Flageolet violin technique

Flageolet is a technique of playing stringed instruments such that specific harmonics are accessed directly, as principal or ground tones. The finger touches the string slightly, at a rational fraction 0 < p / q < 1 of the total length; see Fig.

1. What is flageolet violin?
2. How do you play flageolet on a violin?
3. What is a natural harmonic on violin?

What is flageolet violin?

A flageolet is the fancy name for a pennywhistle or tinwhistle. As mentioned, these are essentially end-blown flutes. You can make a note on a violin sound like a wind note from a tinwhistle rather than a string note by stopping the string gently on the side instead of firmly from above down to the fingerboard.

How do you play flageolet on a violin?

You do that by softly touching the violin string with a finger on your left hand, while drawing a normal bow stroke with your right hand. Here you can see an example of playing harmonic notes on the violin. Another word for violin harmonics is a “flageolet”.

What is a natural harmonic on violin?

A natural harmonic is the pitch (resultant) that is produced by lightly touching an open, vibrating string (the fundamental) at one of the nodes located at 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, etc. the length of the string.