The far shore
A handful of strokes you will meet in scores and recordings and should be able to name and recognise — nothing here is remotely a task for now. Most are built on spiccato and sautillé: thrown, flung, or bounced in one direction. One of them carries an idea worth keeping even though the stroke itself is years away.
| Stroke | What it is | Built on | Where you hear it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ricochet / jeté ("thrown") | throw the bow onto the string and let it bounce 2–6 times in one direction — gravity and the stick do the work; almost always down-bow | spiccato | the gallop in Rossini's William Tell; Paganini; Mendelssohn's concerto finale |
| Flying staccato | a row of short notes in one bow direction that lift off the string — a controlled arm-and-finger bounce, not gravity | up-bow staccato + spiccato | Wieniawski; virtuoso showpieces |
| Fouetté ("whipped") | the bow is lifted and flung at the string for a single sharp accented note, usually up-bow near the tip | between spiccato and accented détaché | Mendelssohn concerto, 1st movement |
| Viotti stroke | not a bounce — a bowing character: a short weak note → a long strong accented note on one bow, on the principle of energy and release | martelé / détaché | named for G. B. Viotti; all through the Kreutzer studies; a Classical-era signature |
| Chopping | a percussive vertical strike of the bow near the frog, usually on two strings — a drum "chk", combined with pitched notes for a rhythm-guitar effect | its own thing | invented by fiddler Richard Greene in the 1960s, spread by the Turtle Island Quartet; jazz, pop, modern fiddle |
The one idea to take: energy and release
The Viotti stroke is worth more than its place on this card, because of the principle
under it. You put tension into a short note — work it, bite it — and the long note that
follows comes out released, ringing, singing. It's "prepare the bite, then let go"
(martele) turned into a musical instinct.
You'll feel it long before you can name the stroke: in almost any Classical phrase, a little upbeat note leading to a strong downbeat wants exactly this — a small effort, then a release. Keep the idea; the stroke can wait.
How to play it
One up-bow for both. A small, slightly pinched start on the D, then let the bow flow freely into the G with an accent — the tension you put into the short note is what makes the long note sing.
Chopping — a door, not a step
Chopping is genuinely a different idiom from everything else in this stage — closer to drumming than to bowing. It's all over modern fiddle and pop-string playing, and it's a good reminder that technique gets invented, not just handed down: Richard Greene worked it out while resting a sore wrist. If it's a sound you want, it's a whole separate study — a door you can open later, not a rung on this ladder.
The usual mistake
Trying any of these because a video made it look fun. Without a secure spiccato and sautillé underneath (which need secure on-string strokes underneath those), they just produce noise and tension. Recognise them, enjoy them in recordings, and build the foundation that makes them possible.