Sul ponticello

What it means

Sul ponticello literally means “on the little bridge” and calls for the bow to be led immediately at the bridge. Because the string has little excursion there and reacts more stiffly, the fundamental vibration hardly comes about; instead, high partials come to the fore. The result is a thin, glassy, metallically shimmering sound in which the actual pitch recedes and the noise component grows.

In the notation

The instruction stands in italics above the staff, often abbreviated as sul pont. or pont. It is ended with ordinario, naturale, or another location indication. Many twentieth-century scores show the point of contact graphically as a line between the poles of fingerboard and bridge, so that a gradual change of colour can be notated.

Musical use

The sound seems pale, tense, and bodiless and is called for where the music is to become unreal or threatening. Especially effective is the combination with tremolo: a whole string section thus produces a shimmering, barely tone-like rustling. Since the nineteenth century the instruction has belonged to the standard stock of orchestration; in music after 1950 it has become an ordinary means of shaping. Its opposite is the soft flautato at the fingerboard; together the two span the scale of string colours.

Other names

Ponticello literally means little bridge and designates the bridge itself; as a playing instruction it stands abbreviated for sul ponticello. The instruction is cancelled with modo ordinario or ord.

Performance practice

Set the bow close to the bridge and keep this distance constant; even a centimetre noticeably changes the colour. Work with little arm weight and a rather slow bow — pressure here produces an unpleasant dragging. The response is delicate, especially when quiet; give the note a moment until it stands. On the low strings the effect is stronger than on the highest. Vibrato is usually left out. In the orchestra it is worthwhile to agree within the section on the same distance, so that the group hits a uniform colour.

Bear in mind that the effect changes with string thickness and register: on low, thick strings it works more strongly than on the highest, and more distinctly in the low register than in the high one. Check this and adjust the distance to the bridge. Pull back arm weight and work with a rather slow bow.