Principles of Violin Playing (VII)

4.3.1.3 Regarding the great linear distance and the unusual distance between the first and forth fingers, the first finger while playing the doubles of ninth and tenth interval, can be twisted in the knuckle area and the point mentioned in 3.1.2.5 paragraph in relation to the way first finger is placed indicating that the first joint of this finger in back of hand must be in line with the direction of forearm and left hand is not true here.

4.1.3 Placing finger in the non-neighboring strings
As the previous paragraph, placing fingers in the non-neighboring strings must be performed without any unnecessary movement of hand.
Player’s wrist while changing from bass string to non-neighboring tenor string, should not be twisted to right. Also it is not necessary to move out forearm from the fingerboard toward right.

1.4.1.3 when we need left hand in a specific position so that a finger immediately after playing a string is placed on a neighboring or non-neighboring string, and on the other hand, the linear distance of finger from the nut is not changed, it is necessary to be very careful about the exact place of finger (such as playing Do natural in the first position of G string immediately after La natural in the same position of E string with the third finger in the Do major scale).

Considering the last three principles mentioned above, that is twisting hand toward fingerboard (1.1.2 paragraph), avoiding unnecessary movements of left hand for placing finger on the fingerboard and the necessity of placing finger on the fingerboard from the left half of the fingertip (3.1.2.3 paragraph), each finger while opening (placing finger from tenor string to bass string), or closing (placing finger from bass string to tenor string) goes through an oblique path in relation to the direction of fingerboard. However, to use a finger on neighboring strings is much easier than to place finger on an immediately non-neighboring string; because in the first case, finger spends a shorter oblique path on the fingerboard.

If player places finger from tenor string to bass string, it is necessary to bend finger before placing it on the fingerboard and in the opposite state before placing finger on the tenor string, it should be opened .

Although the amount of opening and closing a finger consciously by the player is not so much, giving much attention to this point results in producing an exact note.

2.4.1.3.another point helping greatly to place fingers at non-neighboring strings is to consider the distance between player’s left hand and the base of the instrument’s neck (see notification 11). If this point is not considered by the player and he holds her hand away from the balanced distance between left hand and the fingerboard, then the process of finger placing at neighboring strings would be troubled and the fingertips would not touch the fingerboard (see paragraph 3.1.2.2).

There is a false assumption among some players that the more they keep their left hand away from the fingerboard, the more would be their dominance over the process of finger placing when they desire to change string. However, quite vice versa, it would lead to less dominance on finger placing.

Doubles playing (tenth interval)

Doubles playing (tenth interval)

Post a Comment

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

Whose dream?! Whose reality?!

(A review of the “So Faraway” album; Tar and Tonbak duet; Siavash Imani, Pedram Khavarzmini)

Transition to Enlightenment: Six Lectures on Mozart’s String Quartets (1)

Transition to Enlightenment: Six Lectures on Mozart’s String Quartets* Basic Ideas and General Structure The Enlightenment, an epoch of intellectual fervor marked by reason, individualism, and cultural evolution, indelibly left its imprint on the arts. Mozart, a luminary of this transformative era, intricately wove these ideals into his compositions, particularly his string quartets. This article…
Read More »

From Past Days…

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:

Principles of Violin Playing (X)

Creating sound continuity between two notes in the source and destination positions when left hand position changes and “two different finger numbers” are involved is called portamento. Portamento can be performed on single string or two neighboring strings and with hand moving on fingerboard either upward or downward.

A Note on the Occasion of Houshang Zarif’s Demise

No introduction is needed when talking about the position of the late Houshang Zarif (1938-2020) in the Iranian music. His character and personality are so well-known among musicians that his name per se is a symbol and role model for the Iranian youth. “Becoming Houshang Zarif” is the dream of many young people who enter the world of music in Iran and many of whom retire regretting the realisation of this dream.

The Mystery of Messiah

Antonio Stradivari (1644 – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and is considered the most significant and greatest artisan in this field.

Is the Iranian National Anthem a Copy? (I)

The alleged similarity between the Iranian and South Korean National Anthems has been a matter of discussion among musicians in Iran for several years. Earlier in 2021, the issue was taken to the media again with not only claims that the anthem is very similar to another song but also the suggestion that its musical content should draw more on the Iranian national music. Some even went to the extent to suggest replacing it with the song “O, Iran” composed by the late Rouhollah Khaleghi. Before delving more into the main issue, it would not go amiss to consider some technical characteristics of the song “O, Iran” composed in 1944.

A Miracle in the Iranian Music: About Tehran Flute Choir’s Eight-year Tenacity

Tehran Flute Choir is a 40-member orchestra of Iran’s best flutists; Iran’s best flutists? Yes! If you write down the names of the greatest Iranian flute players who participate at concerts and contribute to academic centers in Iran, you will see that most of them are among the choir’s members.

Banan: the Artist of the Age

Gholam Hossein Banan was born in 1911 in Tehran. He was born in an affluent art-loving family who were Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (1848-1896)’s relative. The Qajar King was his mother’s uncle on her father’s side. He learnt his first lessons in music while his father sang Iranian avaz (improvised rhythmic-free singing), he then attended classes by the renowned Iranian composer, Morteza Neydavoud (1900-1990) along with his sisters; the composer is, therefore, considered as his first teacher. He then learnt Iranian avaz under the supervision of Mirza Taher Zia Resaee (Zia-o Zakerin) and Naser Seif in an oral manner.

Behzad Abdi’s opera Rumi was physically released by Naxos

Composing a traditional Iranian opera using the Iranian modal system, dastgāh, has always been my dream. I first approached this by composing an opera called Ashura followed by the operas Rumi and Hafez. I believe that in order to attract an international audience for Iranian opera, it is essential to fuse dastgāh with Western classical forms.

The Structure of Kurdistan Daf (V)

ehrouz Mohammadi, “Daf and its feasts in Ghaderieh’s Tekyeh” mentions that the outer thickness of arch where studs are located, [is] between one to one and a half centimeters (Mohammadi, 2001: 12). The thickness of arch should be gradually reduced from the installation place of rings to skin (Avazeh of Daf) to create a high volume, clear sound from Daf; also, the connection of arch to skin should not be less than one millimeter, because in this case the skin will be torn due to the sharpness of the wood (Mogharab Samadi, 2009: 79-78). The thickness of wood on the skin side is about two to three millimeters (Tohidi, 2002: 79).

Iranian Fallacies – Composition and Arrangement

In the tradition of classical music, it is generally tried to use the same technical terms related to music in all countries. Even in the cultures in which native terms exist to refer to musical terms, usually the better known universal terms are employed.