Sasquatch

Description

This piece is inspired by the legend of Sasquatch, the outsized, hairy humanoid creature reputed to roam the forested mountains of the American west, particularly on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. This type of creature, known by many names, is also part of the folklore of other mountainous parts of the world. Occasionally, a person in the Olympics will discover outsize footprints in the woods, or even produce a blurry photograph of the creature. All of these have been proven to be hoaxes, but Sasquatch still makes for some great campfire stories.

This piece, in addition to just being fun to play, teaches valuable bowing techniques such as staccato (martele), legato, and rapid detache. When teaching the bowings, be sure young students understand that to play detached quarter notes, a full bow is not necessary. A good guideline would be to use about ¼ of the bow near the balance point for the quarter notes, releasing the pressure after the initial contact, then resetting for the next note. This should help achieve the desired “plodding” effect. The eighth- and sixteenth-notes should use correspondingly less bow and less separation, more like ordinary detache.

Once the bowing styles are under control, be sure students hold the tempo steady, since rushing may become an issue, particularly when playing pizzicato or shortened quarter notes. The dynamic indications are also an important part of the structure and should be carefully observed.

From bar 42 to the fermata, cellos and basses should move their bows closer to bridge as they approach the tremolo note, which should be very loud and somewhat menacingly ugly.
The violins and violas should play their tremolo very loudly with the bow placed on the “wrong” side of the bridge. Think of it as a “scream” -you might even experiment with a cellist or bassist adding a human scream to the violin sound.

Encourage young students to concoct a story line, perhaps built around a hiker and a sasquatch encountering each other.

There’s a lot to deal with in this short piece. Remember that it’s important to have fun with it after the technical points are mastered!

Published by: String Instrument Specialists