3

I'm currently studying Hrabe's 86 Etudes for String Bass and on Etude #3 I came upon this fermata:

enter image description here

It's not on top of any note or rest, but on the double bar line. How am I supposed to play this? Do I hold the last note or is there a pause before I go on to the next line?

|improve this question
1

Looks like a way to say 'hang on a bit before you play the next bit'. There's no rest to put it on, and if it was over a dot, that'd have to be held on. What's the strange sign instead of a number at the start of the last bar?

|improve this answer
  • 2
    It's the string playing symbol for "stop the string with your thumb," used on both cello and bass. 0 without the tick means "open string," or sometimes "natural harmonic". – user19146 Sep 4 '17 at 16:05
  • If you had attached an image of the whole etude (only 4 lines) it would have been clear that this is the mid-point, and the second half is more or less the mirror image of the first half - so it means "take a short pause for breath." You can't easily show the phrasing using slurs in string parts, because they get confused with bowing instructions. – user19146 Sep 4 '17 at 16:09
  • @alephzero - which hand thumb? – Tim Sep 4 '17 at 16:18
  • @Tim the fretting hand's thumb – Shevliaskovic Sep 4 '17 at 18:55
  • @Tim left hand. You can't stop a string and use a bow with the same hand! See youtube.com/watch?v=QIZtJvgUIsM for cello, youtube.com/watch?v=-c-39Bten_E for bass. – user19146 Sep 4 '17 at 18:57
0

It is usually the case, when you have multiple sections of a piece, one after the other, where the composer wants a slight pause in between sections. Remember Fermata just simply means pause.

|improve this answer
  • 1
    A fermata does not mean "pause". It means "Keep doing what you're doing, longer than normally." That's why it can be put above both notes and rests. When put above a bar line, it means "Prolong the silence between the notes in the adjoining bars". – Kilian Foth Sep 5 '17 at 6:37
  • 1
    Both ABRSM and UNISA give the meaning of Fermata as a pause. – Neil Meyer Sep 5 '17 at 8:26
  • I suspect when they write "pause" what they really mean is to pause the meter, not a "Grand Pause," which is a short pause where nobody plays. – Carl Witthoft Sep 5 '17 at 11:05

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.