SUMMARY OF VIOLIN PLAYING IN HIGHER POSITIONS EFFECTIVELY
NECK -
- Grip violin better
- Tilt the violin upwards
Fig 1.Violin Playing in lower position Fig 2 Violin lifted up in higher position
LEFT ELBOW -
- Swing to the right
Fig 3
LEFT WRIST -
- Swing to the right of the neck, later to the body
LEFT THUMB -
- Slide to the back of the violin neck
- Slide to above the neck - to the body of violin
Fig 4
- The higher the position, the more straightened the thumb
Fig 5
FINGER TIPS -
- Light placement of the fingers tips on strings
- Finger pads to be more towards the E string
- Adjacent fingers to be lifted to slide to create the next note
BOWING -
- Bowing is done more close to the bridge
EXERCISES -
- Sliding on each string from below to high with each finger on E,A,D,G & back
- Single string 2 octave scales by fingers 4,3,2,1 on strings E,A,D & G.
INTRODUCTION
Following are some practical tips to make the transition from lower to higher positions easy and the intonation accurate.
NECK
Violin is generally held between the left collar bone and the left jaw of the violinist, at an angle pointing towards the ground or horizontal (Fig 1)(Pic 1).
As the violinist initiates higher positions, there are changes with respect to the left wrist, thumb and the violin needs to be supported efficiently. This can only be done by a good grip of the violin at the neck of the violinist for a good support. The violin is gently lifted up at an angle so that the upward angle of the violin keeps the violin against the neck. This also helps shifting of the left hand (Fig 2) (Pic 2).
Pic 1. Lower position.Note neck, wrist and thumb
As the violinist initiates higher positions, there are changes with respect to the left wrist, thumb and the violin needs to be supported efficiently. This can only be done by a good grip of the violin at the neck of the violinist for a good support. The violin is gently lifted up at an angle so that the upward angle of the violin keeps the violin against the neck. This also helps shifting of the left hand (Fig 2) (Pic 2).
Pic 2. Higher Position. Note the tilted up violin
LEFT ELBOW
Left elbow is held horizontally or at a downward angle by left hand of the player in lower position (Fig 1) (Pic 3).
Pic 3. At lower position
As the positions get higher, left elbow is shifted toward the right. This allows for the hand to move upwards.
The higher positions of the G string need more amount of left elbow to the right compared to the higher positions of the E string (Pic 4).
Pic 4.Higher position. Note elbow to right
LEFT WRIST
At lower position, the left wrist is below the neck of the violin keeping an acute angle of the first web space of the hand ( between the thumb and the left index finger). The left wrist is in neutral position to the left forearm at a straight line (Pic 5).
Pic 5. Low position .Position of left wrist, thumb, web space
Higher positions need shifting of the left wrist to the right of the violin neck. Later the left wrist curves around the body of the neck (Pic 6).
LEFT THUMB
In the lower position,left thumb is normally held to the left of the neck at the level the side of the thumb (Pic 5) .
As the higher positions are played, the thumb first shifts to the back of the neck by sliding up initially to the back of the neck widening the angle of the first web (Fig 4), (Pic 6).
Pic 6. Mid higher position. Note thumb behind and web space wider
Pic 6. Mid higher position. Note thumb behind and web space wider
As the position advances to higher levels, the thumb leaves the back of neck to the left side of the neck and holds the body of the violin. The angle of the first web really widens up to almost a straight line as the notes reach the highest levels (Fig 5), (Pic 7).
Pic 7. Much higher position. Note thumb flatter and web space flat
At this stage, it must be remembered that the violin is almost entirely not supported by the left hand, and hence the upward tilt of the violin shifts the support to the neck of the violinist and the upward momentum of the violin helps prevent the violin from falling (Pic 2).
LEFT FINGERTIPS
There are some changes in the finger tip placement on the strings compared to the lower positions.
They include:
They include:
A. LIGHTER FINGER TIPS ON STRINGS:
Light placement of the finger tips on the strings is adequate unlike in lower positions.
The distance between the strings and the finger board is more higher positions.
It is not easy nor necessary to press the finger tips to the finger board.
Gentle pressure of the finger tips on the strings should suffice and the tone can be tried on a trial basis to know the extent of pressure required by individual player (Pic 8).
Pic 8. Finger tip lightly presses strings
B. FINGER PADS MORE TOWARDS THE E STRING:
At the lower position finger pad is placed right in the middle of the string at the level of note required.
In higher position, it is easier to place the finger pad closer to the side of E string rather than in the middle so that the light pressure on the string may be maintained (Pic 9).
Pic 9. Finger pads to touch more towards the E string side
The position of full notes are much closer in the higher positions.
Hence when the adjacent notes are to be played, the initial finger has to be removed before placing the next adjacent finger. This has to be practised carefully to produce the notes of the required quality (Fig 10).
Pic 10. Cramped spaces at highest position. Adjacent finger sliding into position
BOWING
The higher notes alter the string angle more making the string to lie in line with the adjacent strings.
Playing results in other strings sounding along with the intended note.
Strings are clearly separated by the upward curve of the bridge. They are not affected by playing the high notes.
Hence the bowing by the right hand needs to be shifted closer to the bridge.
Playing results in other strings sounding along with the intended note.
Strings are clearly separated by the upward curve of the bridge. They are not affected by playing the high notes.
Hence the bowing by the right hand needs to be shifted closer to the bridge.
EXERCISES
A. SLIDING PRACTICE:
Clearly the higher positions require adjustments in the left elbow, the left wrist, left thumb, left finger tips as well as the bowing.
These need to be practiced initially without / later with the bow by sliding smoothly on each string individually with 4,3,2 and 1st fingers, paying careful attention to all the anatomical factors.
This is done initially on the E string followed by the others till satisfactory fluency can be achieved on G string.
Now the bowing is added to ensure that the correct tone is obtained with the bow closer to the bridge.
Video for simple exercise can be seen at
Now the bowing is added to ensure that the correct tone is obtained with the bow closer to the bridge.
Video for simple exercise can be seen at
B. PRACTICE 2 OCTAVE SCALES ON SINGLE STRING SEPARATELY:
Once this is done, single string scales of 2 octaves can be done by fingers 4,3,2 or 1 on each string individually on E, A , D and G strings .
Summarising violin playing in higher positions effectively
NECK -
- Grip violin better
- Tilt the violin upwards
FIG 1 Violin Playing in lower position Fig 2 Violin lifted up in higher position
LEFT ELBOW -
- Swing to the right
LEFT WRIST -
- Swing to the right of the neck, later to the body
LEFT THUMB -
- Slide to the back of the violin neck
- Slide to above the neck - to the body of violin
- The higher the position, the more straightened the thumb
FINGER TIPS -
- Light placement of the fingers tips on strings
- Finger pads to be more towards the E string
- Adjacent fingers to be lifted to slide to create the next note
BOWING -
- Bowing is done more close to the bridge
EXERCISES -
- Sliding on each string from below to high with each finger on E,A,D,G & back
- Single string 2 octave scales by fingers 4,3,2,1 on strings E,A,D & G.
Acknowledgement -
I thank Dr Twinkle Pravin who patiently snapped all the live pictures to make this presentation clear.
GOOD LUCK & HAPPY PLAYING !!
No comments:
Post a Comment