4 Cello Tunes to Practise Smooth Bow Changes (legato bowing)
by Christian Morris
Notes that are played together on one bow (slurred) automatically run together smoothly. Cultivating a good legato sound when the bow changes direction requires a lot more practice, however.
This can be practised in two steps, which, once perfected, will take you to an advanced level.
1. In the first stage the aim is to produce a smooth movement in the bowing arm. Hold the bow on the string as if it were just resting there i.e. not pushed down into the string. Now play a series of détaché notes with large gaps between each. The bowing arm should be entirely still at the start, move away smoothly and then come to a complete stop before starting again and moving back in the opposite direction. Concentrate on the making the start of each sound as smooth as possible. The next step is gradually to remove the gap between each note until the notes are joined together - détaché becomes legato.
2. The second stage will help you to refine your legato further. Here we work on the flexibility of the bowing hand. Imagine an upbow moving towards the frog and about to change to a downbow. As the arm changes direction, the fingers and wrist remain flexible and relaxed which allows them to continue to move momentarily in the upbow direction, even as the arm changes direction and starts to play a downbow. It is like the difference between jumping on the ground without bending your legs, which leads to an uncomfortable landing, or doing the same on a trampoline, where the springiness of the surface gradually slows your landing before launching you smoothly back into the air.
Once you have understood these fundamentals, playing the following pieces will help you to refine your technique.