Technique
Trill Exercises
Example 1
When playing trills make sure that the lower finger contacts the string firnly enough and the trilling finger lifts to a consistent height.
Lift the finger up high at quarter tempo. Although the finger does not lift as high at tempo it must retain the energy of lift needed for clarity.
Look for the optimal hand balance to support the trilling fingers. In this clip since the 3rd and 4th fingers are not used, the hand is centred around the 1st and 2nd fingers.
Practising in three tempos one after the other is useful so that we can immediately check that the action we have programmed at quarter tempo works at tempo.
Slow practice is good for diagnosis and programming. Fast practice is good for checking that the new skill works for patterning (thinking in large units) and for preparing for performance.
Example 2
To warm up the left hand practise elements of the basic skills needed for your current repertoire (likely to include finger action, shifting, finger independence as well as scale and double-stop routines).
Here the lizard tongue exercise focuses our attention not only on the basic fingerfall action but also warms up our ears so that we demand optimal clarity of the articulation of each finger.
Example 3
Practice breaks or pauses give us thinking and planning time in the middle of phrases so we can solve technical issues.
In this excerpt from Kreutzer “Study 22”, Fintan pauses on the lower note of the trill to allow the left hand to prepare for the next three notes.
It’s important to keep sounding out the note with the pause by keeping the bow moving. This lets us hear that the trill has stopped.
Finding a Violin Hold
We need to bring the violin to the body not the other way around. This helps you keep an upright stance, with your body evenly balanced on both feet.
By holding the violin with the right hand we can avoid the common trap of raising the left shoulder and pushing forward with the head.
Start with the violin scroll pointing upwards and let the violin come down to the collar bone. This also helps keep the violin close to your neck.
Swinging the left arm and strumming with the left hand across the strings help keep the ball and socket joint free in the left shoulder.
From Violin Technique for Left Hand & Bow – Holding the Violin
Bowing – First Finger Release Exercise
Example 1
Lifting the bow at the heel requires a bow hold with a supportive 4th finger, and landing again on the string requires a released 1st finger.
Practise releasing the 1st finger while maintaining the other fingers and thumb on the bow by tapping the 1st finger while the bow is in the air.
When you play in tempo lift the bow with enough speed to allow the note to ring on.
The excerpt is from Forty Variations Op.3 by Otakar Sevcik.
From Violin Technique for Left Hand & Bow – Excerpt From Sevcik Variation 40
Martelé – Various Exercises
Example 1
In martelé the bowhair grips the string at the beginning of each note.
This contact is released as soon as the bow begins to travel along the string.
Prepare left-hand fingers in advance.
Example 2
In this excerpt from Kreutzer’s Study No.7 Fintan uses practice breaks and the martelé stroke to improve whole-arm string crossing.
- Three martelé strokes per note, with a break before the string cross.
- One martelé stroke per note with a break before the string cross.
- One stroke per note, with the break after the string cross.
- Play as written with martelé strokes without breaks.
Collé – Various Exercises
Example 1
Bowings like collé, which start with beginning clicks, are good for practising intonation and articulation.
Collé is also a good practice bowing because the right hand has to be in the right condition (open, giving) and because it helps you to achieve the correct right-arm levels.
This is Bars 20-21 from Preludio, Partita No.3 by Bach.
Example 2
From Kreutzer No. 5