Sautille
What is sautille?
Sautille is a violin bow stroke. When performing sautille, the bow hair stays completely on the string while the stick bounces up and down. Sautille is an advanced bow stroke that should be learned after spiccato.
When is sautille used?
Sautille is notated by dots above and/or below the notes. However, dots can indicate many different bow strokes (such as staccato and spiccato), so when choosing which one to use, the tempo (or speed) of the passage must be taken into consideration. Sautille is used for very fast tempos,132 BPM (beats per minute) and above.
When should I start learning sautille?
Sautille is an advanced bow stroke that is recommended for players in Suzuki Violin Book 7 or higher. If the student has worked on developing a balanced, relaxed bow hand, it is highly likely that sautille will develop naturally.
Here is a checklist of skills to master before working on sautille:
-Proper posture (including a relaxed bow hold)
-Accurate intonation
-The ability to shift through 8th position fluently
-Vibrato, and the ability to vary it to create different characters
-Musical expression (ie the ability to vary your tone through changes in contact point, bow speed, and weight)
Sautille key points
Sautille should be performed entirely with the wrist and fingers, not the elbow or shoulder. To perform sautille, move your fingers and wrist in a vertical (up and down) motion.
Since sautille is performed through the movement of the wrist and fingers, it requires the bow hand to be extremely soft and flexible. Check out this video for exercises to work on bow hand flexibility.
Practicing at the correct speed is imperative to perform sautille properly. If you practice too slowly, the bow will likely bounce off the string, thus creating spiccato rather than sautille.
Sautille should be performed in the middle of the bow, however every bow is slightly different, so experiment with the placement of this bow stroke to see where it works best for you.
Sautille should be performed with completely flat hair.
Practice techniques for sautille
Practice the vertical motion without the bow. This motion is very different from any other bow stroke, so take some time to get used to moving in this way away from the instrument. The wrist acts as a hinge while the hand moves up and down.
Practice this motion with the bow on open strings. Be mindful of the tempo.
Sevick Op 3 Number 16, found here.
Check out the video below for a demonstration of sautille and its practice techniques.
