Staccato - one of the most controversial elements of right-hand technique

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Staccato is one of the most controversial elements of righthand technique. Through the ages performers and pedagogues have tried to evaluate its significance and the best ways of acquiring it, coming up with diverse and conflicting views. Basically, it is a succession of short, sharply articulated notes in one bow on the string, containing two elements: an accent at the beginning of the note and the stopping of the bow at the end of it. The following chart shows how these elements apply to different bowings, including a seldom-used staccato which Capet describes as ‘simple staccato’:

There are two main kinds of staccato: firm and brilliant, which Dounis describes as ’different processes’. Firm staccato has been given different names: controlled (Hart); martele, slow or heavy (Dounis); honest (Heifetz); rhythmic (Galamian), mordant (Capet); Spohr (Flesch) or solid (Percival Hodgson). Firm staccato is a series of martele notes in one bow. Different authorities put different maximum speeds on what one can achieve: Flesch has the speed limit for semiquavers as 𝅘𝅥 = 66, Harold Berkley as 𝅘𝅥 = 88.