Abbreviations and Symbols Explained

When beginning the study of each variation, make note of all the abbreviations and symbols at the start of your journey and if necessary, look back at the explanations of these symbols to remind yourself of their meanings. The following is an annotated guide to the Abbreviations and Symbols that are found on the first page of the 40 Variations.

G. Whole bow-length

As stated above, this marking instructs the player to use the whole bow length. While this may seem like a simple instruction, the tempo in many variations makes it difficult to truly use the entire length of bow hair. When seeing this indication, start and end the bow at the absolute end of the hair where the silver of the frog meets the hair, and the ivory/mammoth/silver of the tip plate meets the hair. This is incredibly useful for developing a full awareness of your bow length and in a way helps develop a greater capacity of ‘breath’ in the bow. It will make sustaining bows or getting to various parts of the bow quickly much easier in your repertory if you follow this instruction literally.

H. Half bow-length

The challenge in this indication is not to play beyond the halfway point of the bow, either on an up bow coming from the tip, or a down bow coming from the frog. Following this indication further raises awareness of bow placement and greatly helps with managing bow distribution and bow speed.

u.H. Lower half bow-length

The translation from the German “unterer Hälfte” is the reason for the sometimes-confusing abbreviation. Many players understandably mistake u.H. to mean upper half. This is not the case, and care should be taken to make sure the indication is understood to mean lower half-bow length.

o.H. Upper half-bow length

Similarly to the above two abbreviations, the indication here is to perform with just the upper half of the bow. Try to follow this indication as closely as possibly, as it is all too easy to venture beyond the halfway point to a more comfortable spot closer to the frog.

Fr. Frog (nut or heel) of the bow

This indication leaves some room for interpretation since the player cannot technically play immediately at the frog. It therefore describes a location, not an area like the first four abbreviations. For maximum pedagogical benefit, it is advisable to play as close to the frog as possible. For many of the variations that use this abbreviation, playing very close to the frog requires a flexibility and mobility of finger and wrist motion, which is highly beneficial to develop for advancing the fluency of your bow technique.

M. Bow-middle

This is perhaps the most confusing of the location-based indications, as it can describe both a pin-point location on the hair, but also a broader area of playing.

            Another issue to explore with the M. marking occurs when it is placed atop notes that are spiccato or bouncing. In these variations (especially where the marking is spiccato), find the balance point of the bow and experiment with finding a slower bouncing spiccato stroke near that point. You will notice that further toward the tip the bow will bounce more easily, but with less control, and vice versa closer toward the frog.

Sp. Tip of the bow

It is fair to treat this marking similarly to the Fr. marking while challenging yourself to play as close as possible to the tip. This indication will usually be for fast short notes or slurred notes. Just as with the Fr. indication, stay in the area close to the tip. If not, then there is a risk of the stroke being too similar to the o.H. (upper half) marking.

Down-stroke and Up-stroke

These are simple indications of the direction of the bow stroke but can cause some confusion when occurring in two or more notes in a row, such as in variation 1 and variation 2. In these instances, perform a retake after each stroke to ensure the stroke stays in position as indicated by the repeated abbreviations of Fr. Fr. Fr. or M. M. M. below the notes. Stay aware of this by looking at the bow in these variations to make sure the playing point is not travelling closer to or further away from the frog after each stroke.

_ Broad (detached) staccato.

This definition for the bowing in the Op. 2 variations (see Figure 3) is perhaps clearer since it leaves out the word staccato. The addition of the word staccato seems to contradict a broad stroke. For the purposes of these variations, it is helpful to think of these notes as long strokes that are almost legato with slight detachment (see Variation 1) as well as broad, in contrast to the staccato and spiccato notes that are far more frequent throughout the 40 variations.

. Hammered staccato (martellato)

Among the articulation definitions explained here, the staccato marking is perhaps the most common in the repertory, as well as the most misunderstood. While throughout the repertory, this indication is likely to imply a short spiccato type stroke or sautillé (if the tempo demands it), in the context of these variations it is more heavily articulated on the string stroke.

Jerked (ricochet) or hopping staccato.

This indication is highly context dependent. As explained further in the guide, there are instances where an on the string staccato will be required, and other times that demand a hopping spiccato. In some cases, Ševčík adds an additional marking such as spiccato, flying, sautillé, or jerk. Each of these carries its own specific stroke and will be confusingly and frequently paired with this wedge marking. There are many instances of the wedge placed upon a note that simply cannot be hopping. When you come across this marking, which is perhaps the most frequent in the variations, be aware of the context and adjust the stroke accordingly.

) Raise the bow

This is an indication that occasionally helps clear the confusion of the wedge articulation above, but other times it does not. In Variation 1, for example, I advocate for an on the string collé type stroke rather than a spiccato. The lift then happens after the note and has no authority over whether the note begins from or above the string. This marking can additionally suggest a retake as in Variations 1 and 3. Interestingly, this is the only articulation marking that is not used by composers in the repertory.