Spiccato

Spiccato

Spiccato is a bowing technique for stringed instruments in which the bow bounces lightly upon the string. Eytmology: "spiccato" is the past participle of the Italian verb "spiccare", meaning "to separate."

Technique:The bow is held a short distance above the string and allowed to bounce, resulting in a series of short, distinct notes. This occurs because of the elasticity of the string and the natural springiness of the bow.

The speed with which the spiccato is performed depends on bow placement. At the "balance point", the spiccato will be slow, while above the middle of the bow the speed will increase. The speed can also be controlled by varying the height of the bow above the string: the higher the bow bounces, the longer the time required for the bow to return to the string, and therefore the slower the resulting spiccato.

The character of the spiccato can be varied by altering the tilt and placement of the bow to use more or fewer hairs. When using the full bow hair, the bow bounces more and has a shorter character, while when the bow hair is angled, the character of the spiccato becomes more mellow and longer.

History:According to David Boyden and Peter Walls in the "New Grove Dictionary", the terms ‘spiccato’ and ‘staccato’ were regarded as equivalent before the mid-eighteenth century. (They cite, for example, Brossard's "Dictionaire", 1703, and Corrette's "L'École d'Orphée", 1738). "Spiccato" meant, they write, "simply detached or separated as opposed to legato."

The distinctive use of the term "spiccato" for the bouncing bowstroke emerged in the later 1700s. Although it was an important technique for nineteenth-century violinists, its use increased significantly in the 20th century.

The ability to perform spiccato was facilitated by the development of the Tourte bow - the modern bow, in which the bow had a curve, developed by Francois Tourte partly in collaboration with Viotti. Spiccato (1747-1835) [cite web
url=http://www.speech.kth.se/qpsr/tmh/1997/97-32-047-052.pdf#search=%22spiccato%22
title=On the Kinematics of Spiccato Bowing
author=Knut Guettler and Anders Askenfelt
] .

References


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  • spiccato — ● spiccato adverbe (italien spiccato, détaché) Terme d interprétation propre aux instruments à cordes frottées, indiquant qu il faut détacher les notes. ⇒SPICCATO, adv. et subst. masc. MUS. ,,Dans le jeu du violon, sorte de sautillé consistant à… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • spiccato — SPICCÁTO adv. (Indică modul de executare a unei bucăţi muzicale la instrumentele cu coarde) În mod sacadat, prin desprinderea arcuşului de coarde după fiecare notă executată. – cuv. it. Trimis de LauraGellner, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98  spiccáto …   Dicționar Român

  • Spiccato — Spiccato. El spiccato es una técnica musical en la que el arco se desplaza por la cuerda haciendo pequeños saltos en ésta. La mano derecha debe dejar cierta libertad al arco para que éste se mueva saltando de una manera espontánea, pero siempre… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Spiccato — Spic*ca to, a. [It., p. p. of spicare to detach, to separate.] (Mus.) Detached; separated; a term indicating that every note is to be performed in a distinct and pointed manner. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Spiccāto — (ital.), deutlich, vernehmlich; beim Singen die deutliche Aussprache …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Spiccāto — (ital.), deutlich gesondert, eine musikalische Vortragsbezeichnung, besonders für Violine (vgl. Pikieren) …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Spiccato — Spiccato, ital., vernehmlich ausgesprochen …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • spiccato — agg. [part. pass. di spiccare ]. 1. a. [di fiore, frutto e sim., che è stato separato da dove era attaccato: frutta appena s. dall albero ] ▶◀ colto, raccolto, staccato. ◀▶ appiccato (a), attaccato (a). b. (giur., comm.) [di mandato, fattura,… …   Enciclopedia Italiana

  • spiccato — (izg. spikȃto) pril. DEFINICIJA glazb. vrsta poteza gudalom za sviranje čime se izvode međusobno odvojeni uzastopni tonovi ETIMOLOGIJA tal …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • spiccato — [spi kät′ō] adj. [It, pp. of spiccare, to detach] Musical Direction played with the bow wrist relaxed so that the bow of the violin, viola, etc. rebounds rapidly between notes …   English World dictionary

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