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 Alan Barnicoat |
I've been working on the Gossec Gavotte for awhile now and feel that I am not making enough progress in playing it with spiccato rather than staccato. Does anyone know of an etude designed for, or good for practicing spiccato? The Twinkle string crossings series (video #180) has helped me a lot to avoid messy string crossings, so I thought I would try doing some of it with spiccato - but since I'm a beginner, I thought it might be more productive to work on an etude already designed with spiccato in mind. Looking forward to any suggestions, Thanks, Alan Alan Barnicoat 5 Responses Posted: September 12, 2017 Last Comment: September 13, 2017 |
Replies
Alan Barnicoat Posted: September 13, 2017 |
Hi Beth, What a nice surprise to see you in your beautiful new studio addressing my spiccato dilemma. I actually purchased the music books you referred to quite a long time ago -knowing that one day I would need them. Well, it looks like that day has arrived and suddenly I have an avalanche of helpful information to move forward with. Thank you so much! |
 Beth Blackerby Posted: September 13, 2017 |
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Alan Barnicoat Posted: September 13, 2017 |
Hi Ted, Thanks for the encouragement. Its good to be reminded that practice + time = progress. I have been using an inexpensive carbon fiber bow which feels rather heavy lately...I think it is time for me to investigate some better quality equipment. And Dianne - this is wonderful! the two etudes you recommend look great...I can't wait to get started...you've made it especially easy by providing the links for downloading. |
 Ted Adachi Posted: September 12, 2017 |
Hi Alan, Well, maybe to make you feel a little better about this; I started playing the Gossec Gavotte last November. I have been working on it constantly since that time and only just lately was I able to get some control over the bounce in the spicato. So it may take a while. The not so good news is that when I got my better Chinese pernambuco bow, I was able to control the bounce a lot more. However, even so, I have been using that bow since February so it has still been a long haul. And even today, my spicato is not at all presentable. It is just not completely and wildly out of control like it used to be. Progress comes with time so keep practicing. |
 Dianne Posted: September 12, 2017 |
Hi Alan, Any piece or scale could be used to target the kinds of notes you are looking to practice for sure, but there is Wohlfahrt OP.45 No.15 that is for spiccato. It has a progression with some skips across the string, so minimizing the left hand work a little while you are working on the right hand. Here is the OP.45 Book 1 from IMSLP. This one is even better, because it is repeated spiccato notes with quarter notes in between. It is Hofmann OP.25 No.5 in Book 1. |