Learn Spiccato in 5 min | Nauči spiccato u 5 min

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Spiccato je jedan od virtuoznih poteza gudalom koji se vrlo često počne učiti prekasno pa kada dođe vrijeme za sviranje kompozicija u kojima ima i spiccata, nastaju brojni problemi. Najčešće dolazi do kočenja u ruci koje rezultira neujednačenim potezom i lošim tonom što djeluje vrlo demotivirajuće na cjelokupno sviranje. Osim fizičke nelagode koja se prenosi i na druge poteze, nerijetko strada i samopouzdanje svirača.

Međutim, spiccato je jedan od najprirodnijih poteza koji se, ukoliko je pravilno objašnjen, doista može naučiti u 5 minuta (stoga ovaj naslov nije clickbait).

Vizualizacija

Prva, i možda najvažnija komponenta je vizualizacija lupkanja lopte rukom u pod. Ruka i cijelo tijelo moraju biti opušteni, ali pokreti ciljani i usmjereni. Kod rada s djecom nije loše, ukoliko postoje mogućnosti, doista i iskušati nekoliko puta lupkanje loptom u pod. Treba ukazati na opuštenost tijela, pogotovo ruke i prstiju, te koncentriranost na intenzitet udarca i preciznost usmjeravanja lopte.

Druga vizualizacija koja može pomoći je skakanje po trampolinu. Također je čitavo tijelo opušteno, koncentracija je na mjesto odbijanja i ponovno, istovremeno postizanje opuštenosti.

Starijim učenicima se može objasniti i trostruka elastičnost koju koristimo kod skačućih poteza gudalom – elastičnost štapa, elastičnost struna i elastičnost žice. No, kod djece je dobro izbjegavati previše tehničkih detalja koji ih mogu zbuniti i odvratiti od spontanosti izvođenja pokreta.

Evo kako proces učenja spiccata izgleda na violini:

Korak 1

Raditi kružne pokrete rukom, bacajući gudalo na žice. Nije važno na koju žicu, može biti zahvaćeno i nekoliko žica istovremeno – fokus je na opuštenom, kružnom pokretu ruke i slobodnom odbijanju gudala o žice. Zamišljamo da šakom crtamo krugove u jednom smjeru.

Ponavljati pokret dok ruka nije potpuno opuštena, a odbijanje spontano. Tonska kvaliteta u ovom trenutku nije važna.

Korak 2

Potpuno isti pokret iz koraka 1 izvodimo na drugu stranu. Dakle, zamišljamo da radimo krug šakom, u drugom smjeru.

Korak 3

Zamišljamo da smo gornju polovicu oba kruga (iz koraka 1 i 2) odrezali i bacili, a ostala nam je samo donja polovica.

Pokreti su široki, opušteni, tonska kvaliteta još uvijek nije važna. Ponavljati dok pokret ne postane potpuno udoban.

Korak 4

Zadržati vizualizaciju donje polovice kruga i lupkanja lopte, te postepeno polukrug smanjivati. Potez se usmjerava na samo jednu žicu (za početak A žicu, ali kasnije svakako vježbati na svim žicama!), postaje kraći, bliži žici i počinjemo obraćati pažnju na ljepotu tona.

To je to! Naučili smo spiccato!

Vježba je odlična za prvo učenje spiccata, ali i za potrebe eventualnih korekcija pokreta. Važno je vježbati ju na svim žicama jer je na svakoj žici položaj ruke drukčiji, kao i djelovanje gravitacije.

Pogledajte video svih koraka ove vježbe. Ako Vam se vježba svidjela, podijelite ju!

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Ukoliko već niste, svakako pogledajte i ove odlične vježbe za gudalo – Thibaudov potez i Vježba za opušteno držanje.

Spiccato is a part of the virtuoso bowing technique that students often start to learn too late, and when the time comes to play the compositions in which they have spiccato, many problems arise. Most commonly comes the stiffness in the right arm that results in an uneven bow stroke and bad tone which is very demotivating to the overall play. In addition to the physical discomfort, that is transferred to other bow strokes and we often see student’s self-confidence going down.

However, Spiccato is one of the most natural bow strokes, which – if properly explained – you can really learn in 5 minutes (hence, this title is not a clickbait).

Visualization

The first and perhaps the most important component is the visualization of the ball bouncing on the floor. The arm and the whole body must be relaxed, but the movements are precisely directed towards the ball and the floor. If you are able, try it with the real ball, it’s always good for young students to have a vivid example. Always point out the relaxation of the body, especially the hands and fingers, and the concentration on the intensity of the kick and the accuracy of routing the ball.

Another visualization that can be of great help is jumping on a trampoline. Here also, the whole body is relaxed, concentration is on the bouncing point.

If you have older students, you could explain the triple elasticity we use in bouncing bow strokes – the bow stick elasticity, bow hair elasticity, and strings elasticity. However, for small children is good to avoid too many technical details that can confuse them and distract them from the spontaneity of making the move.

Here’s how the learning process looks like on a violin:

Step 1

Make circular movements with right arm, throwing the bow on the strings. It does not matter which string, it can fall on several strings at the same time – focus on the relaxed, circular motion of the arm and free bouncing of the bow. Imagine you draw circles with your hand in one direction.

Repeat the movement until the arm is completely relaxed, and bouncing spontaneous. At this moment, the sound quality is not important.

Step 2

The same movement from Step 1 is performed to the other side. So, imagine we’re doing a circle with the arm, in the other direction.

Step 3

We imagine that the upper half of both circles (from steps 1 and 2) was cut and thrown away, and only the lower half remained.

The movements are broad, relaxed, the tone quality is still not important. Repeat until the movement becomes completely comfortable.

Step 4

Keep visualization of both the lower half of the circle and bouncing ball, and gradually make the half-circle smaller and smaller. The move is directed to only one string (A string for the beginning, but be sure to practice later on all strings!), it becomes shorter, closer to the string, and we begin to pay attention to the beauty of the tone production.

That’s it! We have learned Spiccato!

This exercise is great for first-time spiccato playing, but it can also be a great help if you need any movement corrections. It is important to practice it on all strings because the position of the arm on each string is different, and gravity has a different effect.

Take a look at the video of all the steps in this exercise. If you like it, feel free to share it!

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Have you already checked these great bow arm exercises – the Thibaud Exercise and Exercise for Relaxed Bowhold.