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Introducing the Positions for Violin is written by Harvey S. Whister. The book covers third and fifth positions on the violin. In the foreword by the author, he intends for this book to serve as an introduction to shifting, but not a comprehensive training guide. He suggests that students of the violin should also explore second, third and sixth positions, but only after a thorough development of playing in first, third and fifth positions.

The book begins with some very simple exercises where you prepare, and then begin in the third position. It begins with C Major and has several exercises in that key. The preparation work allows students to begin in tune. It even includes scales and tone exercises. I think these are both very important to position study and development. In each key signature, there are also etudes in various time signatures. If worked through sequentially, these studies should develop not only good position playing, but also good reading skills in those positions.

The shifting exercises cover moving from all fingers. They are quite like Yost exercies. I prefer to lift higher finger numbers and shift with 1 as the guide finger and later dropping the finger needed after the shift. In the shifting exercises by Whistler, a student will slide the 2 or 3 up then drop a 4. I think making 1 the guide finger is more effective in allowing students to keep their hand frame.

The last part of the book has advanced melodic etudes that use the techniques learned in the book.

These exercises should be progressed through very quickly. If they are taken too slowly, it could take years to get through this book. The exercises are somewhat tedious in that respect.

The half step marking in this book is actually the whole step mark that I commonly use. I use a carat to mark a half step instead of a bracket.

The viola edition covers third and half positions. However, the viola book neglects to cover reading in treble clef for the violas. The text is also available for cello.

The Wohlfahrt Foundation Studies for violin is published by Carl Fischer and is found in two volumes. Unlike the 60 Studies of Opus 45, these are arranged more progressively so they may be worked through sequentially.

Book 1 contains 60 Studies in first position from Opus 45, 52, and 74. The editor, K.H. Aiqouni, gives a foreword to the text stating that he intended to select the most “serviceable” first position studies and sequence them more logically in relation to tonality than previous editions.The editor has left out some studies he found to be less important in technical development. Aiqouni also added fingerings and bowings to allow the student to have greater understanding of what they are being asked to play in each piece. This book does not contain any studies with more than three flats or sharps.

Some teachers use this book as a supplement to Suzuki repertoire to assist in helping students read more efficiently.

Book 2 is also edited by K. H. Aiqouni. This volume is strategically divided into four sections. Section I has exercises only in third position. (This is quite challenging as it moves back and forth between open strings and third position.) Many studies will try to shift back down to first position any time they see the open strings. Section II has exercises in first and third positions where the shifting is on open strings. These are very fun to play and give good practice shifting. Section III shifts between first and third positions without using open strings for shifts. These are, of course, more difficult and involve a variety of bowings and key signatures. Section IV has three studies in first, second and third positions.

Book 2 is missing shifting to fifth position. You may need to introduce “Introducing the Positions” or similar texts to get the student moving up the fifth position.

The Rieding concerto for violin can be found in Barbara Barber’s Solos for Young Violinists Volume 2.The piece is virtuosic and melodic

In the piece, the following techniques can be found:

• First, third and fifith positions – Throughout the piece, there are shifts between first, third and fifth positions including fifth position on the A string.
• Harmonics – There are extended 4th fingers on the A and E strings and even shifts up to that harmonic. In measure 130 and 131, there are fingered harmonics in the first position. This may be the first time the student has encountered harmonics notated in this style.
• Repeated down bow stroke – In measures 70-72, there are repeated down bow strokes that have to be executed correctly and in the proper part of the bow in order for the notes to have the dramatic effect intended.
• Bariolage – in m. 35, there is scalar movement up on the E string alternating with open a string. This portion should be taken apart and played with just the ascending scalar motion. The motion of the fingers of the right hand should also be practiced. Once both of these have been addressed, they can be put together.
• Slurred string crossings – From the very beginning, this piece has slurs across string in quarter, eighth, sixteenth notes and various other rhythms.
• Octave leaps – In measures 55 through 59, the composer introduces a melodic element that requires the player to use the octave hand frame. This can be difficult for young players to master, especially in third position. Later in the piece, this octave leap is also found in fifth positino.
• Arpeggiated chords – In measure 132, there is a difficult progression of arpeggiated chords. The bow motion should be played with open strings to get a pump motion in the elbow and a flexible wrist with the bow hand.
• Slurs across the down beat – At the beginning, there are several places where the bow is slurred across the bar line. This can be difficult for inexperienced players and may take some work to perfect. Changing an etude to have this may be beneficial.

Helpful etudes for this piece may be:

• Introducing the Positions (Whistler) #172 and #173 for practice shifting between these positions.
• Kayser #10 for the arpeggiated chords.
• If students are familiar with Suzuki repertoire, you may also have them do a bariolage Perpetual Motion.
• The repeated down bow string can be done with various pieces or even on scales to get the proper motion of the bow and to get the student using the proper part of the bow for this lift.

I have several wedding gigs booked over the next few months. Being that I live in a town where people go to have destination weddings, I had better get my wedding music chops in order. My favorite collections are listed here:

• Weddings for Two – arranged by Lynne Latham This collection has a large number of pieces and can be played with two instruments of any kind (such as two cellos, two violins, two violas, or any combination thereof.) I have purchased the Violin I book as well as second part for violin, viola, and cello so I can play with any instrumentalist I can find for a particular date. I do not like the Pachelbel’s Canon in these editions. It is quite comical for a cellist to look at the Pachelbel part written in these books. The Shubert Ave Maria part is in tenor clef (unnecessarily) for cello. Both the Bach-Gounod and Schubert Ave Maria settings have the melody in the second part, so make sure you have a strong player on these. If your violist can read treble clef, there is no need to get the viola book; they can just play off of the violin II part. It stays on the G, D, and A strings. You should get some bowings and fingerings in these parts before playing them.

• Wedding Music for String Quartet – arranged by Cleo Aufderhaar – Southern Music Company This collection of quartet music is very nicely arranged. I have played them at gigs before and they always seem to run smoothly even with few rehearsals. The parts are not like the wedding duet book. All four parts should be present. There is no mix-and-match, however, the melody stays primarily in the first violin. Cello and viola parts seem to be quite accessible. Second violin parts generally have the undulating parts that are present in the Ave Maria settings by Bach-Gounod and Schubert, so make sure that player is a strong one. These pieces are generally longer than other arrangements I have seen.

• More Wedding Music for String Quartet – arranged by Cleo Aufderhaar – Southern Music Company This contains even more classic wedding tunes for quartets. I recommend putting both of these in your quartet album and running them a bit before just to check for roadmap and tricky key signature issues. Beware of Mediation from Thais if your first violinist isn’t a good solo player. This piece is not sight readable.
• Wedding Collection for String Quartet from Virtual Sheet Music This collection has many great pieces, however, the parts are much more difficult than other albums I have seen. They would need to be rehearsed, but would be much less boring for an advanced quartet. The drawback is that you have to print the music out. There is an option of having third violin or viola, so that might be of benefit to some who have difficulty finding violists.
• Pachelbel Canon from Virtual Sheet Music This is a great arrangement. I think the viola part is a bit too challenging for most intermediate players. It has treble clef and some shifting. It would take somebody who knew what they were doing to pull this one off, but the parts don’t have notes that go below the instruments range some free version I have seen of this piece.

In studying Kayser Etude Number 30 (International Music Company No. 3078) the left hand moves in octaves and the right hand does repeated string crossings with slurs.

Initially, the upper octave can be left out and the etude played in first position to isolate the melody in the players’ ear. Next, small sections should be tackled. I like to do one measure at a time, working through a variety of techniques. I practiced shifting with the first finger and keeping the hand frame on the upper string with 2, 3, and 4 sliding smoothly up and down (while only bowing the lower string). The left elbow has to come around the violin to allow the higher positions on the G string to be reached efficiently. Once this can be done, do the same while only bowing the upper note. Finally, play double stops. Octaves should be played first as double stops, but they can also be played with separate bowing if desired to double check tuning.

Slurs should only be added after the hand can move up and down in octaves on the finger board. Bowing should be isolated by itself on open strings to create smoothly crossed strings. the right hand must use finger motion to allow for all sides of the string to be crossed.

You can look to the Internet Music Library Project to find a Schirmer edition of the 36 Studies by Kayser. This etude is number 36 in the Schirmer Edition.

I have recently been playing Kayser Etude Number 10 (International Music Company No. 3078) to work on two very difficult techniques. With the left hand, this Kayser etude explores using chords. In the right hand, there are two different styles of arpeggiation of the chords that facilitate flexible right hand fingers.

Practice suggestions included with this piece include blocking the chord as half notes and slurring four notes. I find that the four note slurs are more difficult than the written bowing in the first three measures. With the slurring of four notes, the right hand must be flexible in order to achieve satisfactory tone on this etude. The chords should be practiced with ghost notes in order to loosen the left hand from the tension than can develop from playing chords. Chords should also be played with a release of weight after the initial note has spoken to allow time to move to the next chord. Bowing chords all down bow will give the player extra time to change chords.

I suggest the bowing be played on open strings. Various parts of the bow can be used for this, start at the frog to achieve solid finger motions and move it out toward the middle for use of more grandiose right hand finger flexibility. Keep the bow moving closer to the bridge for big sound as you crescendo and through forte passages. The figure eight pattern should utilize all “sides” of the string to allow for very smooth changes of strings.

In order to focus on tuning of chords, you should allow the left hand fingers to be picked up and placed by putting weight down (not diagonally) on the fingerboard. Pulling the finger diagonally with force the chord out of tune. Each finger of the chord should be placed at exactly the correct place on the fingerboard.

You can look to the Internet Music Library Project to find a Schirmer edition of the 36 Studies by Kayser.

As a supplement to music reading, I like to use the Applebaum series called “Beautiful Music for two String Instruments.” It is available for violin, viola, cello or bass. Any combination of instruments can be used. The books also have piano accompaniment available. The duets sound very good with the upper strings on melody and the lower strings on the harmony lines. I find the second parts especially useful for the kind of parts cellists play.

The pieces have the key signature written at top of the piece. A number of different key signatures help students practice a variety of key signatures, however, it stays away from very difficult keys for the instruments.

I did find it disappointing that there are a number of errors in the viola and cello books. I plan to contact Alfred Publishing Company to let them know. I don’t know if they would be able to make corrections, but there are actually wrong notes in the newest edition of the viola and cello parts. I will post an update if I get a response.

My favorite of all the pieces is the Mazas piece at the beginning of the third book. It is significantly more complex than duets in the previous books.