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Scan 13
The Violin: How to Master It, 1880
10 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1playing the F natural on the first string, a most difficult feat for a beginner, and in my own experience thoroughly pernicious at that stage, when the hand is not fairly set to the position. There is a tendency to shift the hand to get the F in tune; or, if this be not done, the F is almost invariably played a slight degree sharp. The result is one of two things; the hand acquires a shifty, uncertain movement, or the pupil contracts the fatal habit of playing not strictly in tune. All this may be avoided by temporizing a little, if I may so speak, by letting strict musical knowledge stand for the time in abeyance, and beginning with the three sharp keys, G, D and A. If the relative minors of these are included (necessitating the playing of the sharp seventh of these keys — that is, D sharp, A sharp, and E sharp — which will be done at first by drawing back the finger), the ability to form the slightly flatter F natural will follow without difficulty. The hand, by the time these keys are mastered, will be tolerably well set to the instrument, and less liable to contract the chronic shiftness which ruins many a player for life.
3Henning's Violin School.
5As a first book, however, I know of no better work than the Violin School, by Carl Henning. It has the instruction both in English and in German. Part I progresses easily with several easy and attractive airs in each key, in the first position, as a duet with the teacher; and has the additional advantage of not staggering the pupil by showing him too much in one lesson. Part II consists of progressively arranged exercises in all the positions, in bowing, fingering, and arm practice. Part III contains advanced exercises in the positions, arranged as a duet with the teacher.
7Maza's Violin Method.
9Another excellent book for the use of beginners is Maza's Violin Method. This work contains many good duets and daily exercises calculated to set the hand and fingers. Howe's Edition (for sale by all music dealers) contains in addition Pleyel's Celebrated Duets for two violins. If the student has a teacher, six months ought to suffice for the study of Henning's or Maza's; after which David may be attacked. David is a book for a lifetime, and may always be returned to, even by the professional musician, with pleasure.
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