Staccato.
The staccato bowing, if neatly executed, has a very brilliant effect; to obtain anything like mastery of it the student must first be careful to see that the bow is held correctly, and from the commencement, the bowing must be practised only in the recognised fashion, and according to the hints here given. If any movements other than those described are allowed, the student will find that he can never execute this difficult bowing beyond a certain speed, or if he does flatter himself in to the belief that he has arrived at a brilliant execution of it, on comparison it will be found that instead of the recognised bowing, it is one of the various kinds of trick staccato, often accomplished by a slight tremolo of the fore-arm or some such movement. The chief movement in the staccato bowing is distinctly a wrist-one, the first finger playing a great part in giving crispness and attack to each note. The initial quaver in Ex. 23, should receive a smart down-stroke with the upper third of the bow; as previously explained in the remarks on legato bowing, the hand carries on the stroke after the fore-arm movement ceases, causing the hand, when the bow is at the point, to be turned away from the player. This should be made the foundation of the staccato stroke. As the arm progresses slowly and steadily along for the up-stroke, the hand keeps pace by a series of short jerks; these are purely wrist movements, not being assisted in any fashion by the arm. It is of the utmost importance to have the hand, and wrist, in a proper position at the beginning of the series of up-strokes, if the hand is already turned inwards, how will it be possible to execute a wrist movement in the same direction? The first finger should press firmly on the bow as the hand moves for the attack of each note, this attack if analysed, will be found to be a modified kind of sforzando on every semiquaver; the notes are separated by relieving the pressure, and also by the short pauses between the wrist movements. An explanation concerning the pressure of the first finger is perhaps necessary; the pressure is not caused by the contraction of the muscles of the first finger, so much as by the weight caused by an inward turn of the hand, being brought to bear on the bow through the medium of the first finger.
The first attempts at the staccato bowing may be made on one string, after the fashion of Ex. 24; about an inch of bow may be used for each quaver, taking care to produce the sforzando effect, which in an attempt at a slow tempo should be more apparent than in a quick staccato run.
The bow must not be allowed to leave the string, the release of pressure only allowing the bow to right itself in preparation for the "bite" on the next note. After the movements previously explained have been mastered, there is nothing further required for the production of a good effect in staccato bowing, except a complete command of the upper-half of the bow, in the sense of being able to produce a good tone, without unduly straining or fatiguing the muscles of the hand and fore-arm.
The staccato may be played with the down-bow, the wrist and arm movements being simply the reverse of those in the up-bow. It is better not to commence quite at the heel, as the tone there, unless great care and skill be exercised, is apt to be "gritty." It is possible to produce a very pleasing effect on the 'cello with this bowing, even in fairly quick passages; the bow should not grip the string too heavily, nor be allowed to drag, but should be carried lightly.
In slow movements, a class of phrasing is often introduced, which although expressed like the staccato, if executed as such, would entirely spoil the effect.
The four slurred staccato quavers should be played with four down-bow strokes, using the whole length of the bow, each quaver receiving about a fourth; the division between the notes should be very slight, being caused almost as much by a slight accent on each quaver, as by the bow being actually stopped.