Sautille vs Tremolo: What’s the difference?

Sautille is a bow stroke where the bow hair stays on the string but the stick bounces up and down, giving the feeling of very quick, bounced notes. Sautille is performed around the middle to lower part of the bow, and is notated by dots above and/or below the notes. There are two other bow strokes notated in the same way: staccato, and spiccato. The bow stroke you use depends on the tempo of the passage. Staccato is used for slower passages, spiccato for medium speed, and sautille for fast speeds.

Tremolo is not a bow stroke, but an effect most commonly used in orchestral repertoire. Bowed tremolo is performed by playing many rapid notes in succession. Tremolo can be done in any part of the bow and with any amount of bow but it’s most often done at the tip.

Watch the video below for a further explanation and demonstration of both sautille and tremolo.