How to Play PARLANDO | Violin Bowing Technique | Violin Lounge TV #437

by | Sep 15, 2021 | Bowing Technique | 2 comments

Learn how to play Parlando, what the difference is between Parlando and Louré or Portato, see examples and symbols and get tips to practice:

You know I loooooove diving deep into violin bow technique, because it expands your tools of musical expression.

Do you know the difference between parlando, portato and louré?

The tricky thing about violin bowing technique is that there are several words for the same technique and in different literature the bowing techniques are classified in different ways. 

The parlando technique I explain in the video is considered by some to be portato. Portato is Italian and Louré is the same in French.

In parlando, which means ‘as we speak’, you have a continuous bow flow and you make inflections with your index finger and/or thumb. In portato or louré you don’t make these inflections, but you simply stop the bow very shortly. If you stop the bow longer, you get a simple staccato.

Experiment using both techniques and also separate the notes by stopping your vibrato shortly.

To create the sound you want, use these techniques in different proportions.

Hi! I'm Zlata

Classical violinist helping you overcome technical struggles and play with feeling by improving your bow technique.

Symbol of parlando in sheet music

You know when to play parlando when you see several of the same notes connected by a slur and a dot or dash above each note. Here are two different notation ways for parlando of the same Mendelssohn violin concerto, just different publications:

In ‘my heart will go on’ we also use the parlando bowing technique:

Interested in trying out the parlando violin bowing technique yourself?

Click here for my tutorial on ‘my heart will go on’ in which you’ll play a lot of parlando.

Interested to learn 24 different bowing techniques?

Check out this video!

2 Comments

  1. Amir

    Thank you , this video is absolutely usefull.

    Reply
    • Zlata

      Wonderful!

      Reply

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