Scan 17
21882.a.10 – How to hold a violin and bow / C. H. Mitchell., 1882
6 lines. Read by computer on 24 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1student must bear in mind that the style he adopts is for permanent use, and he will see at once that he cannot be too careful in following correct principles at the outset. Whatever style he may adopt, it will, after long practice, cling to him like second nature; hence the necessity for correctness during the time of its formation. Moreover, the instrument is really of such importance that it deserves all the pains he can bestow in learning how to use it well. Further, if the student is to work intelligently, it is necessary that he should know why he adopts one method in preference to another. There has already been too much blind working in the matter of the violin. The four objects already enumerated should be borne in mind.
3The reader must not suppose that the observations with respect to comfort in placing the instrument are intended to countenance laxity. It is true that certain inconveniences can be overcome by practice and use, but there are others which would always impede, and it is as important to know what need not be attempted as to know what must. Many of the foolish rules which have been written for the violinist look very feasible on paper, experiment only exposing their fallacy, and a student meeting with such in works emanating from high authority might retard his progress by persevering attempts at a compliance which he does not know to be impossible.
5The next thing for the student to do in the matter of holding his instrument, is to learn more particularly the situation of the neck with regard to the left hand when that hand is in the first position. The principal point to be attended to here is that there should be an opening below the neck; that is, the neck must not be permitted to sink down upon the loose skin between the thumb and forefinger, and at their roots. The reasons for this injunction are founded upon the following functions of the left hand, namely, to glide with the least possible resistance up and down the neck in shifting, and to have complete control over all the four strings, and power to place the tips of the fingers upon the strings, in stopping notes, in such a manner that the end sections may be as far as possible perpendicular to the finger-board. When the neck is permitted to sink down there is also a feeling of impediment prior to shifting rapidly to a high position, and in fact the hand has to be lowered to an extra extent for the purpose. Even, however, when the neck is properly placed, shifting to a high
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