Legato is the violin bow stroke we use for slurred notes in the sheet music. The transitions between the notes are fluent.

What is legato bowing on the violin?

Legato is the most smooth, flowing way to create sound with the violin. It comes from the Italian tradition of bel canto operatic singing, where the phrase is completely smooth and the notes melt into each other. Legato is notated in sheet music as long slurs over the notes.

Tips for Playing Legato

Legato is a difficult technique to really do well, mostly because the hands must work completely independently. Before we get into some exercises for how to do this, let’s go over a few important tips. First, use finger and wrist motion to help create smooth bow changes. As your arm moves the bow across the string, allow your wrist and fingers to move a little further to keep the bow in motion. Ideally, you want no break in the sound. The second important principle is bow distribution. Use an even amount of bow for each note, or each length of note. In other words, if you have eight eighth notes, use ⅛ of your bow for each of them. If you have a half note and then two quarters, use half your bow for the half note and the other half for the quarters. This will help you avoid “belly bowing”, which happens when you increase the pressure just in the middle of the bow. Another good way to avoid this pitfall is practicing in “stop bows”, rearticulating the sound after each note.

To accomplish this, it is tempting to tighten the right hand to create more pressure. Remember that the friction comes from the rosin gripping the string, not your hand gripping the bow!

Independency between the hands means that what you are doing with your left hand does not affect the speed or weight of your bow. How can we develop this? The great violin teacher Ivan Galamian came up with a good exercise: Play two open string whole notes (on the A string for example) followed by two measures of sixteenth notes (finger pattern 0-1-2-0 1-2-3-1 2-3-4-2 etc.) on the same string. Does your right arm feel the same in both versions? How does the left hand impact your smooth bowing? The goal is for the right arm to feel the same on both the open strings and the sixteenth notes. Also, if you are playing fast legato passages with string crossings, putting fingers down early on the next string helps maintain the legato.

Another great legato exercise is called “son file”. The principle is very simple: starting at the frog, play an open string to the tip as slowly as you possibly can, patiently moving your right hand the same speed the entire time.

Legato, Shifting, and Vibrato

You may not have encountered this yet, but legato bowing becomes more complex when you incorporate shifting. Violinists too often create a bump or hiccup with the bow when they shift, especially if they shift too fast. An important key to effortless legato is intentional shifting. The same thing applies to vibrato. Vibrato is not just ketchup that you can throw on top of any technique. It must be clearly incorporated into the articulation. This is again where independency of the hands comes in. The right hand is legato, but the left hand is very crisp and articulate.

Legato Examples in Repertoire

Composers love the expressivity of legato, so it comes up all the time in pieces! You can find a beautiful legato excerpt regardless of your skill level. In fact, one of the most beautiful student violin concertos is also one of the best pieces for practicing legato, particularly the first movement. The melody incorporates quarter, half, and eighth note patterns, an excellent way to learn bow division. The first movement is also entirely in first position.

For intermediate players, I recommend Saint-Saëns’ The Swan. Not only is it one of the most gorgeous and recognizable melodies in classical music, but also a study of how legato, bow control, shifting, and vibrato interact. In this video pay attention to Ray Chen’s bow speed. Notice how he is completely consistent through the slurs, uses the whole bow, and uses faster (but still consistent) bow speed through the crescendos. Notice also how he makes his shifts intentionally audible (portamento) and vibrates before and after each shift for a smooth, luscious sound.

If you’re an advanced player who’s fallen in love with Saint-Saëns and wants a challenge, you can learn Violin Concerto No. 3 in B Minor. Words cannot do justice to the second movement of this piece so please listen to this recording!

Portato or Legato?

You may have noticed that the bow stroke here alternates between legato and a slightly different technique: portato. In portato (also called louré), you stop the bow for a very short moment between the notes. This lovely effect creates variety and build-up in a phrase, for example in the Mendelssohn concerto:

Passages that the composer wants portato are marked with a slur and dashes under the notes. However, portato is also an expressive technique that soloists can choose to incorporate elsewhere. As shown in the Saint-Saens concerto, alternating between legato and portato creates variety and special effects.

Now that you understand how true legato works, try to practice a legato exercise every day. Perhaps this just means taking five minutes to play slow long bows on open strings. Even this simple exercise does wonders for your bow control and legato ability. Legato creates the most expressive violin music, but like every technique it is improved through careful practice.

What is spiccato on the violin?

Spiccato strokes are short and fast, and the bow leaves the string after each stroke, creating a “bouncy” sound. In Italian spiccato literally means “to separate”. Spiccato usually works best about one centimeter above the balance point of your bow (which is below the middle) but this depends on the speed of the spiccato. Generally speaking, faster spiccato is done a little higher in the bow.

Spiccato bow stroke in sheet music

In sheet music, spiccato is notated by little dots over or under the notes. How do you know if this is spiccato or staccato, since it is the same marking? It depends on the speed of the piece and the length of the notes. Spiccato is a faster technique than spiccato because the bow bounces best when it is moving quickly. Some composers will also use words to clarify that a passage is to be played off the string.

How to play spiccato on the violin?

When playing spiccato, always start the first note from on the string. Do not drop the bow onto the string for the first note, especially when playing in orchestra because all the violinists dropping their bows will not sound together! Pressing the bow lightly into the string first and using the string’s resistance creates the friction necessary to propel the bounces. As mentioned above spiccato is done at or near the balance point of the bow.

Types of spiccato bowing

There are two main types: brush spiccato and bounce spiccato. Brush spiccato is a broad spiccato in the lower half, and is slightly slower than other types of spiccato. Brush spiccato is an active bow stroke (meaning the right hand/arm actively controls the bounce).

Bounced spiccato strokes are less broad than brushed ones, and the bounce in this case is partly or entirely passive. Bounce spiccato works at a variety of tempos, so just keep in mind that the faster you go, the more the bounce of the bow takes care of itself. You will reach a point at which the right hand stays completely relaxed while the bow rebounds on its own. This comes from the right combination of bow placement, speed, angle, and height of the bounce.

How to practice spiccato?

It is helpful to do simple exercises that break down the spiccato motions before trying spiccato passages in pieces. This begins with developing flexibility in the right hand fingers and wrist. One excellent preparation for spiccato is practicing collé on open strings. To briefly explain, collé is a very unique stroke because it begins on and ends off the string. It is also a wonderful exercise to improve finger flexibility. The bow is placed at the frog, and through the action of the fingers scrubs the string and lifts off. Collé can be done in other parts of the bow, but it is most common and easiest at the frog. The right hand fingers are rounded when initiating a downbow stroke and straight when initiating an upbow. Another way to think of collé is “pizzicato with the bow.” After you have done collé on open strings, try going through a whole scale.

The super-precise collé motion makes the hand more flexible and improves spiccato. To make a good sound, think about whether your spiccato bounces are making the shape of a “V’ or a “U”. V spiccato bounces are very short, and U-shaped bounces have a richer sound, staying a little closer to the string.

There are also several etudes for practicing spiccato. Many of the etudes from Rodolphe Kreutzer’s very famous 42 Studies for Violin can be adapted to this purpose. Let’s use Kreutzer’s Etude No. 5 as an example:

Start by playing each note four times (four G’s, four B♭’s, etc.). Do it at a comfortable speed where the bow will bounce naturally. When you can do this evenly with a straight bow, repeat the etude playing each note three times, then two times, and finally as written in spiccato. Do not worry about increasing the tempo right now, just notice how relaxed you are and how consistent your bowing is.

Learning this technique is very important because it appears everywhere in famous violin repertoire. There is this famous spot from Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto, in the beginning of the third movement:

Perhaps you’re thinking “There’s no way I could play that right now!” Not to worry, if you’re looking for more intermediate spiccato example there are several. Accolay’s Violin Concerto in A Minor, a popular piece for advancing students, has a wonderful brush spiccato section:

Another famous spiccato place is in the first movement of Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 5:

Finally, it is important to clearly understand the differences between spiccato and some very similar violin bowing techniques. Sautillé is very similar to spiccato, as both are bouncing techniques. However, in spiccato the bow actually leaves the string, whereas in sautillé the stick bounces but the bow hair itself remains on the string. Sautillé therefore works for much faster passages where the bow does not have time to leave the string.

Compare this excerpt from Paganini’s Caprice No. 5 with the videos above to see if you can hear and see the difference:

Flying spiccato is the other very similar technique. It is several spiccato notes played on the same bow stroke (usually upbow) and staying in the same spot on the bow. This happens in the third movement of the Mendelssohn concerto:

In summary, spiccato is definitely one of the more challenging violin bowing techniques, and requires patience and perseverance. However, learning it opens the doors to some of the best violin repertoire in existence.