Martelé

The defining feature is the preparation: pressure is set into the string before the bow moves, so the note starts with a consonant rather than a vowel. The stroke is then fast and the bow stops, leaving a clear silence. It is usually notated with a wedge or an accent, sometimes with the word itself.

Martelé is the stroke that teaches bow control, because it isolates the three variables, pressure, speed, and contact point, into separate, deliberate stages. Many teachers use it as the entry point to all accented bowings, since a student who can produce a clean martelé already understands what the bow is doing in staccato and collé.