Basic Bow Stroke: Detache

Just a very short example of the first basic bow stroke technique:

Détaché. Originally meaning a “separated” bow stroke. That means that  the violinist plays one tone using one bow. It has a number of nuances and ways of execution – from the smoothest strokes over more articulated beginnings of tones, stronger or weaker accents, single tones deliberately divided by "cesuras" (commas), etc. The basic détaché is a smooth connection of single tones and therefore it becomes the universal basis of the construction of musical phrases. The pupil learns this stroke at the very beginning of their violin playing. In order to learn it properly, two preconditions have to be met: clear movement of the right elbow joint and functional use of rotations of all other joints on the right upper extremity. During practice it is necessary to explain to the pupil that he does not hold the bow, but he has to lead it. Besides this, we do not press the bow, only the natural weight of the hand is used, that is led from the upper arm over the forefinger of the right hand to the stick. The teacher has to control correct functioning of all parts of the arm. A correct and good quality sound is created only by the natural weight of the arm, hand and its movement. Détaché is practiced on a simple and well-known tune, later on scales. In order to create a good-quality and smooth détaché, we ensure that turns at the frog and tip of the bow are as smooth as possible. As soon as basic détaché is learned, it is possible to start with nuances and varieties of this technique.