Finale Forum

I have a string part, all in long-note tremolo, pp.
I would like certain moments to receive a slight emphasis. It's not an accent, it's just adding a tiny bit more weight on that first beat .
would it be understood if I added a tenuto line above the note? (which already has the tremolo articulation)

in French I would say those notes are to be "appuyer".

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A second question, in case someone knows the answer:

I have accented (forte) open string double-stops, they're staccato, quarter notes on beats 1 and 3 (in a fast 4/4, it's almost a 2/2).
I would like them off the string, and for the string to continue vibrating.
I seem to recall reading that I should avoid using the LV indication (or the little tie that leads nowhere) in string writing.
But that seems to best desrcibe what I want.
Any suggestions?

Michel R E wrote:… … A second question, in case someone knows the answer:

I have accented (forte) open string double-stops, they're staccato, quarter notes on beats 1 and 3 (in a fast 4/4, it's almost a 2/2).
I would like them off the string, and for the string to continue vibrating.
I seem to recall reading that I should avoid using the LV indication (or the little tie that leads nowhere) in string writing.
But that seems to best desrcibe what I want.
Any suggestions?

I don't have an immediate suggestion (or rather I have several different ones, none ideal), but I will be very interested to read if anyone does have a definitive answer.

Michel R E wrote:I have a string part, all in long-note tremolo, pp.
I would like certain moments to receive a slight emphasis. It's not an accent, it's just adding a tiny bit more weight on that first beat .
would it be understood if I added a tenuto line above the note? (which already has the tremolo articulation)

I suspect you are you using unmeasured tremolo, thus the three-slash-variant, not a measured one (1-slash), where one note is subdivided.
I would doubt that string players would easily understand that notation, as a tremolo marking is associated with fast bow movement (start direction and speed is up to the player) where tenuto is usually associated with a slower, definetly controlled bow movement. To me, it sounds a bit contradictory. If you are there and can explain what you mean, it would work, of course.

But if that should work without your personal presence, I would suggest using the notation like e.g. Schubert (Example): he writes a dynamic and a decrescendo. That dynamic can be a strong or a moderate one (and could contain "subito") and the decresc. could be long or short, but he achieves to give the player a visual idea of the desired audible result.

Michel R E wrote:in French I would say those notes are to be "appuyer".

Il faut appuyer les notes, mais il ne faut pas appuyer sur le champignon !

Michel R E wrote:I have accented (forte) open string double-stops, they're staccato, quarter notes on beats 1 and 3 (in a fast 4/4, it's almost a 2/2).
I would like them off the string, and for the string to continue vibrating.
I seem to recall reading that I should avoid using the LV indication (or the little tie that leads nowhere) in string writing.
But that seems to best desrcibe what I want.
Any suggestions?

L.V. or laissez vibrer sounds reasonably and perfectly clear to me. If I remember right, when I rehearsed a piece of mine with a violinist and explained to him the same result you're mentioning, he indicated "l.v." in his part.

the Schubert example is sort of what I was looking for, except the dynamic change I need is much shorter and not pronounced.
I can play it on my viola, simply by adding a bit more weight to the bow for that one beat, which is the effect I want. But it's not really a dynamic change... or at least it's like p to "p + a microscopic amount" and back to p.

I think I'll use the Lv indication then.

Quickly, do you happen to know of a marking that assures "off the string"?

Michel R E wrote:Quickly, do you happen to know of a marking that assures "off the string"?

How about a breath mark (comma) before the note?

I'd write an accent with "poco".

well, for the "appuyé" effect, I think I'll just speak to the conductor, then cheat and look at how the musicians marked it in their parts.

Since the dynamic is pp, perhaps the accent wouldn't be over-played. You could add (poco) or something like that. I would steer clear of tenuto or other ambiguous notation.

Thanks Motet.
That's a good suggestion, and a good point about the dynamic.