Books › A Practical Guide to Violin-Playing, 1913 › scan 24
Scan 24
A Practical Guide to Violin-Playing, 1913
18 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 6. See the scan on archive.org.
1Sight-reading and scale playing.
3As a rule sight-reading is deplorably neglected and until quite recently the study of scales and arpeggios found extremely few votaries.
5The Author cannot too strongly insist that for the general training of the fingers, for the attainment of a good legato, as well as for the production of an even and full tone and correct intonation, the study of scales and arpeggios is absolutely indispensable.
7The answer to the question, so frequently put to teachers,—"How long ought I to practise every day?" very much depends on the pupil's physique, age and desire to work and to please his master.
9The child's health should naturally be the first consideration. A child with plenty of school-work has gradually to learn how to work. One hour, one-and-a-half hours a day, better still two hours a day according to mental proclivities is a fair average with which to make sufficient progress. The general education too, must be thorough, and the gradual development of the child's mental powers in more than one direction is of the utmost importance.
11If by chance the pupil asks again how long he ought to practise, quote Giardini's words, "Twelve hours a day for twenty years!"
13Altogether different is the case of the more advanced student, full of ambition and real love for the violin. Here no hardship will be felt in devoting three or four hours a day to practice, and it is preferable that this should be divided into two or three sections, studying scales and arpeggios first, then exercises, and ending up with pieces. However, common-sense must be employed to serve as a guide in this as in other matters, and an advanced student may be safely entrusted to decide for himself for how long he should practise and in what manner he should apportion his time.
15Experience teaches many things and there is one point which cannot be too strongly insisted upon. When practising difficult and trying passages over and over again, the player must learn to allow himself sufficient time to rest both brain and hands, otherwise much of his effort will be wasted.
17Thinking takes time, yet instead of calmly deciding on a suitable place where he may re-commence in order that a particular fault (or faults) may be corrected, the mentally untrained student rushes blindly to the very note which sounded out of tune or rough, regardless of the essential fact that the difficulty really lay further back, in the approach to that note.
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