I've never heard of a 'straight slur' where you briefly stop then continue in the same bow direction. It's supposed to sound very staccato. But it doesn't mention in the book if it is acceptable to lift the bow off the strings! I don't know if it's ever acceptable to lift the bow off the strings, so I wanted to write and see if any of you knew whether or not it's okay. It's much easier to bow the 'straight slur' this way, instead of remaining on the strings for the pause.
No, I wouldn't take the bow off the strings. Only for a
special effect. I don't think what you want is a pause either,
you just want the notes slightly detached. There are probably
varying degrees of this before you'd actually indicate two up-bows
instead. Try pretending that you want to come close to the kind
of articulation that you get from playing separate bow strokes but
then do it in one bow stroke instead. Different
authors/arrangers may not have exactly the same thing in mind when
they use a straight slur. I just know how we used it in our
collection to transcribe Cape Breton music.
- Kate D.
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http://www.DunGreenMusic.com
Halifax, Nova Scotia
