Britt Violin Studio

One of the most distressing things for a teacher to find in their music lesson is a student who says they “can’t” do something. In keeping an open mind, the first thing that I do when I hear a student tell me they “can’t” is warn them if they say that three time, I will do something they will not like. On the third time, I end the lesson.  I continue to try to help and encourage the student to do the right thing. If over and over again, they tell me they can’t there is nothing more that can be done at that lesson.

“Can’t” is a terminology that means they will not participate. If it is a reasonable request, it should be done. Some things are not up for negotiation. Students do not get to decide what is the right way of playing the instrument on the basic technical aspects. It is the teacher’s job to prepare them for this.

The teacher and student can accomplish many things if a student will just “try.” When trying to help students to not make excuses, I encourage them to focus even if they are facing a difficulty, then we can celebrate when they have accomplished something in the face of great obstacles.

I have read a short section of the Kato Havas Book titled “Stage Fright.” In the first chapter, she address the fear of dropping the violin as the root of tension from many players. Upon first reading this, I thought it was a bit extreme. Surely nobody thinks they will drop the violin, but then I have thought back to tension issues we have all worked through on the violin.

• Beginning students (many times) fear that if they don’t hold the violin with the left hand that they will drop it. Although we work on posture at the beginning, once we put the fingers on the fingerboard, we begin to feel afraid we will drop the violin. This causes a tremendous number of other problems in violin playing.
• As students begin shifting, this fear of dropping the violin becomes more obvious, as the student will have a very tight hold on the neck of the violin. I have witnessed students who are unable to shift up because their thumb is grabbing so hard, it will not get gradually more open as the neck gets slightly larger.
• When shifting backwards, you will notice the left hand goes under the violin as they tense the first finger to grab.
• Many students and a number of professionals, clamp down with the head and clench the jaw in order to keep the violin from falling. Every violin must fight the tension in the neck and jaw to keep playing relaxed.

Havas has exercises she suggests for allowing students to keep arms and shoulders feeling weightless, including a number of exercises she suggests you practice over a couch or bed. They involve balaning the head in order to hold the violin.

Having student instruments that are too large may cause the fear of dropping the violin to be even greater. With a heavy or clunky student instrument, they may find themselves grabbing (out of necessity) with the left hand.

The left hand of the violin is a lot like a car. When we start, we are always in the “Park” position. However, as the bow begins to move, the bow grip, arms and hands have to be in constant motion. The goal is to keep the bow moving with flat hair and parallel to the bridge, just as our goal with the car is to move it in the proper lane on the highway.

With that in mind, once a student has a solid foundation of bow hand shape, flexibility should be built in slowly.

Linda Fiore says there are four different kinds of hinges to work the bow. They should probably be taught in this order:

1. Elbow (opening and closing)
2. Wrist (bending up as you go to the tip)
3. Ball joint of the shoulder floating in lower half of bow. (This should not be confused with a shrugging motion of the shoulders that must be avoided.)
4. Finger joint motion.

I like to begin to develop bow hand flexibility early so students have the ability to keep the hand loose.

A few exercises I use:

• Ski Jump – Have students hold their bow arm with fingers to elbow flat on a table and palm down. Then have student bend the wrist so the hand comes up off of the table. This motion is used at the tip of the bow. Some students will have trouble drawing a straight bow if this joint does not bend naturally.
• Open and Close the Gate – Open and close the elbow joint (without the bow in hand) to get used to the motion of opening and closing the elbow.
• Pour Salt on the Ground – Get a salt shaker (that closes or is already empty) and pretend to pour salt on the ground in a straight line. The elbow and wrist have to move in a similar motion to that used on the violin. If you do it in rhythms it makes a nice shaker sound. (Make sure to have students hold the shaker like the bow.)
• Water Pump – Have student drop bow arm at their side with elbow bent (no bow in hand). The teacher can then lift the forearm (that should be heavy if the weight is released) in a pumping motion no more than shoulder height. If a shrug is not avoided, the teacher should place the other hand lightly on the shoulder to help the student feel the release of the muscle.
• Teeter Totter – Have student land with a good bow grip close to the frog on the G string. The pinky should be very bent, as should the bow thumb. Without moving the bow on the strings, the student will push across to the E with the pinky, and the thumb should slightly extend. The extended hand shape is for use at the tip. The bent thumb and pinky are for playing at the frog.
• Jellyfish Hand – Have students uses jellyfish fingers to plays small slow bows in the lower half.
• Open, Close, Float, Sink – Students will start on the A string with the bow in the middle. They will open and close the elbow which will put them at the tip. When they close the elbow, they will begin to move up bow. In the middle, the ball joint of the shoulder will float up slightly. It will sink as the bow changes to down bow.

Recently, I have found myself unable to execute left hand techniques I once could with fluidity. I kept trying to release the tension and practice more fluid shifting, to no avail.

The source was tension in the base knuckle of the first finger, especially when using low first finger. Upon releasing tension in the base knuckle of the first finger, I gained a greater awareness of my elbow in shifts. I suggest you try this short exercises to see for yourself:

1. Hold your left arm out like you are playing (with no violin in hand).
2. Square and tense the knuckles of the first finger.
3. Pantomime the shifting motion.

Feel how the elbow loses not only the ability to move with a linear motion, but also the sensation of opening and closing upon shifting.

Try this exercises to feel the difference:

1. Hold your left arm out like you are playing (with no violin in hand).
2. Curl the left hand fingers with a loose first finger and soften the space between first and second finger.
3. Move the elbow in a shifting motion.

I find that I am able to feel the sensation of shifting in the elbow especially well when the first finger has release the tension found in the base knuckle of the first finger.

For a final exercise:

1. Hold your left hand out like you are playing (with no violin in hand).
2. Tense the first finger.

You should be able to feel the tension build up and down the arm.

Volume II of Preparing for Kreutzer by Harvey Whistler takes student through a great number of techniques needed to move on to Kreutzer.

Like Volume I, Volume II begins with a Developing Bowing variation page for a first position etude. Many of the bowings are the same as ones in the Volume I. Next is a Developing Trilling page. This is also intended for daily practice. These exercises are particularly nasty when you get to the fourth finger tirllls. Particularly appalling is the suggesting to practice the trill for sixteen beats. There is no suggestion for measuring them as sixteenth or thirty-second notes. There is another daily practice page called Developing Fingerboard Facility that cycles through several key signatures. Several etudes follow to support these techniques.

Eventually, Whistler includes “Artistry” studies including the Kayser Etude number 10 for arpeggio artistry. Following that, a few etudes that have string crossings that skip strings are included.

Position playing is reviewed to prepare for runs in cadenzas. Triplets, quadruplets in scalar and other patterns are covered. Whistler creates some mock cadenzas from a Dancla etude. I consider this very creative, if not useful.

Next, “cross-fingereing” is covered. I can only assume this means playing a note with a different fingering than it would normally be played. For instance, instead of playing a D# on the A string as a third finger, you can play it with fourth finger. Many finger substitutions can be made without shifting positions.

Up bow staccato is also covered using several etudes. I think the Kayser staccato etude is enough to prepare students for the Kreutzer Number 4. Whistler includes a preparation etude that goes up the C major scale (by De Beriot) and includes two other up bow staccato etudes. More than one should not be necessary if the first is done correctly. Slurring arpeggiated passages is covered in two etudes, including one of the hardest Kayser (in my opinion). As he continues, there are more and more Kayser etudes to practice shifting and perpetual motion of the fingers of the left hand.

Following that, more material is included for “Daily Practice” including scales and exercises in thirds, sixths and octaves. Some of the Dont Opus 37 exercises are included for practice on these. Double stop exercises are what is missing from the Kayser etude book.

Chromatic fingerings are covered. I feel that the fingering for an ascending chromatic scale of 0-1-1-2-2-3-4 is too clunky. I think the same is true for 4-3-2-2-1-1-0 for descending chromatic scales. This is only good for developing basic understanding of the chromatic scale. By this point in playing, a different pattern should be used in my opinion.

Comical is the “Four Minute” Sostenuto etude by Casatori. Upon setting your metronome to 30 beats per minute, you should be able to play 32 counts in one bow. I have not yet tried it, but I imagine I would have great difficulty in producing quality tone at such slow speeds.

The dynamic playing exercises seem useful. They are reminiscent of the Sevcik School of Bowing exercies for variation in weight, speed and contact point to create the desired tone.

Finally, several “Concert Caprices” are included. These are all sufficiently challenging and review many of the concepts introduced in the two volumes.

Although I don’t agree with everything in these two volumes, I can agree that the Kayser etudes do neglect some of the trill and double stopping necessary for the Kreutzer Etudes. A plan to move into a few Dont Opus 37 etudes would be good before moving on to Kreutzer.

The Dvorak Sonatina Op. 100 1st Movement can be found in the Barbara Barber collection of Solos for Young Violinists Volume 2. The complete work has four movements and can be purchased as a complete work. The Sonatina can also be found on the Petrucci Music Library.

Here, I will examine the first movement for specific teachable elements. The first thing I discovered when studying this piece is that it has a variety of bow techniques  in a very compact amount of time.

Students must be able to accomplish the following with the bow hand:

• Accents
• Staccato
• Legato
• Off the String
• Uneven bow distributions
• Crescendos and decrescendos
• Variety of tone colors
• Variety of dynamics

In order to gain all of the bow control necessary, students will need to start with a well set up bow hand that has flexibility in all parts. I would suggest either using some tone building exercises that help student have smooth bow changes. I think an etude like Wohlfahrt Foundation Study Book 1, number two or Kayser number two would be excellent choices for doing this. I might also recommend Kayser Number 1 with the bowing exercises in the Whistler Preparing for Kreutzer book.

Rhythmically the piece is challenging for the following reasons:

• Sixteenth note pick up notes
• Transitions between duple and triple

The attack on these sixteenth notes can be practiced using a variation of Kayser Etude Number 1. The transitions between triple and duple can also be done using a variation. The first six eighth notes in the measure can be played as triplets and the last two as duple. You can even add the bowing of m. 51 to really drive the point home.

For the left hand it presents the following challenges:

• A low third position spot in m. 84
• Shifting to third position throughout
• 4th finger harmonics (extended from third position)
• Tricky flat section in m. 106
• Second position in m. 142

For the flat section in m. 106, I would do finger pattern number 1 in starting with a low first finger. Another tricky spot is m. 84’s shift to third position with a D-flat on the A string.

Harvey Whistler has published two edition of “Preparing for Kreutzer” books. I think that they have many materials that will prepare students for the bowing and left hand techniques found in Kreutzer, some interesting and some useful.

The first exercise in Volume I is a “Developing Bowing” guide. It covers detache, legato, ondule, portato, marcato, accents, martele, staccato, sautille, spicatto, parlando, ricochet and jete. It uses Kayser Op. 20 Number 1 to develop these bowing strokes. This would be a great “supplement” to any student wanting to learn terminology for different bowing strokes.

In addition to bowing exercises, it has a few very detailed left hand exercises by Eichberg and Schradieck. These exercises will take time to develop properly. The Eichberg has the student hold one finger down that is not active in producing a tone while the other fingers move around it. These are reminiscent of Dounis or Flesch finger exercises. The Schradieck works on intonation and proper use of the half step.

Next, Whistler has first position etudes in major key signatures with up to four sharps or four flats. Following that, a preparation page for position playing and several etudes in second through fifth positions.

After several pieces in position, he adds a finger velocity exercise by Dancla. These exercises are taken from the “School of Velocity.” If you acquire that book, it has specific instructions for how to carry out these exercises that are neglected in the Whistler text.

Included in the Volume I, Whistler also includes preparation for the trill etudes you find in Kreutzer. (Playing two or three of those Kreuzter trill etudes will make anyone want to quit the violin if they are not properly prepared for them.) The first book ends with double stop and octave preparation.

These etudes are by several composers including Kayser, Mazas, Dont, De Beriot, Dancla, Wohlfahrt, Blumenstengel, and a few other lesser known violin pedagogues.

I find it intriguing that the “Daily Exercises” are outlined in black. I don’t suggest violating copyright, but they would make nice supplement pages for students working on other technique books.

In studying various technique books for the violin, I have found a great number of texts to be very interesting and thought provoking on the matter of preparing students for the dreaded Kreutzer. Most interesting to me are the forewords to these etude books. In a copy of the Kayser etude book edited by Svecenski, the foreword expresses everything I feel about the Kayser etudes as a manual of preparation to Kreutzer. I find that so many students are given Kreutzer (including myself in my first college years) before they grasp the basic concepts necessary to use the material correctly.

Svecenski states:

The Schirmer edition by Svecenski is very specific about which fingers should be left down in the etudes (much more so than the International Edition). He frequently places the first finger across two strings while moving the other fingers. He requires specific fingers to stay down for extended periods to keep the hand still. I find this a technique many students have difficulty with because they have never been taught to temporarily “anchor” fingers or to use “in-between” fingers to assist in proper finger placement and spacing.

I have found that the Kayser etudes served me well to prepare many left hand techniques, and I plan to remedy the burden of Kreutzer that some teachers place on students too soon with the use of this book.

The Schirmer edition by Svecenski is available on the IMSLP Petrucci Music Library.

Melodious Double Stops by Josephine Trott is an etude book of 30 relatively short double stop etudes.

• They begin with very simple exercises that use open strings and one fingered note. Exercises numbers 1 through 8 use can be categorized in this group.
• Beginning with exercises number 9, the player will use two fingered notes with the higher finger number on a higher string.
• After exercise 10, most etudes are a full page long.
• Exercise 11 begins to include thirds fingered with 1 and 3.
• Exercise 13 includes a held note on one string and moving notes on another.
• Exercise 14 begins to include fourths fingered with 2 and 1 and fifths with first finger.
• Exercise 15 slurs two double stops that cross strings.
• Exercise 16 crosses strings between high and low single notes and double stops. This is very good practice for transferring weight.
• Exercise 17 is very similar to 13 with more complex notes requiring more finger independence when one note is held and the other moves.
• As the exercises progress, they become more complex and in a greater variety of key signatures.

I have found all of these etudes I have played to be quite pleasing to the ear. It should not be underestimated how much bow control is necessary for students to achieve proper tone in double stops. These exercises are a great supplement to a double stop passage such as those in the Seitz, Accolay, and DeBeriot concertos.

Josephine Trott also composed a piece called The Puppet Show found in the Barbara Barber Solos for Young Violinists Volume 1. Despite extensive research I was only able to find one biographical note about Josephine Trott. She was apparently a violin teacher in the early twentieth century. I could not find much else about her.  Another publication entitled “Easy and Progressive Duets” by Trott is available by Prairie Dawg Press in an edition by Cora Cooper of Kansas Statue University.