hello
it's me again looking for a theory answer!
The question is for the string section in a piece.

It says 'The English meaning of 'Sur la touche' is 'over the fingerboard'. What effect does this method of bowing have on the sound produced?

Thanks

I know it as "Sul Tasto" I guess that is the Italian

The sound quality gets softer and mellower the further away from the bridge you get. So conversely you play "Sul Ponticello" which is on the bridge for cold, icy, more harsh sounds.

Jane

THank you very much for your replies.

My favourite one is "Cor Legano"

What's that?

Do you mean "Col Legno"

It means you play with the the wood of the bow not the bow hair. However you only hit the strings with it, not move the bow up and down.

ooops yeh, it is fun though, it can be pretty funny watching everyone including youself turn the bow over in time to play it!

I hate col legno, it destroys my bow- maybe I'm a bit too forceful?

Some players get a cheap bow or a carbon fibre bow just for this technique and not use their regular bow. However you then end up having to swap bows quickly or use the possibly substandard bow until a point when you can swap back.

I know in orchestra we would never do it in rehearsal, but tap with the hair, only use the technique in performance to minimise bow damage.

I guess if you have carbon fibre bow it should be called "col carbon" or something

I was in a performance of Mahler 6 earlier this year and the conductor tried to insist that we did col legno in the rehearsals . We were horrified and most of the strings section simply didn't conform. There was no way I was going to ruin my prized gold-mounted Bultitude .

I should think not. The conductor ought to know better.

Jane

My teacher calls the bowing over the fingerboard, flautando (not sure on the spelling!), which is played with fast long bows, creating a very quiet whispery sound, very good for producing a contrast in dynamics and tone. I used it in two of my grade 8 pieces.

Isn't Flautando the italian name for harmonics? That's different to Sul Tasto

This is correct, although flautando is slightly different to sul tasto. Flautando is basically a more extreme version, with a very fast light bow movement, whereas sul tasto is more to do with just the positioning of the bow on the string as opposed to the stroke. In other words, sul tasto is used more for dynamic,and flautando is more for effect (although both have a bit of both!)

Sorry if that post didn't make much sense, I'm not very good with words...

Isn't that a Mafia family? I seem to remember in the Godfather......

If you think col legno ruins your bow, try the "mit dem bogen geschlagen" instruction for strings in Mahler1. It involves hitting the bow as hard as you can against the strings so they clatter. That's not really the problem, it's the string tension which sometimes causes your bow to fly out of your hand. And onto the heads of the clarinettists in front of you, in the case of the Royal Albert Hall.