String instrument In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play some ...

s are capable of producing a variety of

extended technique In music, extended technique is unconventional, unorthodox, or non-traditional methods of singing or of playing musical instruments employed to obtain unusual sounds or timbres.Burtner, Matthew (2005).Making Noise: Extended Techniques after Exper ...

sounds. These alternative playing techniques have been used extensively since the 20th century. Particularly famous examples of string instrument extended technique can be found in the music of

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best-known works include '' Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', '' ...

(particularly his ''

Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', also translated as ''Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima'' (), is a musical composition for 52 string instruments composed in 1961 by Krzysztof Penderecki. Dedicated to the residents and ''hibakusha'' ...

''),

Witold Lutosławski Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szymanow ...

George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...

, and

Helmut Lachenmann Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann (; born 27 November 1935) is a German composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. Associated with the "instrumental musique concrète" style, Lachenmann is alongside Wolfgang Rihm as among the leading Germa ...

Bowing techniques

Bowing the body of the instrument

Bowing the body of a string instrument (which can include bowing the

sound box A sound box or sounding box (sometimes written soundbox) is an open chamber in the body of a musical instrument which modifies the sound of the instrument, and helps transfer that sound to the surrounding air. Objects respond more strongly to vibr ...

neck The neck is the part of the body in many vertebrates that connects the head to the torso. It supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that transmit sensory and motor information between the brain and the rest of the body. Addition ...

tuning peg A variety of methods are used to tune different stringed instruments. Most change the pitch produced when the string is played by adjusting the tension of the strings. A tuning peg in a pegbox is perhaps the most common system. A peg has ...

s, or

scroll A scroll (from the Old French ''escroe'' or ''escroue''), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing. Structure A scroll is usually partitioned into pages, which are sometimes separate sheets of papyru ...

) produces a quiet sound whose amplitude differs according to the place bowed, bow pressure and bow speed. At most the sound is a whisper of the bow hair moving over the wood. A good example of this technique in a musical work is Helmut Lachenmann's Toccatina, a piece written in 1986 for solo violin which uses many extended techniques.

Bowing on the bridge

Bowing on the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

produces two different effects depending on how it is done. If it is done while the performer is in normal playing position, the sound produced is quiet, whispery and a bit squeaky. This method could more properly be called 'bowing over the bridge', since the bow hair is usually still in contact with the strings.

Sul ponticello A variety of musical terms is encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special musical meanings ...

(bowing near the bridge) is a similar, more common technique. The other method involves the performer holding the instrument in their lap, placing the bow parallel to the instrument and firmly dragging it across the side of the bridge. In this case the sound is loud, high pitched and squeaky. An example of this playing technique can be found in Gérard Grisey's

Vortex Temporum In fluid dynamics, a vortex (: vortices or vortexes) is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved. Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in the ...

(1995).

often uses a soft version of this technique, creating a quiet, white-noise-like sound.

Bowing on the fingerboard

Bowing on the fingerboard (sul tasto or sulla tastiera) creates a soft thin tone. The effect is a muffled and flute-like sound (the technique is often also called flautando).

Bowing the tailpiece

Drawing the bow across the

tailpiece A tailpiece is a component on many stringed musical instruments that anchors one end of the strings, usually opposite the end with the tuning mechanism (the scroll, headstock, peghead, etc.). Function and construction The tailpiece anchors t ...

creates a very quiet resonant sound. Because the tailpiece is large and heavy this sound is general of a quite low pitch.

Scratch tone

A scratch tone is produced by bowing the instrument in normal playing position, but applying very hard pressure to the bow. This produces an extremely loud and grating sound. Cello bridge

Bowing behind the bridge

This fairly common extended technique involves bowing the instrument on the afterlength, the short length of string behind the bridge. The tone is very high and squeaky.

3rd bridge The 3rd bridge is an extended playing technique used on the electric guitar and other string instruments that allows a musician to produce distinctive timbres and overtones that are unavailable on a conventional string instrument with two br ...

is a term more used on

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

s or

prepared guitar A prepared guitar is a guitar that has had its timbre altered by placing various objects on or between the instrument's strings, including other extended techniques. This practice is sometimes called tabletop guitar, because many prepared guitar ...

s, but is the same technique. Playing the instrument at a string part behind the bridge causes the opposed part of the string to resonate. The tone is louder at harmonic relations of the bridge string length. On violins the tone can be very high, even above human hearing range. Depending on the instrument the pitch of the tones may or may not be perceived (

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

s and

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

es are more likely to produce recognizable pitches because of the longer length of their strings). This technique is used extensively in Krzysztof Penderecki's ''

''. Another interesting example is found in Ferde Grofé's

Grand Canyon Suite The ''Grand Canyon Suite'' is a suite for orchestra by Ferde Grofé, composed between 1929 and 1931. It was initially titled ''Five Pictures of the Grand Canyon''. It consists of five movements, each an evocation in tone of a particular scen ...

where bowing behind the bridge on a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

cadenza In music, a cadenza, (from , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist(s), usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing virtuosic display ...

is used in the representation of a donkey's braying.

Col legno

This technique uses the stick of the bow, where the player flips the bow around so the bow hair is facing up. This technique produces a faint sound.

Plucking techniques

On string instruments plucking the strings is called

pizzicato Pizzicato (, ; translated as 'pinched', and sometimes roughly as 'plucked') is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument: * On bowe ...

Buzz pizzicato

Buzz pizzicato is created by placing a left hand finger parallel to the string and plucking the string forcefully so that the plucked string buzzes against the

fingerboard The fingerboard (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments) is an important component of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument. The stri ...

. An example of this can be found at the beginning of Zhou Long's

Song of the Ch’in A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usually ...

(1982).

Snap pizzicato

Also known as Bartók pizz, snap pizzicato is used extensively in the music of

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

. (It is commonly thought that Bartók invented the technique, but

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

already in his Seventh Symphony was the first to direct its use.)

Norman Del Mar Norman René Del Mar Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (31 July 19196 February 1994) was an English Conductor (music), conductor, horn player, and biographer. As a conductor, he specialised in the music of late romantic composers; ...

, ''The Anatomy of the Orchestra'' (1983), p. 98. The technique consists of plucking the string away from the fingerboard with the right hand with sufficient force to cause it to snap back and strike the fingerboard creating a snapping sound in addition to the pitch itself.

Nail pizzicato

Nail pizzicato is another technique invented and used extensively by Bartók. To perform a nail pizzicato, the performer plucks the string with only the fingernail (in standard string performance technique the player uses the pad of the finger). The resulting sound is a bit more harsh and metallic.

Tapping techniques

"Silent" fingering

A performer can stop the strings with their left hand in an unusually forceful maneuver and thereby produce a percussive effect. Although quiet, the name “silent” is a misnomer and refers to the fact that the bow is often not applied when performing this effect.

Slapping the strings

The

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

can be struck with the hand or with another object to produce a loud ringing or percussive sound. The performer's right hand is often used for this which leaves the left hand free to finger pitches or dampen the strings.

Knocking the instrument

String instruments can be tapped just about anywhere. The body of a string instrument, since it is a resonant cavity, can resound quite loudly when struck with the fingers or another object.

Miscellaneous effects

“Chewing”

An effect sometimes used for humorous effect by string players, “chewing” is performed by loosening the bow hair and placing the bow, bow hair side up, against the back of the instrument. The bow is then rotated causing the bow stick to pop and crunch as it goes over the coarse bow hairs. This effect, which sounds remarkably like a person chewing something crunchy, is fairly quiet and could benefit from amplification.

Bow screw glissando

The bow can be held vertically and the screw of the bow placed firmly against a string either at the location of a fingered note or at some other point. The string can then be plucked with the right hand and the screw of the bow can be simultaneously dragged up or down the string. The effect of this is to produce a quiet rising or falling ping. This effect is used in Helmut Lachenmann's Toccatina.

Sources

External links

Shaken Not Stuttered
by Anne Lanzilotti – a free online resource demonstrating extended techniques for strings with masterclass videos and notation suggestions
Cello Map
by Ellen Fallowfield – a practical resource for those who are interested in performing and writing contemporary music for cello

by

Craig Hultgren Craig Hultgren is an American cellist and improvisor. Hultgren graduated from the University of Iowa and at Indiana University. He has taught at Birmingham-Southern College, the University of Alabama Birmingham and the Alabama School of Fine ...

– a site devoted to the extended possibilities of the cello {{Extended techniques Extended techniques String performance techniques