How do you play the saw as a musical instrument? I remember seeing it on TV once and I’ve heard it in a few songs lately, and I’m pretty curious. What do I need, apart from the saw? Does it produce actual notes? How?
play it carefully.
You hold the small end, with the handle end firmly wedged on a table, or under foot. You bend the blade in an s shaped curve, which takes a strong hand, and usually a block with a slit in it at the end. Then you either stroke the edge away from the teeth with a bow (just like a fiddle bow) or tap it lightly with a small wooden hammer. You can change the note by altering the proportions of the upper and lower curves of the s shaped curve. You can also get tonal modifications from contact with the table, or by muffling the tone with your fingers, or even your shirt sleeve.
There are very few saw players in the world, and a lot more saw players than there are good saw players.
Tris
IANA Musical Sawyer, but I’ve seen them on TV.
Rent the wonderful movie Delicatessen if you want to see it done. (It’s definitely worth watching even if you don’t give a damn about the musical saw.)