The Staccato

No other bowing technique provokes as many conflicting opinions as staccato, both in mechanical and aesthetic terms.

Some view it as the key to all bow technique, while others reject it as an inferior means of expression that is detrimental to the development of right-hand technique. Neither view is entirely accurate.

Staccato is rare in the major chamber music repertoire, but it does have a role in virtuoso repertoire (Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, Davidoff’s Concerto in A minor, the Locatelli Sonata, Servais’s Concertos and Fantasies, etc.). A brilliant staccato never fails to impress the listener. We need not consider it a great misfortune not to possess this bowing technique, but on the other hand, the mastery of a lively staccato is a nice enrichment to bowing technique. Even if the artistic value of staccato is admittedly not particularly high, there are still pieces whose character definitely requires this virtuoso bowing technique, such as the first movement of the Locatelli Sonata. If we use spiccato instead of staccato here, this beautiful piece definitely loses some of its charm. The perfect virtuoso cannot entirely manage without this bowing technique. This being the case, an aspiring cellist should at least try to learn it.

Let us now approach the problem of staccato from a physiological perspective! We can observe that most players find up-bow staccato easier than down-bow staccato; further, staccato in the lower third of the bow, near the frog, presents particular difficulties.

If you feel the arm of a player while they execute the stroke, you will usually notice that they are using considerable tension, far more than what is actually necessary for applying pressure. In other words, they are putting the arm into a spasm-like state in order to produce a series of staccato notes.

The lack of automatic tension and relaxation is also causing technical failures here. Let us examine whether a physiological approach can be a tool in overcoming these difficulties.

We should consider that staccato has its origins in the martelé stroke, whose features we have already discussed in our classifications of bowstrokes. The characteristic sound of the martelé is a certain distinct brevity, where we hear as an accentuation of each individual note. Additionally, there is a pause between every two notes. We can consider these pauses as places to renew energy, which then discharges itself in each resolute stroke. It doesn’t matter how much of the bow we use to execute the martelé, or which part of the bow. We must simply ensure that the up-bow and down-bow strokes don’t contain involuntary crescendos and decrescendos.

In staccato, a greater or lesser number of martelé notes are combined under a single bow stroke. Visually, this involves breaking down a linear movement into a series of uniform, rhythmically “interrupted” partial movements in an approximately horizontal direction. The overall movement either goes in a straight line or a wavy one, depending on whether the individual notes are created with pressure from pronation or with forearm rotation.

The main difficulty is in quickly establishing firm contact between bow and string—as in martellato playing—but in staccato, the key difference is that the application of pressure happens in the same direction of bow movement. It is precisely this rapid establishment of contact that often leads to arm stiffness and consequently, failure of the stroke.

Unless the player has a natural predisposition to play staccato easily, the only solution is to transform the spasmodic movement into one that is as relaxed as possible. We can easily achieve this if we go by the physiological principles that (1) pressure and movement are identical muscular processes that occur temporally and locally, both together and independently of one another, in the appropriate muscle groups; and that (2) force must be applied where it can have the most beneficial effect.

The first point implies that the application of pressure must never disrupt the purity of the movement. The second demands that when playing near the frog, the upper arm tension should decrease to near zero during rapid movement, while, as the bow approaches the tip, the effort must be directed upwards to the shoulder to enable greater pressure.

With the proper distribution of force, we can use the bow for staccato in both up- and down-bows near the frog. This is the case when the bow’s movement and contact with the string in the lower third of the bow are controlled solely by the hand, with pressure being exerted primarily by the small hand muscles.

For the rest, one only needs to imagine a movement diagram. If we study the movement itself, it involves combining a slow playing movement (e.g. that found in the full bowstroke) with an abrupt hand movement, which we can achieve with the help of the wrist and slight “compensation” of the fingers.

The wrist movement occurs either (1) approximately around the transverse axis of the wrist (as in off-the-string strokes and the grip change technique), with a fairly high elbow and a strongly pronated forearm, or (2) approximately horizontally, with the forearm positioned lower and more horizontally. There is also a third possibility, namely using forearm rotation in small “pushes” of the bow to advance the bow (cf. Steinhausen). This involves breaking up the main horizontal movement into small arc-shaped strokes, which together would create a trajectory that looks like a wavy line. A fourth type places the entire arm under excessive tension, creating the staccato through a tremulous shaking of the bow and resulting in a less uniform movement. Only the first three types are physiologically sound, so the following instructions refer to them.

The first method allows for constant pressure on the strings. The bow exerts even pressure during rests and on the martellato short notes. With the second method, the bow is pushed forward, so that the strongest pressure falls during the rest, allowing the string to vibrate more freely during the bowstroke. This method is therefore more suitable for flying staccato, in which the bow repeatedly leaves the string for brief moments.

For easier understanding of the mechanics of staccato, we will divide the bow into three parts. We will start in the top third. Due to the “long lever arm,” considerable pressure is necessary here to ensure that the bow hair can dig into the string. We utilize our entire arm for this, as the strength of the forearm alone would not be enough. Practice martellato first, with long rests, and constantly ensure that the bow actually comes to a stop. Alternate between up- and down-bows, as it is better to study both on the same third of the bow at the same time than to first practice the up-bow and then the down-bow across the entire length of the bow. From a physiological point of view, for example, the down-bow staccatos in the upper and lower third of the bow are much less similar than the up-bow and down-bow staccatos on the same third of the bow.

The task is often easier by starting with a powerful initial stroke, followed by the subsequent notes in rapid succession. We should also make sure that pressure on the bow does not lead to excessive tension in the upper arm; rather, the tension should correspond precisely to the amount of pressure exerted. This is easy to practice: we press firmly the bow firmly at the tip, check the amount of pressure with the left hand by trying to lift the tip, and then move the entire arm, slightly rotating the shoulder.^[1] The aim is to get rid of the feeling of exertion as much as possible by avoiding unnecessary tension.

Once you are confident enough to apply pressure at the tip, focus on the middle section of the bow. Here, the “lever arm” of the bow is so reduced that the action of the forearm alone is sufficient. Therefore, you should exclude the upper arm from the application of pressure and use it only in a loose shoulder position to guide the entire movement.

Finally, we approach the frog with a staccato movement. Now the “lever arm” is so short that the weight of the hand alone is enough to fully utilize every centimeter of the bow. However, any tension int he arm would inhibit movement.

However, near the frog, we must use some supination as a partial counterbalance to the weight of the bow, with the thumb as the pivot point. Thus, at most, supination of the little finger would require minimal forearm engagement, while the fingers would require so little force to push the bow forward that one should no longer feel any tension in the forearm. In reality, however, the weight of the hand (which is in a slightly more supinated position) replaces active forearm supination, so that in the last third of the frog, one could also speak of a “gravity technique” in the hand.

This meaning of this expression is that during staccato near the frog, the entire arm is actually completely relaxed.

This phenomenon—where strain moves successively from the upper arm to the forearm and then to the hand—is called “wandering tension.”

In this way, staccato can also be turned into a technical exercise of utmost relaxation.

The difficulty lies in making the transition from one third of the bow to another, i.e., to shift the tension imperceptibly and smoothly, so that an observer does not notice any internal muscular processes at all. Dividing the bow into three parts is, of course, only a temporary measure of relative validity; muscle sensitivity alone is what determines the degree of pressure exertion and arm release. In general, however, three main stages can be distinguished: (1) the use of the arm’s full weight plus the muscles of the shoulder for the tip of the bow; (2) the leveraging power of the forearm for the middle of the bow; and (3) the weight of the hand alone for balancing the bow at the frog. The transitions from one section to the next are smooth.