3rd Bridge - Bowing Behind The Bridge

Bowing Behind The Bridge

The technique is also widely used in many modern classical works on bowing instruments.The extended technique involves in that case bowing the instrument on the afterlength, the short length of string behind the bridge. The tone is very high and squeaky. By playing the instrument at a string part behind the bridge, the opposed part starts to resonate. The tone is louder at harmonic relations of the bridge string length. On violins the tone can be very high, even above our hearing capacity. Depending on the instrument the pitch of the tones may or may not be perceived (cellos and double basses are more likely to produce recognizable pitches because of the longer length of their strings). This technique is used extensively in Krzysztof Penderecki’s Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima. Another example is found in Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite where bowing behind the bridge in a violin cadenza represents a donkey’s braying.