Bowed

What it means

Bowed (German gestrichen) means: the note is produced with the bow, not plucked, struck, or blown. The German marking corresponds to the Italian arco and forms the normal case in the playing of violin, viola, cello, double bass, and the historical viols. That a note is bowed means above all one thing: the supply of energy does not stop while it sounds, so the player can sustain it, let it swell and diminish.

Musical use

The bowed sound is the basis for strings forming the sustaining layer in the orchestra. Unlike the plucked note, which decays at once, the volume can be shaped within a single note; thus string instruments come closer to the human voice in sound than most other instruments. From this property follow whole traditions of writing: sustained accompanying chords, long melodic arcs, gradual intensifications over many bars. Used as a technical term, “bowed” usually stands in contrast to “plucked” and thus separates two sound worlds of the same instrument.

The counterpart is plucked, pizzicato. In scores the change is indicated with arco.

Performance practice

With the bowed note, first watch the three quantities that determine it: bow speed, arm weight, and contact point between bridge and fingerboard. They depend on one another — more weight demands either more speed or a point closer to the bridge, otherwise the tone is pressed. Practise long whole notes over the full bow and listen whether the volume stays the same; this is the most useful basic exercise there is. Check that the hair lies flat enough on the string: tilted too strongly, the tone sounds thin. If you change within a piece between plucked and bowed sections, plan the bow hold during the plucking so that the first bowed note responds securely.

Remember that the bowed note is the only one that can be held for any length and changed in the process: use that instead of thinking in short units. In a section, a shared contact point is the prerequisite for a uniform sound.