Books › Modern violin-playing, 1920 › scan 73
Scan 73
Modern violin-playing, 1920
14 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 37. See the scan on archive.org.
1Together with the thumb they hold the bow. This tilts the horizontal axis of the hand slightly downwards on the first finger side. The stick should not be passed under the second joint of the forefinger. For, if that is done, the hand, when called on for flexibility, will not be able to respond.
3The two middle fingers are then placed lightly in contact with the stick. And, if all four fingers are properly placed, the distance on the stick between the contact-points of the first and fourth fingers should exactly equal the distance between the first and fourth knuckles. If that is so, the bending efficiency of the fingers will be at its highest.
5The oft-repeated advice that the fingers should be kept close together probably originated with a violinist who had very thick fingers. In view of the many existing types of fingers and hands, the student will do well to disregard it. The proper way for him to find his position on the stick is to space the first and fourth fingers so that the thumb-tip falls midway between them, and so that their width on the stick equals the width of the knuckles.
7Let us now take up the bow and hold it in this easy manner. We shall find no difficulty in passing it to-and-fro in the air. And if, while it is in motion, we lower it slightly onto the violin, a good deal of free tone will result from the merest contact of hair and string. All this is almost effortless on our part.
9If we now try to make an ordinary bow-stroke, we shall find that we need exert no more effort than is necessary to draw the palm of the hand towards the inner side of the forearm. The fingers do nothing. They merely remain flexibly arched. For if closer contact between hair and strings is sought, it must be obtained by downward pressure from the wrist, not by any effort of the fingers. Indeed, it is essential that the fingers should make no more effort than is necessary to maintain them in their arched position. Any effort on their part will rob them of the flexibility and sensitiveness through which the degree of contact is gauged.
11To understand this point fully, the student should turn to Plate 14, and place the fingers of the left-hand under the knuckles of the right-hand. If he will now press down the right-hand from the wrist, he will get a very good idea of what is meant.
13He will also see the practical working of what was said above (page 35) with regard to the backward-push. For he will find that it becomes necessary to prevent the forearm from rising. As we have already pointed out, this requires very little effort, provided the arm
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