You will observe that Fiorillo makes decided contrasts in his études. The twenty-sixth naturally assumes a more lively character. It opens with a crisp, bright staccato in the upper third of the bow. The last two measures of the first line are naturally played somewhat near the point of the bow. Perfect freedom of wrist and forearm is desired. The form of the second line is like that of the first line, and the same bowing is used. Now we contrast the staccato and legato passages. If the octaves seem difficult, lead the student to practice the octave studies of Halir and Schradieck. The legato triplets in octaves are near the point of the bow. Note at this point that the quarter notes extend throughout the upper legato groups. It was a strange idea of the Peters edition to introduce the groups with an up-bow. In our present-day study we seek to make études “fit into” modern solos. This style of bowing is almost obsolete.
The bowing is now reversed, the first note being short, the next two slurred; but we soon return to the original method. If the group opens with a high note followed by a low note, then a high note again, the bowing is as follows:
If the notes ascend the scale, they are most frequently bowed thus:
The arpeggios that follow are legitimate, being easily played in the upper part of the bow. The tempo governs the length of the bow. Pupils learn to feel for bowing; in fact, to make few errors in passages of a similar nature, because they have been trained to play correctly, if the Massart bowings[18] are used with the study of Kreutzer.