Principles of Violin Playing (III)

Continuation of Pattern 2/1

Points Regarding Left Hand

4/1/2 Left Thumb:
Violin players should always pay attention to the proper position of the left thumb and other points related to it and to its joining point to the palm.

Normally, the left thumb is stretched and is not bended in first and last knuckles (last knuckle is the one which joins the thumb to the hand), there is no need to bend the left thumb while holding the instrument or playing it.

NB 7: Knuckles are rows of connecting joints where the last phalange joins the palm. The order of counting finger joints in these series of articles has been selected from finger tip toward knuckles arbitrarily.

NB 8: There are two possible bending forms for the thumb in the first phalange: The first one is bending inward which causes the fingertip to be inclined toward the fingerboard. The second is bending outward in which the finger tip is diverted toward the left side of player or outside the fingerboard.

As the thumb is not used in general state of playing violin, it should be noticed that in the first manner of bending, digression of the tip of thumb toward fingerboard makes the thumb disturb other fingers through finger placement. This disturbance increases to the most when the player places his finger on G string.

On the other hand, bending thumb inward causes a kind of pluck in thumb and also in part of left palm which is near the thumb. Not only this may cause early tiredness during exercise, it decreases the speed of playing.

In the second state of bending, digression of thumb outward decreases skill in playing. Thumb and edge of first finger of left hand play the main role in holding the instrument. Outward digression of thumb decreases hand’s reliance on the neck as well as the player’s energy while holding the instrument.

NB 9: Usually, only inward bending occurs in the last phalange of the thumb. This kind of false bending, which causes a sort of outgrowth in internal part of palm which is joined to thumb, decreases the movement of other left hand fingers.

NB 10: After this introduction we will attend to the most common mistake of players related to bending the left thumb, i.e. a state that occurs due to the mixture of the above-mentioned mistakes. In this position the thumb is bent inward simultaneously at first and last phalanges. Occurrence of this position causes the player to suffer from all of the above-mentioned errors resulting from false bending which leads to deficiencies in playing.

NB 11: In general, it is better to raise the left thumb, form the fingerboard, about the distance between the finger tip and the first phalange (or central point of the first phalange). Doing this makes the necessary “central gap” between player’s left hand and the back of violin neck balanced (it is worth mentioning that the amount of the gap varies according to the form and size of players’ hand.)*

2/1/5 Left Elbow:

When the left hand lands on lower positions of the fingerboard it is better to keep the elbow exactly under the central part of the violin or in line with the fingerboard. It is better to prevent the left elbow from excessive bending to the left or to the right.

NB 12: If the elbow inclines excessively toward left, player will encounter problems in landing his finger on G string. Moreover, he will face difficulties reaching the last string of the violin.

This critical state in the fourth finger of the left hand is problematic even for players who have long and slim fingers.

NB 13: If elbow inclines more toward right, the player will encounter problems in correctly landing his finger on E string.**

*If the left hand is raised excessively upper or lower than the neck, in both above mentioned states, central distance (gap) is lost and causes some problems in manner and form of finger placement on the fingerboard which will be discussed in finger placement section.

** It will be discussed in finger placement section.


Wrong Rightward Elbow Bending


Bending of Thumb Toward the Fingerboard by Mistake


False Outward Bending of Thumb


False Simultaneous Bending of Thumb


Correct Position of Thumb


False Method in inclining Elbow to the Left

Viol.ir

Post a Comment

Required fields are marked *
*
*
Your email is never shared.

Timeless or Timely: The Role of Historical Context in Defining Artistic Value

Imagine that, in the course of historical research, we discover a musical piece whose compositional techniques (including form, melody, texture, and orchestration) resemble those of a second-rate 19th-century composition. But further investigation reveals that this work predates that period by 200 years. Can we still deem it insignificant? Certainly not. Here, the first major role of historical judgment becomes evident.

Leading the Charge in Censorship

Davoud Pirnia, writer and musicologist was the founder of “Golha” (Flowers of Persian Song and Music) programs on Tehran Radio (1956-1966). He received his early education from his father, Hassan Pirnia (Moshir al-Douleh), and several tutors of the time (Taraghi, interview, July 1989) and continued his studies at Saint Louis School in Tehran and then in Switzerland and graduated in law. While studying law, Pirnia got acquainted with European classical music. Upon returning to Iran, he was employed by the Ministry of Justice and founded the Lawyers’ Guild. Then he was transferred to the Ministry of Finance and established the Department of Statistics in this ministry. Later, he became the head of the state inspection office at the Prime Ministry; he was, then, promoted to the position of the Deputy Prime Minister (Navab Safa, interview, August 1999)

From Past Days…

Principles of Violin Playing (VIII)

1.5.1.3.sometimes, a player, due to different reasons, may decisively want to play continuously two notes with a half-step by means of the same finger, in such a case, it’s necessary to open the interior curve of the finger like a spring. Naturally coming back, the curve of finger should be closed and the finger should become curved shape again (see paragraph 3.1.2.1).

Harmony in the Iranian Music (I)

Translated by Mahboube Khalvati The article you are about to read was written by Rouhollah Khaleqi (1906-1965), composer, and conductor of Golha Orchestra (established in 1956). Khaleqi was one of the most prominent promoters of polyphony for the Iranian music and is one of the best representatives of the school of Ali Naghi Vaziri. In…
Read More »

From the Last Instrumentalist to the First Composer (I)

Music as an art has its own special history; emergence of a singer, of an instrumentalist and then the emergence of the strong character of a composer covers three significant phases of the art of music. With the emergence of composer which was simultaneous with the emergence of the language of music, this art managed to offer a domain for criticism for its composer; a procedure which led to a magnificent variety and evolution in musical production. Even though the conflicts between singers and instrumentalists have not met their end in the Iranian society and while singers can achieve high, instrumentalists have yet to play behind curtains . In a special era, with the efforts of musicians such as Ali Naghi Vaziri (1887-1979) and Rouhollah Khaleghi (1906-1965), glimmers of a composing era started to glow bearing fruit in Khaleghi’s achievement as Iran’s first professional composer. Khaleghi made his reputation as a composer while Vaziri deserved to pioneer this path. By then Vaziri was well-known as a Tar player.

A Look at Ali Tajvidi’s Manifold Musical Activities (II)

Tajvidi thought of studying harmony and orchestration with Houshang Ostvar (who was eight years younger than him) at a time when he had gained a reputation among musicians. His humbleness, making him willing to kneel before the scholars at any age and position, became the key to his scientific success. After this period, Tajvidi made some of his works polyphonic, the most prominent of which is “Burn” set to a poem by Abdullah Ulfat. However, his ability to make his works polyphonic was not so great to make him self-sufficient; so he depended on musicians such as Farhad Fakhreddini, Fereydoun Naseri, Kambiz Roshanravan, Fereydoun Shahbazian and Morteza Hananeh for the arrangement of his compositions.

Celebrating 20 Years of Harmony Talk’s Journey: Resilience, Evolution, Honoring the Legacy and Navigating Future Growth

In a momentous celebration of two decades, the “Arasbaran Cultural Center” was the stage for the 20th anniversary of “Harmony Talk”, an online journal that has become a cornerstone in the music community. Sadjad Pourghanad, the editor-in-chief, delivered a speech that resonated with gratitude and vision.

A Promising Concert by National Instruments Orchestra

The National Instruments Orchestra of Iran performed its first concert amid much hope and anxiety on July 18, 2015. The Orchestra is founded by Roudaki Cultural and Arts Foundation which is a semi-private foundation in Iran. The Arts Director for the National Instruments Orchestra of Iran is cand the Orchestra Executive Director is Sadjad Pourghand.

Iranian Fallacies: Iranian Chords

Finding a way to harmonize the Iranian music has been the subject of controversy among Iranian musicians for a long time. Some believe in the creation of harmonies for Iranian music based on a method which is similar to the tierce harmony; while others have either selected or invented some other methods. There are also some musicians who do not basically agree with the harmonization of the Iranian music.

Iannis Xenakis’ Persephassa

Shiraz Arts Festival which was held in Shiraz from 1967 to 1977 featured many contemporary renowned artists who were commissioned by the Iranian royalty to compose or create works of art for performance in the arts festival. Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) participated in Shiraz Arts Festival three times in 1968, 1969 and 1971. The Greek-French composer,…
Read More »

Kayvan Mirhadi and O.R.P Qaurtet

Establishing O.R.P. Quartet is Kayvan Mirhadi’s latest activity as a guitarist, composer and conductor of Kamerata Orchestra. Besides working with this Quartet, Mirhadi is busy these days recording and mixing some of his own works as well as some pieces by 20th century composers. O.R.P Quartet performed a concert in Rasht, Gilan Province in late May 2016 and offered a master class.

Women Musicians in Large Iranian Orchestras

It is more than a century now that the sociologists consider the presence of women in different social domains as a benchmark for a society’s progress. They analyze the presence of women in society by the means of available statistics. Unfortunately, as with regard to the Iranian society, statistics related to women’s engagement, has not been available to the researchers, if they existed at all.