Principles of Playing Violin (IV)

2 August 2016 – 12:03 am Posted in Instrument & Playing

Pattern No.3/1

Left hand finger Placement:

3/1/1: Landing Fingers on one String:

In preliminary stages of training, an apprentice should pay attention to the principle of keeping fingers while placing them on the fingerboard. Professional violinists pay less attention to this principle.

Novice player’s complying with this principle, in preliminary stages of training, has several advantages: firstly, gaining a more accurate understanding of how to land fingers on different positions in finger placement with different distances; secondly, increasing player’s physical ability in simultaneously keeping fingers on uncommon positions; thirdly, developing the ability to place one single finger on the fingerboard independent of other fingers.

Principle of keeping Fingers on a string:

When finger placement on a string starts from the first finger to the rest, besides keeping the last finger, the player should also keep previously landed fingers on the fingerboard. However, if finger placement is done out of order, there is no more need to simultaneously put previous fingers on the fingerboard.

For example if we have to play notes A to E subsequently on A string in first position, we should not raise its corresponding finger from the fingerboard after playing each note of this series. However, if we have to play note D immediately after playing free string, there is no need to put first and second fingers simultaneously with the third finger and the third finger can be put independently on the fingerboard.

It should be noted that performing this principle on a smaller scale is also the same. For example in subsequent playing of C, D and E on A string we should not pick the second and the third fingers up after performing C and D notes. In order to play note E immediately after B we should not put the second and the third fingers on the fingerboard. In this state the fourth finger lands on the fingerboard alone.

NB 14: Performing this principle in one position does not depend on the form of musical distances of fingers in the position in relation to each other.

3/1/2: Finger placement:

In order to reach accurate finger placement, it is better to consider the following points simultaneously:

3/1/2/1: When placed on violin fingerboard, fingers should be in a curved shape.

If a finger bends inward in its first joint, which makes a Λ shape, as it is called, instead of a curved shape, it will lead to pain in the finger in the long run. It also decreases player’s skill in finger placement.

3/1/2/2: Strings should always be touched (kept) through finger tips. Nails should not interfere in finger placement. When landed on the fingerboard, fingers should not be in a position in which player’s nail touches strings. In other words, player should not hold the strings with his nail.

In this false position, inward curved shape of fingers is decreased and an excessive pressure is beard by finger tip while finger placing. Also finger placement ability decreases leaving fingers with less independence in relation to each other while playing the instrument.

3/1/2/3: If we imagine that a line, in continuation of the finger length, divides this length into right and left halves, violin player should put left half of his finger tip on the fingerboard.

Because, firstly, considering the less distances between violin strings if a string is held by right half of the finger, the finger will approximately be placed on more bass string at the vicinity of the intended one.

Therefore, if there is a need to play a note with lower finger on a more bass string simultaneously (double-stop performance) or immediately after that, the player encounters a problem.

Secondly, finger placement using the right half of the finger tip will lead to the bending of the left wrist toward right which is not appropriate (See 2/1/3: Wrist).

3/1/2/4: Except when the performance of fifth Musical Interval (De la Quinte), is intended, the above-mentioned points regarding finger placement should be complied with in a manner so as to leave the neighboring high-toned string free.

NB 15: finger placement is done better when article 2/1/2, related to hand twist, is done in the best way possible.

*Therefore, the violinist should keep his nails as short as possible.

Correct style of placing the first finger in a curved shape:

Correct style of placing the second finger in a curved shape:

False Way of First Finger Placement:

False Position of Nail on String

Accurate Style of Placing the Third Finger in Curved Shape:

Accurate Way of Placing the Fourth Finger in a Curved Shape

viol.ir

This entry was written by Ali Nourbakhsh
Tagged: violin.

Transition to Enlightenment: Six Lectures on Mozart’s String Quartets (4)

Mozart’s compositions bear the imprint of Enlightenment ideals in various ways. His music exhibits a balance between reason and emotion, mirroring the Enlightenment’s call for a harmonious integration of these elements in human life. The clarity of Mozart’s formal structures in his symphonies and operas reflects Enlightenment principles of order and rational organization.

Fereydoun Shahbazian, An Iranian Musical Icon Passed Away

Fereydoun Shahbazian, the renowned Iranian composer, passed away at the age of 82 due to respiratory illness in Tehran. His last significant activity was leading the National Orchestra before the appointment of Homayoun Rahimian

Latest posts

From Past Days…

Hassan Kassai, Ney Virtuoso

The name of Maestro Hassan Kassai is so vehemently intertwined with Ney (Persian reed flute) that one cannot imagine one without the other immediately coming into mind. Ney is one of the instruments which went through a lot of ups and downs in the history of the Iranian music since the time of Sassanid kings to the time when shepherds found playing it consoling when they took their cattle for grazing. However, Nay could never demonstrate its main capacities to gain a stable position among the musicians and the people like other instruments including Oud, Tar, Santour, all sorts of bowed string instruments and plucked string instruments.

Developments in Iranian Music Since Qajar Era (II)

Santour:
Nine-bridge and twelve-bridge Sanours were both used until the early Pahlavi dynasty. However, as Faramarz Payvar devised new methods for playing the nine-bridge Sanour, this variety of the instrument which was hammered by felted sticks became popular.

Inefficiency of some chords and harmonization systems in Iranian music

Discussions and research have been conducted on the harmonization of “dastgah” and melodies in Iranian music, and several books have been published on this topic, including “Armenian Music of Iran” by Ali Naghi Vaziri, “Harmony of Iranian Music” by Farhad Fakhreddini, and “Harmony of Iranian Music” by Ali Ghamssari. A master’s thesis titled “Presenting a Solution for Harmonizing Based on the Structure of Tritone Intervals” was written by Atefeh EinAli in 2014. Additionally, the invention and use of “Even Harmony” by Morteza Hannaneh should be mentioned.

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.

Rare documents of Tehran Opera Company published in Europe

The year 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of Evlin Baghcheban’s death. She played a crucial role to promote opera and choral music in Persia (Iran). Born to an Assyrian-French family in Turkey, she studied singing and piano at the Ankara State Conservatory. In 1950 Evlin married the Persian composer and fellow student Samin Baghcheban and moved to Tehran.

Principles of Violin Playing (I)

The present series of training articles, “Principles of Violin Playing”, seek to help students, to appropriately understand this field, by gradually introducing, categorizing, and teaching the myriad relevant points. One of the principles of playing violin, which must be always kept in mind, is that the selection of the most natural position for the body parts while playing is the best and most appropriate solution. As a matter of fact, any unnatural body part position which requires lots of energy or unusual stretching to maintain, is wrong.

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.

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.

Interview with the Makers of the New Qeychak (II)

Regarding the classification of a new instrument in an instrument family, one can point to a number of fundamental issues, one of the most obvious of which is the instrument’s visual features. If we look at how the new instrument has changed compared to its historical versions, the set of visual elements that link the instrument to the Qeychak family becomes apparent. But other characteristics such as the geometric dimensions of the instrument, characteristics of the instrument’s various parts and how they relate to each other, its systematic performance, its sound range (compared to modern versions), the material and color of the sound, the way it is played and the like, can be considered in order to classify the instrument in the Qeychak family.

Polyphony in Iranian Music (IV)

Two choirs alternatively perform Veŝ Tavaré Na avaz (Transcription 5). The second group starts the avaz before the first group finishes it; consequently, two different voices coincide (Transcription 5, staves 2 and 5).