Upbow staccato

There are many types of upbow staccatos...there is the normal "loose" kind...the stiff kind...and the off-the-bow "flying" kind. basically we're dealing with the normal "loose" kind. Set the weight with your arm. this weight is constant and never varies. The bow stick should remain down...it shouldn't be jumping up and down. From there...the magic is in the wrist. Do clockwise motions with your hand, so that the third finger is doing the work...use the first finger as the pivot point with the third doing the motion. combine that with smooth arm movement and you're set. One way of practicing (besides going slow->fast) is to repeat a note 4 times with the upbow stacatto. then move to 3 times...then 2 then 1... I believe it was Szeryng who said that a good stacatto comes from a good martele...and it was Galamian who sometimes had students raise their second fingers to help promote the proper clockwise motion. con_ritmo