Look at Your Fingering Options

It’s sure nice to have a little break in the recording action to enjoy a little California sunshine. Though I’ll send this to you in the morning, I’m right now soaking up rays in the picturesque garden of my sister’s place in Woodland Hills.

Hopefully I can write this in just the right amount of time to get my vitamin D dose without going so far as to burn my lily-white winter skin.

As you know I spent last week recording some brilliant film music of John Williams. Got another week of it to look forward to before jetting home on Saturday.

And if you’ve seen any of the Indiana Jones pictures you’ll know they have the musical equivalent of wall-to-wall carpet – not unlike opera, I suppose.

My stand partner is a great fellow by the name of Kenneth Yerke; Heifetz student at 12, Cleveland Orchestra member under George Szell at 18, and my close friend and colleague at…well, I it aint important.

In any case, this guy’s got some serious chops.

When we sit together we have a great time – it’s the ‘dueling violin show.’

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I will say that Ken not only started earlier than I and practiced harder in his early years, but also has amazing violin hands – strong, flexible, and smooth as butter. Truly unique.

So as you can imagine, one is hard pressed to stay with him when he gets fired up.

Part of the fun I have with Ken is seeing who can come up with the best fingerings to use for the many tricky passages thrown at us. It never ceases to amaze me, really, just how many options a string player has.

In fact fingering choices play a big part in making a Milstein sound different from an Oistrach, a Heifetz from a Kreisler. Yes, there are other things as well, but fingerings are play a big part.

Some fingerings can be dramatic, but entail considerable risk. These types don’t generally suit orchestral situations, unless the conductor or concertmaster asks everybody to do them together for just such an effect.

So though Ken and I challenge ourselves for fun this way, we are most often looking for the most efficient, clean fingerings we can find, especially for fast, technical passages.

Now, there is no way I can teach ‘fingerings’ in an email. You can, however, acquire a highly developed ‘fingering sense’ by working with my courses.

Kreutzer for Violin Mastery is certainly the most comprehensive in this regard.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop