while browsing here before, i noticed a lot of mention of 'open string cuts' in a discussion. Being a simple soul i hadn't previously heard of such a thing. I asked in the discussion, and mailed one of the discussion participants who seemed to know his stuff on the subject, but have recieved no response as yet.
here is my conundrum: What on earth is an 'open string cut', and how do you perform it?
Jez, sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, but I was off camping last week. Just back in, checking my email and new stuff here.
To my ear, open string cuts aren't as common as other cuts in this music, but maybe that's just the fiddlers I listen to.
So: a cut on fiddle is just a flick of the finger, as Michael says. It's used to interrupt the vibrations of the string and so "cut" the note being played into two. A classic example is in the opening bar of Earl's Chair.
K: D
|: B2 dB {d}BAFA |
Where the {d} is the cut. Most of the time, I would start this phrase on an up bow, down-bow the d, then up-bow the B {d}BA. In other words, the cut occurs in the midst of a long up bow, rather than using separate bow strokes to articulate the two B's.
The same idea works on open strings--when you want to articulate two distinct notes that happen to be open string notes, you can either change bow direction, stop and re-start the bow stroke, or simply cut the open string note.
Also, it sometimes sounds good to do the cut *and* change bow direction, although I'd be careful not to overdo this.
Another type of cut is used to articulate a strong beat. It's more of a 'pull-off' from a note above, slightly delaying the next note. An example might be:
My Darling Asleep
K: D
e|: fdd cAA | BAG A2 G | {G}FAA def | gfg eag |
| {g}fdd cAA | ....
Where you linger on the G and g before releasing to the F's. I can't think of an instance where I've used this type of cut to go to an open string. Maybe playing Scottish marches or strathspeys.....
testing technicality
testing technicality
while browsing here before, i noticed a lot of mention of 'open string cuts' in a discussion. Being a simple soul i hadn't previously heard of such a thing. I asked in the discussion, and mailed one of the discussion participants who seemed to know his stuff on the subject, but have recieved no response as yet.
here is my conundrum: What on earth is an 'open string cut', and how do you perform it?
# Posted on August 22nd 2004 by NZ Jez
Re: testing technicality
it's just a simple flick of the finger. Any finger will do. Or try a few
# Posted on August 22nd 2004 by ...
Re: testing technicality
Jez, sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, but I was off camping last week. Just back in, checking my email and new stuff here.
To my ear, open string cuts aren't as common as other cuts in this music, but maybe that's just the fiddlers I listen to.
So: a cut on fiddle is just a flick of the finger, as Michael says. It's used to interrupt the vibrations of the string and so "cut" the note being played into two. A classic example is in the opening bar of Earl's Chair.
K: D
|: B2 dB {d}BAFA |
Where the {d} is the cut. Most of the time, I would start this phrase on an up bow, down-bow the d, then up-bow the B {d}BA. In other words, the cut occurs in the midst of a long up bow, rather than using separate bow strokes to articulate the two B's.
The same idea works on open strings--when you want to articulate two distinct notes that happen to be open string notes, you can either change bow direction, stop and re-start the bow stroke, or simply cut the open string note.
Also, it sometimes sounds good to do the cut *and* change bow direction, although I'd be careful not to overdo this.
Another type of cut is used to articulate a strong beat. It's more of a 'pull-off' from a note above, slightly delaying the next note. An example might be:
My Darling Asleep
K: D
e|: fdd cAA | BAG A2 G | {G}FAA def | gfg eag |
| {g}fdd cAA | ....
Where you linger on the G and g before releasing to the F's. I can't think of an instance where I've used this type of cut to go to an open string. Maybe playing Scottish marches or strathspeys.....
Hope this helps.
# Posted on August 22nd 2004 by Will Harmon
Re: testing technicality
Cheers, everyone. The help is much appriciated. Now there's one less thing in the musical world that i don't understand.
# Posted on August 22nd 2004 by NZ Jez