Books › The Violin: How to Master It, 1880 › scan 28
Scan 28
The Violin: How to Master It, 1880
12 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1and this, after using one length, may be put away and kept for special occasions.
3Italian Strings.
5Before stringing his violin, the student must buy the strings, and in doing so will find three different kinds claiming his attention. First is the ordinary gut string—the best being made from the intestines of the skinny mountain sheep of Italy, and called Italian Mountain Gut.
7For tone, brilliant yet pure, ringing yet delicate; for ready response to the lightest touch of the bow; and for trueness in the "stepping" or fingerling, and sweetness in the harmonics, nothing has been found to approach these. The only question is one of durability; so many villainous substitutes are palmed upon the unwary student as "real Italians," which prove rotten, or false and unreliable, that he soon becomes disgusted; and again, when a real Italian or a good imitation is got, it is generally used raw from the maker, instead of being seasoned into toughness, or, still worse, has been rotted with oil, or kept so long or so carelessly, that it has begun to decay, and the result is still unsatisfactory. Again, in a very warm room, or a steamy atmosphere, or with a player inclined to perspire about the fingers, even a seasoned Italian string cannot always be depended upon; but as the latter are altogether exceptional conditions, there is still a large majority of players, including myself, who cling to the use of the gut string.
9Perspiring Fingers.
11The player whose hands perspire heavily is truly to be pitied. Rubbing the hand and fingers over with a sponge dipped in spirits, or a little sugar-of-lead and milk, applied at night before going to bed, may modify the evil: and I have recommended, and found some to be benefited by, playing steadily at severe exercises with the violin in the proper position for as long as the arm will support the fatigue—say half-an-hour at a time—not taking down the instrument even to turn over the leaves of the music. This seems to act as a kind of toughener to the fingers of the left hand; the sap appears to recede from the hand, and the fingers to become less plump and glossy with moisture.
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