On the right side, you can see a live recording of myself playing the segment using the historical French-Bow grip on the bow modeled after French-German sources from 1680. The roughness of this sound has been used to give the "popular humoristic cowboy character" to the created crossover-repertoire.

2.4 HISTORICAL FRENCH BOW GRIP IN HUAPANGO

As mentioned in Chapter 2.2, violinist Joel Monroy is a living example of the performance with the so-called French grip, or thumb violin-bow, which was associated with the French Dance-music of the XVII and XVIII centuries. This turned into the most important part of my research in terms of violin technique, changing my playing and taking me to develop new approaches for percussive dance-related bowing techniques.

THE "FRENCH BOW GRIP" OR "THUMB-UNDER" VIOLIN BOW-HOLD

This is a type of bow grip where the thumb is placed under the nut of the violin. It is believed that it was a feature common across Europe during the XVII century, but It is especially associated with French dance music because the French conservative "lullysts" kept using it until well advanced the XVIII century, as the rest of Europe had switched to the modern Italian grip (were the thumb goes on the stick). This Bow-Hold is described extensively in historical sources, it is used with reconstructions of historical short bows with clip-in frogs.

The general approach to violin technique at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague is mostly based on Geminiani´s violin school. This means it is the bow is held with the thumb on the stick and articulation is based on the pressure of the index finger. The experimentation with the French grip and the use of short bows is encouraged but not mandatory.

Motivated by this research, I acquired two historical dance-short bows: one French model from the middle of the XVII century and one French/German model from the second half of the XVII century. 

My experience as a performer is that with this grip, articulation changes. The role of the index finger, with its importance in shaping the tone, is somehow shut-off. The sound acquires a more plain character. Since the bow is already light enough, the pinky loses its function as a “weight-taker” of the traditional Italian bow hold. As a result, the weight transmission changes. You cannot put weight on it because the whole arm weight is connected directly to the string. Articulation is to be done rather with bow speed than pressure. Below you can see the pictures of the two bows purchased for the research:

BOW-HOLDS IN HUAPANGO

The violinists of Son Huasteco use a wide range of different bow holds. Traditionally, there has been a strong presence of different types of historical French grips (Sanchez 2022, 73) but they are being gradually replaced by the regular Italian modern bow hold. Both bow-holds coexist and there is fluidity between holds, even within the group Los Camperos de Valles. Joel Monroy, for example, has a clear French grip, with the thumb beautifully placed under the nut of the bow (image on the bottom left). Heliodoro Copado placed the thumb on the stick, however, his pinky was flat on the stick, and his middle finger was raised, so that the flexibility of the fingers is also lowered. As a result, his sound neared that of the french-grip (second image below). In a private video made of the Ensemble, it is possible to see Camilo Ramirez, the third violinist of "Los Camperos", using the French Bow grip. 

The first written mention of how to hold the bow comes in 1664 in John Playford's A Brief Introduction to the Skill of Musick, London 1664. He writes; "the Bow is held in the right hand, between the ends of the Thumb and the three first fingers, the Thumb being staid upon the hair at the Nut, and the three fingers resting upon the wood". Georg Muffat writtes in 1698:

"The majority of German violinists and other players of upper string instruments hold the bow as the French [Lullists] do, pressing the hair with the thumb and resting the other fingers on the stick of the bow; ... The Italians, among others, differ in playing these upper instruments in that they never touch the hair; ..."

The performance of strumming patterns on the violin was popularized by famous Venezuelan violinist Alexis Cardenas in his recordings of Joropo music. This technique became a distinctive feature of the crossover style created for the research. In the next chapter, I will go more in depth on the subject of Joropo or "llanero music", and the experience learning to perform the "cuatro".

PERCUSSIVE BOWSTROKES IMPORTED FROM THE STRUMMED GUITARS

Studying the available material on youtube of Joel Monroy, I could identify a variety of percussive springing strokes “off the string”. They are especially idiomatic of to the French grip when used in the context of Huapango.

Below you can see the video of a segment of the Song "La Presumida". On the right side, is the transcription of the same segment.

I soon understood that these strokes are imitations of the strumming patterns or "manicos" used on the Jarana and the Quinta Huapanguera. I transcribed the same segment into a sort of rhythmic notation more suitable for the reading with a strummed guitar and performed it on the Cuatro.