Books › Modern violin-playing, 1920 › scan 130
Scan 130
Modern violin-playing, 1920
12 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 62. See the scan on archive.org.
1and the tenth positions. Before attempting the lower positions, he should practise a slow glissando, beginning in the eleventh position with the fourth finger on the harmonic.
3(There is little difference in the pose of the wrist between the third and fourth positions. Yet the difference is in many ways important. And, as a clear understanding of its importance must be gained, it is best to do so—not by an isolated fourth-position-study—but by studying the fourth position in relation to the positions on either side of it.)
5In making the downward glissando, the descent must necessarily be slow in order to observe the changes of wrist and thumb as the lower positions are reached. After some little familiarity has been gained in the glissando, it is well to halt suddenly and essay the vibrato. Other halts may be made to test whether the violin really rests on the thumb. This is done by carefully lifting the finger from the string, when it at once becomes evident if the finger has shared with the thumb in supporting the instrument. Finally, the glissando should be occasionally interrupted in order to play a scale or a passage in one position or another. If this is done, it will at once be apparent whether the hand is posed comfortably or not.
7So far the practice has probably been upon one string. It is now time to perform the glissando on the lower strings also. On these, the thumb and wrist positions are slightly exaggerated, of course. One has to reach over to them a little more. But the necessary changes are small, and one can make them easily if one is familiar with the procedure on the top-string.
9We now come to the subject of shifting, undoubtedly one of the most important branches of violin-study.
11Shifting is the transposition of the whole hand to a new position. And, naturally, part of the process is the posing of the thumb-support in the new position, so as to make the finger-action there easy and secure. Not only do ease, fluency, and correct intonation depend largely upon skill and accuracy in shifting; but shifts, judiciously used, are a decided factor in musical expression. The different kinds of shifts are as follows:
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