Principles of Playing Violin (VI)

1 February 2017 – 9:53 pm Posted in Instrument & Playing, Western Classical Music

B. applying force: the force needed for putting finger on finger board is applied through finger tips and using the rest of hand set especially wrist is not allowed. To practice this, it is possible to hold violin without the bow and throw the fingers on the finger board from 1-2cm distance; apply force only through finger tips.

Practicing this exercise, it is necessary to consider the following facts:
1.While practicing with each finger, avoid any unnecessary movement of the other fingers (neither as putting a finger or removing a finger); each finger is required to act independently from the other fingers.

2.To remove a finger from the finger board do not hold the finger too much above it and do not take finger very far from it (also it is necessary that the distance of finger as it is about to be put on the finger board or when it is removed must be the same.)

3.Removing the finger should not be simultaneous with throwing it up, that is removing a finger should not involve any additional force and it should be avoided any mental or physical focus on putting or removing finger.

4.every finger should achieve the ability to transfer force to finger board only through finger tips.

3/1/3: putting finger on neighboring strings:

The best way of putting finger when changing string is the process that involves the most comfortable shape of hand and the least additional movement of the other parts of hand, however, it is often observed that some people make too many unnecessary movements with their “set of left hand” while practicing a musical note, that is more than the whole number of the notes of the phrase.

It should be mentioned that to learn better and have more effective control over the different states of playing on a string and between the neighboring strings and the non-neighboring strings considered in these collection of articles, one can exploit a mirror.

3/1/3/1: putting finger at positions one to four is performed considering paragraph 2/1/5 about the place of left elbow. Thus, shifting finger from E string to G string involves moving left elbow too much toward right.

3/1/3/2: at this state the player should avoid any twisting of wrist to either sides when putting finger on neighboring strings mentioned in paragraph 3/1/2. (Especially twisting to right during the process of shifting finger from G string to E string.)

Notification 16: direction of the line of wrist to elbow and the place of elbow change while putting finger in position five and those after it. This will be discussed in the section on practicing the positions of left hand.

3/1/3/3: to perform fifth intervals(Quinte), finger should not be shifted from a string to the neighboring string. Instead, the player considering this state from the very beginning, should keep finger on two neighboring strings at the same time so that when shifting string quickly no sound interruption appear due to shifting finger .

Notification 17: to learn about using free string while shifting to the neighboring string you can see the section on free string in edit articles in violin II and III.

This entry was written by Ali Nourbakhsh
Tagged: putting finger, violin.

Farhad Poupel: The Voice of the Shahnameh in the Orchestras Around the World

In an era when almost no trace of contemporary Iranian music can be heard in international concert halls, except (so-called!) avant-garde works that owe their existence solely to the fashionable slogans of the “pseudo-intellectual” crowd who have seized the already meager resources for performing classical music from the true artists of the field, the numerous performances of Farhad Poupel’s works shine as a ray of hope for lovers of sincere musical art. Without resorting to trendy slogans, he has kept the flame of Iranian classical music alive purely through the power of his artistry.

Five Major Myths About Mozart’s Life

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the renowned Austrian composer, is undoubtedly one of the greatest geniuses in the history of classical music. However, his life is surrounded by numerous myths and legends, some of which are not based on facts. This article explores five of the most common misconceptions about Mozart’s life.

Latest posts

From Past Days…

Rouhollah Khaleghi Artistic Center established in Washington DC

Golnoush Khaleghi (1941-2021), a Washington-based Persian musician and the daughter of the contemporary Persian (Iranian) composer and theoretician Rouhollah Khaleghi (1906-1965) founded a musical center called RKAC to keep the name and the work of her father alive.

New Technique for Playing Classical Guitar (II)

When the author was working on the piece “Playing Love” by Ennio Morricone (from the legend of 1900), he realized a failure of the Lip Technique. Needing to play a chord in the 14th position of the guitar and in order to complete the harmony, it is necessary to play a harmonic note on the 7th or 5th position; it was not possible to touch the string to play this harmonic note, because the Lip Technique is used for getting the notes and not to touch the string and producing harmonic notes. Naturally, the only possible way to touch the string was to use the nose at the required position and playing the note with the right hand, and this was the best option the author found to how to play such harmonic notes, and where the Nose Technique was generated.

Developments in Iranian Music Since Qajar Era (III)

Developments in Composing

Along with developments in the Iranian instruments, composition of the Iranian pieces developed as well. As a matter of fact, the developments of the two, mutually affected each other. In other words, instrumental developments led to developments in composition and vice versa.

Ahmad Pejman Passed Away!

Composer and music teacher Ahmad Pejman (1935–2025) passed away on August 29 in Los Angeles, USA, after several weeks of illness. His most recent symphonic work performed in Iran was Land of the Brave (“Sarzameen-e Delavaran”), which was staged in 2017 with the Tehran Symphony Orchestra. According to the family’s decision, his body will be laid to rest in the United States.

Polyphony in Iranian Music (II)

With regard to each polyphonic form, only one specific and distinguished example is analyzed. These polyphonic forms are as follows:

Prominent Iranian Musicologist Passes Away in Vienna

Khosrow Djafarzadeh, musicologist and architect, who was also one of the main authors of HarmonyTalk journal passed away on 15 July 2019.

A combination of technique and musicality in the fingers of a pianist

In the world of classical music, the position of soloist has always been exceptional. Apart from the technical ability that many orchestral musicians also have, the soloist must also have a special power to be able to present a different and unique perspective of a piece. The soloist must maintain its special power of expression not only in solo roles but also when interacting with the orchestra.

Polyphony in Iranian Music (III)

In heterophonic variant, two performers perform a single melody simultaneously and change it. Performing and changing a single melody simultaneously by two performers leads to the coincidence of different voices.

Polyphony in Iranian Music (I)

Despite the fact that Iranian folk music (regional music of Iran), like the Radif of Iranian traditional music, is monophonic and follows heterophony in principal, we experience polyphonic forms, albeit, majorly unconscious.

The Role of Arts in Development of Societies

Mr. Mohsen Ghanebasiri, author and critic in the field of economy, culture and arts, as the next speaker, highlighted the role of arts, specially the music, in development of societies: “As far as the individual upbringing is concerned, a newborn baby is absolutely dependent. The relation between the baby and the parents is based on orders. There is lots of relativity in these orders; therefore, they are political orders. In the economy, however, the relations are mutual and based on common logic; hence, the formation of the concepts of democracy and individuality.