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Vertical Bowing/Arco Diagonale

Technical Practice
This technique involves moving the bow at an angle so that the bow is at about 45° to the string. This allows the string to vibrate but at a greatly reduced rate, resulting in a slightly ‘choked’  sound. Slightly more bow pressure is required than for a natural stroke to get the string to start.

Notes
This technique works on any pitch but is more effective on lower pitches. Higher pitches are less reliable and more likely false start, producing extraneous noise rather than a definite pitch. The technique also works best on slower material.


Dynamic Range: pp-ff
Difficulty: 1
Special Notes: It is easily possible to move between a naturale sustained pitch and vertical bowing in a single stroke.
Notation
  • Verbal instruction: arco diagonal/vertical bowing.
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Arrows indicate the direction of the bow.
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www.ashleyjohnlong.co.uk
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