Go Finger

In the US of A we are celebrating a national holiday in honor of the civil rights movement and its central figure, Martin Luther King, Jr.. The Holiday exalts the finest achievement of Man; namely, the triumph of spirit over flesh.

I find that it means more to me with each passing year.

And I do pray that our new administration and too profligate nation rally now to the cause, as never before

Now let’s talk violin playing.

These days I’m finding the line – no pun intended on my last newsletter – between what is appropriate to do with a separate finger versus the same finger is becoming increasingly blurred.

Now it’s good, me thinks, to receive a solid foundation in position playing; that is, in changing pitch through changes of finger. One should know first position, second position, third position, etc. as well as one’s hand will possibly allow. There are plenty of places where digital facility is a godsend.

Yet when the digits can’t or won’t play ball – as can happen in cases of arthritis and focal dystonia – it’s nice to have alternatives.

Two alternatives, actually.

There’s the use of ‘same finger playing,’ and there’s the clever art of string crossing. Both can take up the slack, or even out perform the digital approach when it comes to getting around the violin.

This is not the end of left hand technique, mind you. It is really multi-dimensional expansion of technique. Each direction you move in has its own set of rules. The more pure and efficient are your rules the greater the rewards you reap.

Now, where it comes to position playing there is no better place for an intermediate player to ‘cut his/her teeth’ than with the Kreutzer Etudes. My course, Kreutzer for Violin Mastery will liberate your left hand digits to realize their fullest potential. It’s an important, important step in the process.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. If you’re a lower intermediate player, however, you may want to join the Allegro Players program of violin learning. Over the course of a year’s study you’ll get a foundation to serve a lifetime of playing.