Scan 32
The violin : solo playing, soloists and solos, 1905
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 16. See the scan on archive.org.
1existence in violin technique, purely mechanical, I admit, but necessary. Tone has also a real existence. Both are necessary. It follows, therefore, that to be a good and sound violinist our attention must be directed to both; since the connection between them is such that unless both are duly regarded, neither of them are regarded rightly.
3The neglect then of scales must in all fairness be acknowledged a defect, and if young indolent players remove that defect in consequence of reading these remarks, they will so far be profitable. Do not become prejudiced partisans on one side or the other, but reflect on the whole of their own peculiar qualities. Lay aside all prejudice, and study first one and then the other, with a calm and deliberate mind. We ought, as violinists, to be more or less familiar with every form of scales, with innumerable bowings, fingerings, and so forth, so as to feel in some degree at home when similar passages occur in concertos and concert pieces generally. But the common fact, I apprehend, is that there are hundreds of players who are invariably only imperfectly acquainted with these matters, and who are unable to give a sound and correct performance of a scale at even a moderate tempo. Let these thoughts have some influence and think frequently about them.
5Where does the blame lie? To this question I immediately answer, Not, at any rate, not principally, with these careless students, but with their education with indifferent teachers, who, I will venture to say, know all except the foundation of playing. To these men I mainly trace the neglect of scales, and consequently a large part of the weakness and uncertainty of intonation which exists. Now, all violinists should employ their time, their talents, and their energy to a far more valuable purpose than these men have done. Practise to promote and facilitate the solid and faultless playing of scales. The benefit to be derived from them is inexhaustible. If these men had done so, they might have been really good teachers with a large number of
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