Books › Modern violin-playing, 1920 › scan 115
Scan 115
Modern violin-playing, 1920
18 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 55. See the scan on archive.org.
1is necessary. And when once the fifths are correct, further tuning is a symptom of idiocy. The flight of easy harmonics, with which the tuning-rite is concluded, should always be omitted.
3The violin, like the human body, needs keeping clean. Indeed, it needs it more than the human body. For it has no automatic apparatus, by means of which it can throw off the finely divided particles of rosin-dust. And free-vibration is its very life and breath.
5The possession of a beautiful silk handkerchief, initialled in one corner, will not ensure this cleanliness. It may be—and often is—a symbol of love. But as a talisman against dirt it has little value.
7Remove your pegs, then, at least every two weeks. Take them out, one by one, and smear them, first with soap, next with chalk, and finally with graphite. The graphite can easily be obtained from a lead-pencil.
9See that your bridge leans slightly backwards. The tendency of the strings, and particularly of the E-string, is to draw it forward. This should be corrected daily.
11After playing, clean the whole violin thoroughly. In doing this, do not overlook the neck. The strings too must be cleaned, not only above the finger-board, but in the bow-space. You need not fear that you will fray them if you rub them in only one direction. But every time this cleaning is omitted, a thicker crust of rosin will collect on them. This means robbing the gut of its peculiar lightness and elasticity, and so spoiling the tone.
13To make certain that your strings are correct, take a piece of stout paper, and mark on it the distance between the nut and the bridge. Then fold the paper between the two marks, and transfer the new halfway mark to the finger-board. This will give you the exact spot where the octave should be. Next, stop the string at this mark with your nail. If the note is higher or lower than the true octave, discard the string and try another.
15Keep a particularly wary eye on the bridge, when you are drawing up a new E-string. The bridge always tilts forward. Also, if there is much changing of E's, the top-string groove will quickly be worn too deep. The best way to obviate this is to make a special groove, outside the ordinary groove, for use when you are pulling the string up to pitch.
17The finger-board, too, needs constant watching, both for grooves made by the contact of the strings, and for a possible straightening. When new, the finger-board is slightly hollowed from end to end to
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