24 Violin Bowing Techniques

With the violin bow you’re an artist painting with sound colors
.
In this article I explain 24 different bowing techniques for you to play with:

When you would compare violin playing with singing, the violin is the lungs of the singer and the bow is the
breath and voice
Learning about bowing technique gives you a voice: a tool of expression
Before we dive in, I would like to emphasize that these bowing techniques are merely a ‘toolbox’ and this article is very
theoretical.
Always remember music is an art form and in practice you color your sound with combinations of these techniques: you
look for the sound that matches the piece you play and what you want to express.
Don’t see these techniques as black and white, but know that you can use them as bottles of paint that you can combine
to create your own color.
The meaning of this article is to give you ideas and inspiration, not dogma
I mention this, because a lot of people (especially adults) treat the violin from a very technical point of view. This can
benefit you greatly, but sometimes it can hold you back in playing expressively and experimenting to reach your results
faster wihtout fully understanding. Technique is always a means to an end.
In this article I give you the ingredients, but you are the one who determines the recipe and the dish you want to make.
3 Main categories of bowing technique
To make a good overview I’ve divided the 24 bowing techniques into three categories and a fourth ‘others’.
In all bowing techniques without detaché the violin remains on the string and you play the notes in their full lengt.
In spiccato you play a shorter length of the note and the bow leaves the string.
In martelé the notes are shorter just as in spiccato and there is ‘air’ between the notes, but the bow usually doesn’t
leave the string.
The other bowing techniques are more special effects or things I couldn’t place in the other categories.

Detaché
Detaché is ‘normal bowing’, down and up, with a healthy tone, a seamless bow change and perhaps a small accent at
the beginning of every bow stroke.
Types of detaché
In detaché collé you perfect a ‘slow motion’ or ‘put down’ spiccato: you lift the bow at the bow changes.
In detaché porté you emphasize the beginning of each bow stroke using a higher bow speed (no pressure accent).
Son filé
Son filé is a bowing technique in which you make a deep and full sound. An example is the beginning of the Bruch violin
concerto.
Legato
In legato you play multiple notes on one bow stroke. This gives a fluent sound. In sheet music you see a slur above the
notes.
Portato
‘Opjes met stopjes’ I call this in Dutch when teaching my young private students: up bows with stops. It is a little similar
to legato as you play multiple notes on one bowstroke, but you stop your bow between the notes without accents. It
sounds a bit similar to detaché.
Chords
Sometimes you see in the sheet music you have to play three or four notes at the same time. In this case you play a
broken chord: you play the lower notes first (shortly) and then the higher notes.
There are exeptions in which you have to play the three notes at the same time, for example in Dont’s etude nr 1. This is
called a triple stop.

Martelé
Martelé is French for hammered. This is often the second bowing technique you learn on the violin. In martelé you don’t
make a silent or seamless bow change, but their remains ‘air’ between the notes. Also every note begins with an accent.
The sound is more ‘taaa’ than ‘laaa’. Every bow stroke starts with a ‘click’. You put the weight of your arm through your
index finger into the bow and release it when the bow stroke starts.
Timing is very important in this bowing technique. When you release the weight too early, you don’t get a ‘click’. When
you release the weight too late, you get a scratch.
Martelé can be found in the Praeludium and Allegro in the style of Pugnani by Fritz Kreisler. You can recognize it by the
accent at the beginning of a note.
Types of martelé
In martelé collé you lift the bow at the bow change. This looks a bit like slow motion spiccato or detaché collé.
Martelé lancé means a longer bow stroke with higher bow speed at the beginning of the note. This looks a lot like
detaché porté, but with firm accents.
(Solid) Staccato
There are several definitions of staccato and sometimes staccato and martelé are mixed up. Often staccato is used to
describe multiple martelé notes on one bow stroke.
Flying staccato
Here the bow leaves the string between mulptiple martelé notes on one bow stroke. Your bow bounces, but you control
the movement.
Fouetté
This bowing technique is the middle betwee spiccato on the string and a detaché with accents. Most of the time it’s
played on the upper half of the bow.

Spiccato
Spiccato uses the natural jumping of your violin bow. This works best about one centimeter above the balance point of
your bow, but differs per bow and depends on the speed.
Different bows have different ‘spiccato spots’. Can you find yours?
The bow leaves the string at the bow changes and the bow strokes are short.
It’s important in spiccato that your wrist and fingers make smooth movements and you’re not doing the spiccato with
your entire arm.
How to learn spiccato on the violin?
To learn spiccato it’s important that you master a basic bowing technique with the right movements and control in your
wrist and fingers.
Do you notice your spicatto is uncontrolled, the bounce is to high or your bow just jumps all over the place? Check if
you’re not using your arm too much.
In sheet music spiccato is indicated by dots above or below the notes. Depending on the composer, period and character
of the piece dots can also indicate other bowing techniques. Explaining how you can determine what bowing technique
to do when exactly, is beyond the scope of this article.
Sautillé
In a high tempo you do sautillé instead of spiccato. Sautillé is played higher on the bow than spiccato.
You’ll already notice that the higher the speed, the higher the ideal ‘jump spot’ of your bow.
In spiccato your hand and the natural bounce of your bow work together. In sautillé you do less (you just keep it going)
and your bow bounces more naturally.
A prerequisite to learning sautillé is a good basic bowing technique, a relaxed and controlled bow hold and some skill in
spiccato.
Flying spiccato
Here you play several spiccato notes on one bow stroke and you bow almost on the same spot of the bow. There is an
almost vertical jump.
Ricochet
In ricochet you use the natural jumping quality of your violin bow and you play several notes on one bow stroke. It’s like
a pebble bouncing over the water survice. You can find ricochet in the original bowing of Paganini’s 5th caprice.
Jumping arpeggio
Here you apply ricochet in broken chords. A famous example is the candenza in the first movement of the Mendelssohn
concerto.

Other bowing techniques on the violin

There are many more sounds you can make with your violin bow!
In tremolo you make short bow strokes at the tip: you see this a lot in orchestra’s.
In col legno you turn the bow upside down and you play with the wood on the string. When I have to do this, I’m always
happy to have a carbon bowthat won’t get damaged, haha!
Sul punticello is bowing near the bridge causing a classy sound. Sul tast is bowing near or above the fingerboard with the
soft sound.
Flautato is bowing with a high bow speed and little pressure creating a whistling transparant sound.