Incredibly Useful Exercises, SPICCATO: GENERAL OVERVIEW AND PREPARATION

Welcome to the first of a 6-part series on Spiccato. Episode 1, "General Overview and Preparation", covers bow hold setup, how a bow bounces, and how to connect with the natural laws of a bouncing bow with the "Trampolines/Basketball" exercise.
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Spiccato families and tempos of significant orchestra excerpts:
IMPORTANT NOTE #1: All tempos are approximations, subject to the whims of the conductor.
IMPORTANT NOTE #2: All tempos are marked as 16th notes per quarter note. All tempos in compound meter (6/8, 9/8, etc) have been converted to the equivalent bow stroke tempo as measured in 16th notes.
Example: In 6/8 time, Eighth notes @ dotted quarter = 120 is the same speed as 16th notes in 4/4 time at quarter = 90. (compound tempo * 0.75 = simple tempo)
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LIGHT SPICCATO FAMILY
Beethoven 7, 2nd Movement = 66
Verdi La Traviata Act II = 82
Rossini William Tell Overture = 84
Rossini Barber of Seville Overture (Letter A) = 88
Rossini Barber of Seville Overture (Letter B) = 110
Verdi Falstaff, Act III Part 1 = 120
Tchaikovsky 6, 3rd Movement = 120
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MEDIUM SPICCATO FAMILY
Mozart 41 1st movement = 76
Mozart 39, 1st movement = 78
Beethoven 3, 3rd movment = 87
Verdi Die Meistersinger, Act II = 90
Verdi Lohengrin, Act III Scene 3 = 90
Beethoven 9, 2nd movement = 90
Beethoven 7, 3rd movement = 90
Beethoven 3, 1st movement = 90
Mendelssohn 4, 4th movement = 96
Mozart 40, 1st movement = 108
Schubert 10, 4th movement = 108
Mendelssohn 4, 1st movement = 111
Beethoven 9, 4th movement m. 763 = 120
Mahler 5, Finale = 124
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HEAVY SPICCATO FAMILY
Wagner Die Walkure, Overture = 55
Mahler 2, 2nd movement = 60
Beethoven 7, 1st movement scales = 68
Brahms 1, 1st movement = 70
Beethoven 9, 4th movement Letter K = 83
Brahms 2, 1st movement = 96
Wagner Lohengrin, Act 1 Finale = 104
Brahms 2, 4th movement = 106
Wagner Die Walkure, Act II = 108
Beethoven 5, 3rd movement = 114
Schubert 10, 3rd movement = 114
Mahler 5, 2nd movement = 120
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SAUTILLE/FLEX STROKE FAMILY
Haydn 88, 1st movement = 132
Smetana Bartered Bride, Overture = 140 (all notes are active, so it’s more of an on-the-string stroke)
Mozart 41, 4th movement = 140
Mozart 35, 4th movement = 140
Haydn 88, 4th movement = 144
Beethoven 9, final prestissimo = 146
Beethoven 3, 4th movement = 152
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Brought to you with generous support by Houston Luthier and bass maker Joey Naeger. Visit him at joeynaegerbasses.com
Produced and Edited by David Means at "Design with Means": designwithmeans.wixsite.com
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[@JacqueHarper]

I’m pausing at 2’50” to say, thank you, thank you, thank you for this. Hearing this from you I think maybe I can finally forgive myself for feeling like a complete failure for all these years.

[@evaeuwe]

Thanks for your great videos and book! We (bass player couple) have discovered them during the pandemic lockdown and it has been very inspiring and helpful. It has been a great way to reasses & restructure my practise routines and to prepare for upcoming auditions in a methodical, structered way.

[@incrediblyusefulexercises]

Thank you so much, evaeuwe - that means the world. I'm glad you're finding them helpful. Good luck in your preparation and auditions! Happy new year to you and yours, and I hope you're well. Dennis

[@AvantangoMedia]

pretty cool stuff there maestro! I did all my training and orchestra experience as a German bow player and then switched to French because I wanted to play tango. Now I am preparing some Mozart and having to really learn the French spiccato. Your explanation was very useful!! Happy practicing to me. I'll be walking around holding the bow with two fingers all week at your suggestion! Thanks

[@incrediblyusefulexercises]

That's great, A. Thanks for watching, and I'm glad it helps. Hope you're well.

[@MrDanilop45]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 thank you a lot.

[@MrBrainsquash]

Great start. Thank you!

[@incrediblyusefulexercises]

You're welcome, Jan. Thanks for the support!

[@Opus766]

Thanks for the excerpt list. I'm checking out Haydn 88 for the first time today.

[@incrediblyusefulexercises]

Any time, Wiggly. I love that cut - it's such a crazy departure from regular Haydn, and so fun to play. Happy new year!

[@miguelvelazquezmatija7478]

you are amazing man! thanks and greetings from Colombia 🇨🇴

[@incrediblyusefulexercises]

Thanks Miguel! Hope you're well.

[@daniellind6569]

This is great! How did you put that latex-grip on Your bow? Is it a a tape?

[@incrediblyusefulexercises]

Thanks, Daniel. It's 1/8" surgical latex tubing. I have my local luthier put it on my bow every time I get a rehair. It's very comfortable for my thumb, and opens up my grip radius to a more comfortable level. Hope you're well

[@daveshep]

How much of a role does bow tension play? I sometimes struggle with getting a good tone if I set my hair tension too tight or too loose. Could you say a word about that?

[@incrediblyusefulexercises]

Thank you, Dave. I understand your question, and spent years looking for that. It plays a huge role, in that it really depends on the wood in your bow and the quality of the hair, and how the rosin happens to be grabbing that day. My approach is to keep the bow as loose as possible without grinding the stick into the hair. If the stick is too tight, then the hair won't "wrap" around the string to grab it, and there's not enough hair to actually grab the string. But I've played some sticks that have a lot of flexibility in the wood, so I can keep them tighter. Some of the snakewood bows already have the tension built in, so I can keep the hair very loose. It just depends. Personally, I just don't like the stick hitting the string, so I find the most amount of weight I'll reasonably apply, and tighten it to that amount. I hope that makes sense. Happy new year, and let me know if that helps! Dennis