly upon the string. The term comes from
the Italian verb spiccare, meaning "to separate."

Ricochet
An uncontrolled bouncing on the string occasionally called jeté. The player drops or throws
the bow upon the string to start a series of uncontrolled bounces.

Ponticello
Bowing very close to the bridge to create a harsh tone.

Sul tasto
Bowing over the fingerboard to create a muted tone.

Col legno
Italian for "hit with the wood,” this technique involves striking the string with the wood of
the bow. Some string players object to col legno playing as it can damage the bow; many
players have a cheaper bow which they use for col legno passages. Some players tap the
strings with pencils instead of bows, producing a further percussive, lighter sound. Some
famous examples of col legno are In ″Dream of Witches' Sabbath" from Symphonie
Fantastique by Hector Berlioz, Battalia by Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1673),
″Mars, Bringer of War" from The Planets by Gustav Holst, and Igor Stravinsky’s
The Firebird. In Danse macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns,
the strings play col legno to suggest the rattling of skeletons.

Scratch tone
A scratch tone is produced by bowing the instrument
in normal bowing position, but applying very hard
pressure to the bow. This produces an extremely
loud and grating sound. The closer the player
positions the bow toward the bridge,
the scratchier the sound produced.
Bowing behind the bridge
This technique involves bowing the instrument on the short length of string behind the bridge
to create a squeaking effect. Two famous examples are Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon
Suite (where bowing behind the bridge on a violin cadenza is used in the representation of a
donkey’s braying) and Krzysztof Penderecki’s Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima.

Pizzicato Techniques
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 fingernail. An example of this
can be found at the beginning of Zhou Long’s Song of the Ch’in (1982).

Snap pizzicato
Also known as Bartók pizz., snap pizzicato was used often in the music of Béla Bartók. It is
commonly thought that Bartók invented the technique, however, Gustav Mahler was actually
the first to indicate this technique in his Seventh Symphony. 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.

Nail Pizzicato
Nail pizzicato is another technique invented and used by Bartók. 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 more harsh and metallic.

Left Hand Techniques

Harmonic
High notes that are achieved on instruments of the violin family when the performer lightly
places his finger exactly in the middle of the string. The primary harmonic of any string is
directly in the middle of the string length, however, there are additional harmonics on each
string at certain intervals.

Artificial harmonics
Although harmonics are most often used on open strings, occasionally a score will call for
an artificial harmonic: playing an overtone on a stopped string. This must be accomplished
using two fingers on the fingerboard, one to shorten the string to the desired fundamental
(pressing down all the way), and the other touching the node corresponding to the
appropriate harmonic (lightly touching).

Glissando
A glide or slide from one pitch to another.

Harmonic glissando
A slide from one pitch to another while lightly touching the string to create a whisper effect.

Trill
Rapidly alternating between two pitches either a half or whole step apart. Usually notated as
tr above the primary note. The performer trills up one note from the written pitch.
Fingered Tremolo
Rapidly alternating between 2 notes that are more than a whole step apart. Usually notated
with 3 slash marks in between the 2 pitches to be alternated.

Tapping techniques
"Silent" fingering
A performer can stop the strings with his left hand in an unusually forceful amnner and
thereby produce a percussive effect. Although quiet, the name “silent” refers to the fact that
the bow is often not applied when performing this effect.

Striking 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.

Tapping on the instrument

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.

Other Techniques

Scordatura tuning
A scordatura (literally Italian for "mistuning"), also called cross-tuning. Use of alternative
tunings allows the playing of otherwise impossible note sequences, double stops, chords or
other note combinations, or can be used to create unusual timbres. Mahler’s 4th Symphony
involves a violin solo in the 2nd movement in scordatura tuning. In Danse Macabre by Saint-
Saëns, a solo violin is used where the E-string is tuned to E♭. This changes the open intervals
of the double stop A and E to the tri-tone (A and E♭), which is used as the opening motive of
the work. Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird makes a rare, perhaps unique, demand for the entire
first violin section to retune the E string, in order to play the D major harmonic glissandi of
the introduction. Similarly, the final chord of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring requires the
cellos to retune A to G so it may be played "open" (unstopped by the fingers and consequently
more resonant) as part of a quadruple stop. Richard Strauss's tone poem Ein
Heldenleben includes a passage in which the second violins must tune their G strings down in
order to play a G♭. Ottorino Respighi's tone poem Pines of Rome requires the cellos to tune
the low C string down to a B in the third movement. Also, the basses must either have a fifth
low B string or tune a C extension down to the B in the third and fourth movements. Johann
Sebastian Bach's Fifth Cello Suite is written with the A string, the highest string, tuned down
a whole step to a G. The Suite may also be played with standard tuning, but some pitches
must be altered, and occasional notes removed to accommodate the tuning.

Sordino (or Con Sord)

Means “Muted” or “with mute”. String instrument players buy a special device called a mute
that they place on their bridge at moments in pieces of music where the composer calls for a
mute to be used, notated using one of the terms above.