Fast natural harmonic arpeggios

February 4, 2026, 5:01 AM · I'd certainly go towards the nut.

February 4, 2026, 6:31 AM · William which piece (suite or ballet), which part, which movement, which measure?

Edited: February 4, 2026, 7:20 AM · Suite, violin 1, movement I, bar 14 - you can't miss it (until you try to play it!)

Edited: February 4, 2026, 9:17 AM · Up and down the fingerboard, going way up for the highest notes. I have never seen it done any other way nor have I ever played it any other way myself. I can’t imagine trying to do it near the nut. The notes come out very clearly higher on the string, and it’s actually quite an easy effect to master. You don’t have to think about anything other than the highest target, which is very easy to hear when you hit. The string takes care of the rest.

You can see it being executed quite clearly at 1’57” here: https://youtu.be/UclWVWurxgM?si=AOqCyfRHRGXRuv3G

Edited: February 4, 2026, 10:02 AM · So that's how it's done! In order to reach the top of the fingerboard with my third finger I have to bring my thumb right round to the side of the button. Yes, the top harmonics are certainly easier to produce that way and there isn't the additional unwanted effect of the first harmonic oscillating in counterphase. In the video though I wouldn't say I can actually make out the individual harmonics, just a swirling effect.

February 4, 2026, 10:03 AM · The effect is exactly the point. There is never any attempt made for the violinists to synchronize their harmonics.

February 4, 2026, 11:11 AM · It does sound clearer in some studio recordings.

Edited: February 4, 2026, 2:19 PM · Most things sound clearer in studio recordings than they do in live performance.

February 4, 2026, 2:24 PM · Jean, I said above that it was in "The Firebird" but I didn't have the bar number at the time so I looked it up and it is bar 14.

February 4, 2026, 2:39 PM · Mary Ellegn Goree, thank you very much. I had it in my head that the violinists were having to finger an actual arpeggio but this is just a finger slide.

That of course creates all sorts of other harmonics besides the ones Stravinsky notated, but it's the effect that counts anyway.

February 4, 2026, 3:29 PM · Why would that create all sort of other harmonics besides the ones Stravinsky notated?
Perhaps you and I are defining harmonics differently?

February 4, 2026, 4:24 PM · We're not defining harmonics differently, I've just been looking at the harmonics tables from the Enzo Porta book only to discover that there are obscure harmonics that occur very quickly and quietly over the course of the string. But one in that series that's not obscure is when the finger passes at the F# above the first D harmonic, which creates an F# above that, then after it pops back down to the A when the finger hits the A point.

February 4, 2026, 5:46 PM · Apart from the primary nodes of the overtone series, you also hit secondary ones.

February 4, 2026, 5:46 PM · David - according to my understanding you can rest your finger gently anywhere on a violin string and bowing will produce a harmonic sound, usually very weakly unless it's a simple harmonic like 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 etc. So sliding the finger will produce all manner of higher harmonics in addition to the ones Stravinsky notated.

Edited: February 5, 2026, 4:38 AM · William - when I last played the Stravinsky suite (1919) a couple of years ago I found it quite impossible to reach the 6th harmonic on my 16.25" viola, which is why I suggested sliding towards the nut (which frankly didn't work well). I now see that in the complete ballet and the suite of 1910 Stravinsky left the harmonics to the violins. Second thoughts aren't always better!

February 5, 2026, 11:42 AM · Thanks, Andrew and Steven.

And I just found out yesterday that in the original Firebird ballet score, Stravinsky asked for scordatura to tune the E string down to D to perform that harmonics glissando and a re-tune back to E afterward.

But in the Firebird Suite he removed the scordatura and notated it for the D string.

Edited: February 5, 2026, 12:28 PM · Oh yes, so he did. I didn't try it in scordatura but on my violin the 6th harmonic of E sounds very flat, when it sounds at all.

February 5, 2026, 1:52 PM · Steve, I guess that's why it's best for composers to avoid sustained notes on the 5th and 6th natural harmonics since they are noticeably out of line with equal temperament.