Saltando

What it means

Saltando — also saltato — designates a stroke in which the bow lifts off the string between the notes and bounces. The term is used as an umbrella designation for the bouncing bow strokes and overlaps with spiccato and, when several bounces lie in one stroke, with jeté. The bouncing movement arises not from the arm alone but from the spring of the bow stick; the player sets height, speed, and direction.

In the notation

The stroke is indicated by staccato dots, often together with the word saltando or saltato, because the dots alone could also be executed on the string. If the dots stand under a slur, several bounces within one bow direction are meant.

Musical use

Bouncing strokes give fast passages lightness and transparency: every note is distinctly set off, without force being expended. They belong to the sound image of Classical and Romantic orchestral music in fast movements, in scherzos, dance-like finale movements, and virtuoso solos. At a slow tempo the technique does not work, because the bow does not then spring by itself; there a short détaché or lifted staccato takes its place.

Performance practice

Find the balance point of your bow, at which it bounces evenly without effort — usually at or just above the middle. Keep the fingers loose and let the stick do the work; every attempt to produce the bounce with the arm makes it irregular. Begin at a medium tempo, not slow, for the stroke needs movement. Too tightly stretched hair produces hard, high bounces, too loose none at all. If the passage is to become loud, shift the point toward the frog; for lightness, toward the tip. Practise even eighths on one string first, before adding string crossings.

Bear in mind that the stroke must be executed together within a section, otherwise a restless picture arises: agree on bow position, bounce height, and tempo, and practise the passage together slowly with contact to the string, before letting it bounce. Take care that the bounces do not become faster by themselves. With string crossings, plan the level of the arm along, because otherwise the bow lands irregularly. In quiet passages, the bounce height becomes smaller, not the tempo slower.