Staccato vs. Spiccato vs. Sautille: What’s the difference?
Staccato, spiccato, and sautille are violin bow strokes. They are all notated with dots above or below the notes (as seen below) and sound extremely similar (both the words and the bow strokes themselves!). In this article, you’ll learn how to play each one of them, what their differences and similarities are, and how to determine which one to use.
Staccato
This is the easiest one of the three and generally the first bow stroke students learn after detache. Staccato means “short and separated.” This does not mean that staccato notes should be accented, but rather that there should be a clear space between each note. In my experience, staccato is usually overcomplicated by beginning players when performing it is actually quite simple: stop the bow between each note. That’s it! The bow stays completely on the string and the bow hand does not need to move in any special way.
Spiccato
Spiccato is a bow stroke where the bow hair bounces off the string between each note. This is a more challenging bow stroke than staccato and is more suited toward intermediate players (around Suzuki book 4). To perform spiccato, move the fingers and wrist in a horizontal motion with short bow strokes allowing the hair to bounce off the string. When doing this, it is imperative to have a loose and flexible bow hand. Violin bows were made to bounce, and if the bow hand is too stiff, it will essentially stop the bow from doing its job (aka bouncing). Check out this video for some exercises for loosening up your bow hand.
Spiccato should be performed in the lower middle part of the bow, however, every bow is made slightly differently and therefore has a different place where spiccato works best. Experiment with your bow to locate the optimal spot for spiccato.
Practice these two exercises to begin learning spiccato:
Start with the bow above the string. Drop the bow onto the string and allow it to bounce off naturally. Notice how the bow wants to bounce! Gradually increase the tempo until you are performing spiccato.
Start with your bow on the string and play detache. Gradually increase the speed and shorten the amount of bow until your bow bounces off the string.
As you speed up your spiccato, the height of your bounce will decrease. Be careful not to raise your shoulder or move your elbow; this stroke should be done entirely with the fingers and wrist.
Sautille
Sautille is actually an on-the-string stroke where the bow hair stays completely on the string while the stick bounces up and down, making the stroke sound bouncy. This is the most advanced bow stroke of the three and is best suited for players in Suzuki Violin Book 7 and above. Like spiccato, sautille should be performed entirely with the fingers and wrist, however, the way in which you move them will be different.
For spiccato, the hand moves in a horizontal plane of motion, and for sautille, the hand moves in a vertical plane of motion. This means that to perform sautille, the hand moves up and down, and to perform spiccato, the hand moves in and out.
Practice these two exercises to begin learning 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.
How do I know which one to use?
Determining whether to use staccato, spiccato, or sautille entirely depends on the tempo (or speed) of the piece. For slow to medium speeds (under 80 BPM) staccato works best. For medium to fast speeds (from 80-120 BPM) spiccato works best, and for very fast speeds (over 120 BPM), sautille works best.
Check out the video below for an explanation and demonstration of staccato, spiccato, and sautille.
