Dots and Dashes
Violin students, especially those who are trying to get a knowledge of the violin without a teacher, frequently write to ask for the significance of dots or dashes placed over notes under a slur. Fundamentally, in violin music, a straight line placed over a note means that that note is to be sustained for its full value, and the bow is to be pushed along the string until that full value has been reached. A dot placed over a note means that the tone is to be shortened one-half; that is, if a series of quarter notes have dots over them they are to be played like eighth notes with eighth rests between. In playing notes with dots above them in violin music, sometimes the bow leaves the string between the notes, and sometimes not. It depends on the nature of the passage being played and the kind of bowing which is used.
In the case of dashes above the notes under a slur as in the following:
the bow is pushed or pulled in the same direction four times, either up or down, as the case may be. The tones are sustained practically to their full value, except that there must be four distinct impulses of the bow. This is essentially a legato passage.
In the case of dots over or under notes, beneath a slur, as in the following:
the notes are played in a staccato manner with four distinct impulses of the bow either up or down. The notes are played short and not sustained, and the effect on the ear must be as if the notes were written as sixteenths, with sixteenth rests between. However, writers of violin music often write dots when they mean dashes and vice versa.
The mark (') placed above a note indicates that it must be played more staccato than in the case of a dot. A passage marked as follows usually indicates that the bow leaves the string at each note:
In his bowing exercises, Sevcik uses the sign (') to indicate "jerked or hopping staccato." The violin student who is studying without an experienced teacher is often handicapped by the uncertain manner in which writers of violin music mark their compositions. A dot is often used where a sustained tone is required. For instance, a passage is often marked:
when the following is intended:
Violin students should make it a point to buy editions which are marked by violinists and not by people who do not understand the technique of the violin.