Books › A Practical Guide to Violin-Playing, 1913 › scan 112
Scan 112
A Practical Guide to Violin-Playing, 1913
12 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 94. See the scan on archive.org.
1Those who crave for a loud tone will suffer in the end, for they will lose the elasticity and rapidity of wrist action, and this desire for tone has influenced not a few great artists to change the bow much too often.
3Let us now consider what are the means of acquiring a resonant tone. First of all, an even balance of wrist must be cultivated and the bow drawn parallel with the bridge; in other words the arm has to be brought more in front when playing near the point. Experience teaches us that from the very first a beginner can be taught to avoid 'scratching.' Step by step, after the pupil has found the right place where a clean tone is procurable, he must persist in making a marked crescendo towards the point and lead the bow as slowly and firmly as possible over the strings.
5If the tone is at once to attain to a nice quality a great deal of time and thought will have to be given to the various ways of putting the bow on the string. Not only at the heel and point, but in any part of the bow — down or up stroke — the very start must be made with a sufficient elasticity of the wrist.
7In beginning 'piano,' the bow generally touches the strings for one instant before it is drawn evenly across them.
9In 'forte' — where a start is made on a single note, the bow may either come down from a suitable height or rest for a moment on the string and so commence with decision, 'sforzando'.
11Chord playing requires complete freedom of the wrist. Moreover the natural weight of the hand combined with that of the bow must act in such a way as to strike three strings with complete ease.
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