VIOLIN PLAYING.
 
 Printed by J. H. LAVENDER & CO., 
 2, Duncan Terrace, City Road, London, N.
 
 JOHN DUNN.
 
 "THE STRAP" LIBRARY, No. VI. 
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN DUNN. 
 
 COPYRIG HT 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 Jtoubon : 
 
 'THE STRAD" Office, 2, Duncan Terrace, City Road, N. 
 JOHN LENG fr CO., 186, Fleet Street, E.C. 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 597-599, Fifth Avenue. 
 1915.
 
 Music 
 Library 
 
 (AT 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 19/5- 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY Qualities indispensable to the ideal Violinist 
 Hints on the Choice of a Teacher Some Tricks of pre- 
 tending professors exposed .......... i 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON THE CHOICE OF A VIOLIN AND Bow Advice regarding 
 
 General Adjustment and Repairs ........ 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON THE CHOICE OF STRINGS Stringing the Instrument and 
 
 keeping the Pegs in Order .......... 10 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ON THE GENERAL POSTURE The manner of holding the Violin 
 
 and Bow as accepted by the leading artists of the day . . 13 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ON FINGERING GENERALLY The various positions Scales 
 recommended The Modern Orchestral "Principal" or 
 (so-called) "Leader" ............ 18 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ON GLIDING Special Characteristics of some of the most 
 
 Eminent Players .. .. .. .. .. ..26 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DOUBLE STOPPING The main difficulty in Double Stopping 
 
 How to gain independence of Finger . . . . . . 32 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BOWINGS Smooth Bowings Solid Staccato Spiccato 
 
 Spring-Bow Mixed Bowings .. .. .. . . 35 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TONE PRODUCTION Character of tone Rules and Conditions 
 
 necessary to produce a good Tone Style and Expression . . 57
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE following pages were originally written as a 
 series of articles for THE STRAD and in plain and 
 simple style, in order to place before the violin 
 student some general guiding rules and principles of 
 correct violin technique, as well as useful hints on how 
 to master the same. 
 
 The rules and method, etc., set forth are simply the 
 ordinary results of my own long experience as both 
 teacher and public soloist, together with a keen selection 
 of the best points peculiar to the most eminent violinists 
 of our time. 
 
 Each portion of the whole subject follows on in 
 systematically arranged order according to the degree 
 of difficulty, thus making reference to any particular 
 point more easy. 
 
 Without claiming to have founded any new system of 
 technique, style or school, an honest attempt has been 
 made to explain the most simple and natural method 
 and means of obtaining such really correct technique as 
 would form a sound preliminary towards attaining the 
 highest degree of style and polish always noticeable in 
 the very finest players. 
 
 It is hoped that teachers also will find some useful 
 hints to simplify their labours in the teaching of "slow" 
 or " difficult " pupils, and should any struggling violinist 
 by the perusal of this book be guided out of a fault or 
 have his difficulties in any way lessened, the writer will 
 be more than compensated for his small endeavours. 
 
 JOHN DUNN. 
 
 LONDON, May, 1898.
 
 PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 
 
 IN presenting this Second Edition, the author has 
 taken advantage of the opportunity to revise and 
 correct many passages of the original text which 
 were not to his particular satisfaction, and in doing this 
 somewhat tedious work he trusts that he has succeeded 
 in making all points perfectly clear which might other- 
 wise have been a trifle obscure in the eyes of an amateur. 
 
 It should also be explained that haste in publishing the 
 first Edition, during the author's absence on his extended 
 concert-tours, prevented any proofs being submitted to 
 him, and thus several inaccuracies in hurriedly-written 
 articles, etc., which were unavoidably overlooked at 
 the time of their first appearance in THE STRAD, were 
 reproduced in book form as they originally stood. 
 
 In the task of revising, the author specially desires 
 to acknowledge his obligations and indebtedness to his 
 friend and pupil, Miss Olivia Wyville Stanhope, for her 
 most valuable assistance. 
 
 JOHN DUNN. 
 
 DUNHOLME, ELSTREE, 
 
 MIDDLESEX.
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Introductory. 
 
 QUALITIES INDISPENSABLE TO THE IDEAL VIOLINIST 
 HINTS ON THE CHOICE OF A TEACHER SOME 
 TRICKS OF PRETENDING PROFESSORS EXPOSED. 
 
 IN a recent conversation I had with the esteemed 
 editor of THE STRAD, that gentleman expressed 
 a desire that I should write some articles on the 
 above subject, and as I had previously often thought 
 of doing so for my own private pleasure, I need hardly 
 say little pressing was necessary to invite me to so 
 agreeable a task. 
 
 Though by no means the first to write on the subject 
 of Violin Playing, Violin Technics, etc., I trust that my 
 views and opinions may be none the less interesting by 
 comparison, differing as they do from others in many 
 important points which will be explained. My first two 
 chapters will be merely preliminary, giving a few general 
 remarks on the qualities requisite in a violinist of talent, 
 hints on the choice of a teacher, the choice of a violin, 
 bow, and on stringing the violin, etc. 
 
 To commence, I may say that the various qualities essen- 
 tial to the making of an ideal violinist, or of the nearest 
 approach thereto, are quite too numerous to mention. 
 Still there are certainly a few ideal points that are, more 
 or less, present or absent in every violinist, and without 
 
 B
 
 2 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 which, however much general musical talent anyone may 
 possess, his or her success in violin playing will be more 
 or less handicapped. These are, beside a correct ear, the 
 power of mentally making nice calculations on the finger- 
 board, and a bow arm sensitive to the minutest shades of 
 pressure ; a broad hand with strong jointed long fingers 
 tapering towards the tips, the tip of the fourth finger almost 
 on a line with the tip of the first, and all four nearly of 
 the same length. A long thumb to help the fingers in 
 reaching the high positions, finger joints loose in prefer- 
 ence to those that are stiff. Still, the firm and stiff joints 
 are better than too loose ones, as they can be made 
 loose by practice much more easily than excessively 
 loose or double-jointed fingers can be made firm. And 
 firmness is necessary. Long arms and powerful wrist, 
 a short rather than long neck, square jaw, full chest, 
 inexhaustible energy, perfect control of the power of the 
 emotions, sufficient love for the art to be more absorbed 
 in the rendering of the piece than anxiously pre-conscious 
 of any disapproval or otherwise on the part of the 
 listeners, and last but not least, true genius, which means 
 of course including all the above a thousand-and-one 
 qualities combined. With all these, and many other 
 qualities necessary to form an ideal violinist, is it re- 
 markable that so few players come to the front ? How- 
 ever, so long as one is possessed of a good ear, an 
 artistic temperament, and a hand not too ill-adapted for 
 the instrument, perseverance will generally do a great 
 deal towards overcoming the rest. Quite a multitude of 
 drawbacks, too, may be vanquished, provided the teacher 
 chosen to guide the student's course be of first rate 
 order. But let the teacher be mediocre and the pupil 
 only moderately talented, then the result will be some- 
 thing like the "blind leading the blind," nothing but 
 disappointment. Then again, another point not suffi- 
 ciently considered, but very serious in its consequences 
 is, that faults learnt during the first year or so usually 
 have a marvellously clinging tendency to the very 
 last, and though an exceptionally gifted student will
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 3 
 
 have more power in ultimately throwing them off than 
 a player of merely ordinary talent, yet will it be plainly 
 obvious how much is saved, in any case, by having a 
 thoroughly good and competent master from the very 
 beginning. 
 
 Acquiring the rare art of playing the violin is a very 
 different thing from merely learning what may be 
 termed " catgut scraping." 
 
 How many players, alas, both professional and 
 amateur, find that, after wasting several years of study 
 under an inefficient master, though probably quite un- 
 conscious of their mistake at the time, they have learnt 
 next to nothing, and even that little only to have to 
 unlearn. 
 
 A short time ago a professional violinist told me that 
 he attributed his want of progress to not knowing the 
 correct manner of holding his violin, and that once he 
 could feel sure he was right on that point, he might 
 practise to some advantage. He had been playing for 
 upwards of twenty years, and yet did not know one of 
 the first things to be learnt. 
 
 In this place a few hints on the choice of a teacher 
 may be useful alike to advanced players, and parents 
 desiring that their children should commence in the 
 most advantageous manner. 
 
 At the present day, supposing we divide those who 
 teach the violin, including those who pretend to teach 
 the same, into four classes to the first would belong 
 the principal violin professors of the leading conserva- 
 toires, colleges and academies, and most of the first- 
 class solo players of the day. Such teachers only are 
 able to train a student to the highest degree of perfection. 
 To the second class would belong the best of the players 
 engaged in the leading orchestras. With this class might 
 also be included some of our best provincial teachers, 
 who appear occasionally and mostly indifferently as 
 soloists. Many of this class make fairly good teachers 
 up to a certain point, but it is surprising how many of 
 them are, if not entirely careless, still, a long way short 
 
 B 2
 
 4 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 of being quite conscientious, to say the least. The third 
 class are the less distinguished orchestral players, and 
 others of similar ability spread about the provinces. 
 Some of these make very good elementary teachers, but 
 the majority transmit a fault)' style and method, and 
 are to be avoided. Then there are those belonging to 
 the fourth class, who know next to nothing about the 
 art, and who should be prohibited from teaching 
 altogether. Sometimes the individual is an "organist" 
 or a " 'cellist pianist organist teacher of singing 
 violin professor," or even a "bacon-factor," a "postman," 
 or a " paperhanger," filling in spare time by posing or 
 rather imposing as a "professor" of the violin, or in 
 some instances opening an "academy" announced in 
 various degrees of pretentiousness down to a simple 
 card in the front window. Such quacks are a nuisance, 
 and are only to be patronized by people who merely toy 
 with the art for a time, only to throw it up in despair 
 and disgust. However, as things are, the majority of 
 pupils who are able to afford it commence under the 
 above mentioned fourth, third, and second classes of 
 teachers. 
 
 Why so few commence with a first-class teacher may 
 be to a certain extent due to a false notion prevalent 
 that first-class teachers are averse to teaching beginners. 
 True, some are, but the notion arises chiefly from the fact 
 that the academies and conservatoires and the like 
 always relegate beginners to the care of pupil teachers 
 and cheap masters, in order that the surplus from the 
 fees thus gained may to some extent make up for the 
 deficit usual in the advanced department. This is not 
 usually understood by the multitude, and some provin- 
 cial professors take an advantage by giving themselves 
 the airs of a first-class academy professor. They circu- 
 late and encourage the stupid notion that they are 
 "above" teaching elementary pupils, and decline to take 
 beginners at all. As a matter of fact, however, nine- 
 tenths of their pupils are elementary, and most of them 
 only a few lessons removed from beginners. The multi-
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 5 
 
 tude have thus been led to look upon it as the correct 
 thing, first of all, to place Mary or Johnny under a cheap 
 and often very indifferent professor, of course with the 
 ultimate intention, when sufficiently advanced, of having 
 him or her "finished off" by a leading professor, either 
 in or out of their district. But as the "finishing off" 
 process can never be successfully accomplished until the 
 groundwork has been taught on correct principles, instead 
 of the students receiving what they expected, they find 
 themselves hopelessly trying to undo the faults acquired 
 under their previous master. 
 
 The first two years, or one year, or even six months 
 under an indifferent master are sufficient to considerably 
 hamper, or even altogether cramp, a student's future 
 style, and all the good teaching in the world is often 
 unequal to the task of correcting faults thus acquired. 
 This is why so many, even talented players, are thwarted 
 in their efforts at progressing, and seldom, if ever, rise 
 above mediocrity then only to transmit their faults to 
 others. It is only those who are conscious of their 
 faults, or who thoroughly understand all the details of 
 violin playing, who can fully realise the importance of 
 having a thoroughly good and conscientious first-rate 
 teacher, painstaking with whatsoever degree of talent 
 happens to be under his or her training. 
 
 Some pupils often require the most minute explana- 
 tions, and for such I should certainly not recommend 
 some foreign professors, for the simple reason that it not 
 infrequently happens that the peculiar accent or idiom 
 of the foreigner will make their explanations to young 
 students more perplexing than instructive. This would 
 not apply to advanced students, where minute explana- 
 tion is less needed. Style is the chief thing an advanced 
 student needs to consider when choosing a professor. 
 More will be said of style later. We will conclude these 
 few hints on the choice of a teacher by saying it is better 
 to lay aside the cost of a few weeks' cheap lessons, and 
 instead of taking a dozen doubtful ones invest in one 
 occasional lesson of a thoroughly reliable order.
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 On the Choice of a Violin and Bow. 
 
 ADVICE REGARDING GENERAL ADJUSTMENT AND REPAIRS. 
 
 I AM reminded by a facetious friend of mine of 
 making two omissions in my last chapter important 
 towards the complete success of a violinist. These 
 are long flowing locks and an unpronounceable name. 
 Absurd as it may appear, I really am inclined to believe 
 that an uncommon name and a limited amount of 
 "Samsonian strength" are, to a certain extent, calculated 
 not only to single one out from the multitude, but by 
 investing one with a feeling of isolated uncommon- 
 ness, tend to act as a stimulus to more individuality 
 in one's artistic efforts. Apart from this, who will 
 question the influence these attributes still continue to 
 exercise over our British public ? They are the com- 
 pletion of the virtuoso's war-paint. Still, carried to 
 excess, I consider that long hair and an unpronounceable 
 name are likely to militate slightly against one's success, 
 just the same as an extreme in the opposite direction 
 would. 
 
 Before going into the details of " Violin Playing," I 
 will give an odd hint or two on the choice of a violin, 
 bow, strings, and stringing a violin, etc. The great 
 demand for violins, owing to the enormous increase of 
 students chiefly of the gentler sex makes it difficult 
 nowadays to obtain anything like a good violin at a 
 moderate cost. The advantages to the student of having 
 a fine-toned old instrument, for all purposes, cannot be
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 7 
 
 over-estimated. There are many deserving players, 
 however, whose pockets do not admit of their acquiring 
 even such moderately expensive old violins as those of 
 Gagliano, Rocca, Pressenda, Guadagnini, Grancini, 
 Ruggerius, Lupot, Stainer, etc., etc. These instru- 
 ments are rapidly becoming very scarce indeed, and 
 hence the prices, ranging from ^"50 to ^400, are con- 
 siderably on the rise. The same may be said of old 
 French, English, and German violins ranging from 10 
 to 40. All of these are good for the student's purpose, 
 besides many other fiddles possessing very fine tone, 
 though the maker may possibly be unknown. For 
 beginners and those unable to afford the price of old 
 instruments, some good new maker should be chosen, 
 or the best of the numerous cheap manufactured articles. 
 Some of these, varnished all over, have at least a clear 
 tone, which is as much as can be expected considering 
 the process of making, or rather manufacturing them. 
 They are generally made with baked wood. Beginners 
 had perhaps better not learn for the first year on ex- 
 pensive instruments, for fear of possible damage through 
 inexperience in handling them. 
 
 For public solo playing there are none to equal 
 Stradivarius violins of the best period (flat model); 
 They possess the greatest solidity and sweetness of 
 tone combined with the fullest power. Some twenty or 
 so of these are really unique, but to bring out their 
 manifold capabilities requires the touch of a real artist, 
 and I cannot understand why it is that amateurs of 
 means should be allowed to indulge their miserly selfish- 
 ness by depriving the world of the privilege of listening 
 to the soul-stirring tones of these human creations. If 
 they do object to "parting with them at any price" they 
 might, at least, lend them to some favourite player, and 
 thus allow the instruments to be properly used by those 
 who alone are best able to use them, take care of them, 
 and for whom they were rightly intended. Some few 
 by Joseph Guarnerius, though different in character 
 of tone, are about as fine even as the best Strads.
 
 8 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 After these come Bergonzis, odd specimens by Maggini, 
 Guadagnini, Amati, etc. 
 
 The proper mounting of the violin is the next im- 
 portant matter, and when not correctly done the tone 
 given out will not be resonant, neither will it sing freely. 
 Hundreds of fiddles at the present time are suffering 
 from this complaint, simply because their owners c!o not 
 know anything of the suitability of the fittings of their 
 particular instrument. Our leading dealers and repairers 
 cannot always help them towards obtaining that absolute 
 perfection of fitting which to a nicety allows the fiddle to 
 breathe and sing with the fullest breadth and freedom ; 
 though I have seen some wonderful changes made in 
 violins which have been repaired and remounted by 
 experienced hands. 
 
 As regards the sound-post I agree with Spohr that 
 the ear of the performer is the best judge, but much 
 careful experiment is required to obtain the fullest 
 results. 
 
 Re bows. Good bows are so cheap compared with 
 good violins that there is no reason why any aspiring 
 violinist should not possess one. Jas. Tubbs and E. N. 
 Voirin have made bows as good and even better for use 
 than the majority of fancy-priced Tourtes. The former 
 maker is still turning out very fine all-round bows from 
 four to ten guineas each, according to quality of stick and 
 mounting. Voirin bows vary very much as do those 
 of other makers some being simply flabby and worthless 
 and others particularly fine, especially for fine gradations 
 of tone and crisp staccato, indeed there are none finer. 
 The best Tubbs bows excel other good bows for pro- 
 ducing great breadth of tone. Other good makers 
 are Dodd, Peccate, Vuillaume, and two or three others, 
 nearly, but not quite, as good as the above. In 
 choosing a bow the weight and strength required is a 
 matter of taste. Lightness without being top-heavy, 
 elasticity of spring, combined with the most resisting 
 power sidewa3's as well as from downward pressure 
 are the chief characteristics of a perfect bow. The
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 9 
 
 hair of a bow will require renewing after perhaps 
 about 200 hours hard playing ; the fibre of the hair being 
 worn out it loses its bite, and brings out a dead and 
 uncertain tone which is apt to whistle. To ensure correct 
 and thorough hairing with first-class quality of hair it 
 will be advisable to go or send in cases made for the 
 purpose to some first-class firm. Damage to the nut 
 and head are often the result of work done by incom- 
 petent hands. Placing confidence in an experienced 
 professor's choice of your violin and bow is usually 
 safest and best, if he be trustworthy.
 
 10 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 On the Choice of Strings. 
 
 STRINGING THE INSTRUMENT AND KEEPING THE PEGS IN 
 ORDER. 
 
 THE next thing to see to is the selection of good 
 strings. Strings are as important a factor towards 
 fine playing as a properly fitted violin and per- 
 fectly suitable bow. Bad strings are truly the bane of 
 the violinist's existence. Often a performance is totally 
 ruined by the perverse whistling of a string especially 
 when it happens to be the E. Then there is the 
 difficulty of getting one's strings all correspondingly true 
 in fifths, and when this feat is accomplished, they 
 gradually become false in fifths after being on any 
 considerable length of time referring, of course, to the 
 lower strings this makes matters more trying. 
 
 Italian strings are the best if they are of good 
 manufacture. Unfortunately, somehow, our London 
 vendors do not seem to have any knowledge of the very 
 best Italian makers of gut strings. At any rate I person- 
 ally have not succeeded in obtaining any Italian strings 
 par excellence in this country. I am obliged to procure 
 mine the best Italian strings possible direct from 
 headquarters on the continent. I think as a boon to 
 violinists weary of the class of strings they are 
 " favoured " with in this country, I shall have to make 
 some arrangements to supply the violin world with 
 really perfectly fine Italian strings, without any nonsense
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. II 
 
 about testing them beforehand, etc. The so-called 
 "tested" strings are in my very humble opinion all 
 mere sham. How is it possible to test whether a string 
 be clear enough for solo playing before you have actually 
 tried it with the bow ? And, again, how are the fifths 
 likely to correspond with the other strings, already 
 correspondingly true, on the fiddle, when they (the 
 " tested " ones) have not been tried together on the 
 fiddle they are intended to be used upon ? The best 
 silver covered G strings I have as yet discovered are 
 sold by Hart, Wardour Street. 
 
 The exact thickness of strings found suited to the 
 violin should be carefully marked off on a good string- 
 gauge, and afterwards strictly adhered to. Strings too 
 thick for a particular violin are apt to whistle or sound 
 muffled, and then thinner ones should be tried, though 
 at times even thin strings will whistle in damp and 
 muggy atmospheres. Usually, the thinner the string 
 the clearer the tone, but for general purposes fairly thick 
 strings are best, so long as the " whistling tendency " is 
 avoided. 
 
 In putting on an E string, the drawing it up to pitch 
 usually pulls over the bridge a shade, and often when 
 drawing up too suddenly, the bridge is even liable to be 
 forced (forward) down altogether and broken. This 
 catastrophe is frequently accompanied by the sound- 
 post falling, and other mischief. It is always advisable, 
 therefore, after drawing up a string, to see that the 
 bridge is well erect. When it is not, the safest manner 
 of proceeding is to allow your thumb and first finger to 
 support the bridge from behind, by nipping, as it were, 
 each string in turn, close against the bridge. This pre- 
 vents any possibility of it falling, while your other 
 thumb and finger push it gently into an erect position 
 from the other side. Correctly, the bridge should lean 
 slightly towards the tailpiece. 
 
 In the management of the bow, see that the stick 
 always has an inward bend, even when screwed up for 
 playing, and never omit to screw it down to the lowest
 
 12 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 degree when it is not being used. The bow should be 
 well resined before commencing to practise. A bow 
 should never be allowed to remain without wrapping. A 
 little leather, round where the thumb touches, will save 
 the wrapping from too frequently becoming loose. The 
 bow (stick), as well as the violin, should be kept clear 
 of resin and dust with a soft cloth. Besides affecting 
 the tone of a violin, clogging resin and dust injures 
 the varnish. 
 
 A word about pegs. If the strings are put on cor- 
 rectly at the peg end, i.e., with the end turned under 
 the string towards the side of its particular peg, the 
 pegs will only require an occasional application of chalk 
 and soap, not too much of the latter, and they will move 
 quite easily and hold well without much pressure after 
 being turned. Neglected pegs move stiffly and require 
 extra pressure to make them hold. This enlarges the 
 peg-holes and increases the difficulty of tuning to a 
 nicety, not to mention the disagreeable grating sound 
 attending each turn of the peg.
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 On the General Posture. 
 
 THE MANNER OF HOLDING THE VIOLIN AND BOW AS 
 ACCEPTED BY THE LEADING ARTISTS OF THE DAY. 
 
 GENERAL posture, and holding the violin and 
 bow, will now receive our attention. These must 
 be done separately at first. Stand, resting your 
 weight chiefly on the left foot, with the right foot 
 slightly forward, your body being parallel with your 
 music on the music stand. Keep slightly to the left of 
 the stand, otherwise the scroll of the violin will interfere 
 with your reading the music. The violin, held hanging 
 the while in the hollow between your thumb and first 
 finger, should be now raised to the left side of your neck, 
 and accommodated to your left jaw bone, your head 
 looking straight in front, and not twisting to the right 
 or the left. The left hand should hold the neck of the 
 violin sufficiently in front of you to enable you to draw 
 the bow parallel with the bridge, without forcing the 
 right shoulder forward. The violin need not be held 
 quite in a straight line with the nose, but will incline 
 somewhat to the left, the scroll of the violin being 
 usually about on a line with the end of the left 
 shoulder. As regards the exact position of the neck 
 of the violin between the thumb and first finger, this 
 usually varies according to the pupil's state of advance- 
 ment. Beginners find it almost impossible to held 
 the neck in any other manner than by resting it quite 
 in the hollow, touching the flesh between the thumb
 
 14 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 and first finger. They further have a lingering desire to 
 allow the palm of the hand to come in contact with the 
 underneath portion of the neck, just as though it ever- 
 lastingly itched to " touch wood and come good." The 
 position becomes " good," however, only by being kept 
 off "wood," i.e., the neck, and instead of the neck's being 
 allowed to fall quite down in the hollow afore-mentioned, 
 it should rest partly on the lower joint and partly against 
 (inclined towards the inner side of) the middle joint of 
 the thumb, and on the other side, almost quite below 
 the lowest joint of the first finger. Under the neck, 
 between the thumb and finger, there will be space 
 enough to put a pencil through, or still larger according 
 to the size of the hand. The tip of the thumb will point 
 almost perpendicularly upwards, peering nearly half an 
 inch according to the size of hand, above the finger- 
 board, while the lower joint will bend slightly under- 
 neath the neck, giving more freedom to the other two 
 supports. Some students, instead of keeping the tip of 
 the thumb above the finger-board, have a tendency to 
 hold their thumb horizontally on the neck, the tip nearly 
 touching the G string peg. A habit so faulty as this 
 should be carefully guarded against. 
 
 Opposite the thumb, if the hand, slightly under the 
 lowest joint of the first finger, touches the neck at the 
 correct place above described, then the fourth finger side 
 of the hand will be thrown out about an inch from the 
 neck. The violin should be held up so that the scroll 
 is on a line with the chin, and rather firmly, but not 
 at all stiffly, between the thumb and below the first 
 finger, at the points above mentioned. No other part 
 of the hand should touch the neck. 
 
 To do all this without falling into faulty habits will 
 require very thoughtful attention on the pupil's part, and 
 probably constant correction on the part of the teacher. 
 
 In learning how to hold the bow at first, both hands 
 require to be at liberty. The left hand will assist, by 
 holding the stick midway, the hair facing the student. 
 Place the inner side not the centre of the tip of the
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 15 
 
 right hand thumb on the inside of the stick close to the 
 nut, and the remainder of the thumb's tip will rest on 
 the edge of the ebony nut. Now allow all the fingers 
 except the fourth to fall in a natural curve over the top 
 of the stick, the stick touching each finger only at the 
 point where you might draw a straight line between a 
 quarter inch below the first joint of the third finger, to 
 just above the first joint of the first finger (the line 
 would cut the first joint of the second finger on its side 
 nearest the first finger). In speaking of below the first 
 joint, etc., below means here towards the tip of the finger, 
 and above in the direction towards the knuckle. The 
 bow is held to a large extent by the second finger and 
 the thumb. The first finger should not "clutch" the bow 
 stiffly, but should be held freely, ready either for heavy 
 pressure, or lighter shades, as required. For heavy 
 bowing, the first finger presses on its side assuming a 
 slight curve and separating from the second finger 
 except at its tip. The pressure point is a little below 
 its second joint, and not above it (above meaning towards 
 the knuckle). The majority of young players are apt 
 to allow their first finger to press above the second 
 joint, causing the hand to be thrown in an unnatural 
 position, stiffening the wrist, and altogether altering the 
 position of the arm. Correctly held with the thumb and 
 first three fingers, there will be no difficulty about the 
 fourth finger, as it will just reach the top of the stick 
 and rest easefully close against the third finger. Beyond 
 occasionally balancing or steadying the stick, it plays 
 no part and might be called the dummy. It will not 
 be long enough to overlap the stick like the other 
 three fingers. The tips of the first three fingers will 
 rest almost closely together. Beginners often find an 
 advantage in stretching their fourth finger away from 
 the others towards the screw, thus counterbalancing 
 top-weight. This, however, will not be found at all 
 necessary if the bow is held correctly. The third finger 
 should touch, but not clutch, the stick just below the 
 first joint, the second finger still nearer and touching
 
 l6 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 the joint near the first finger. The student may, when 
 quite able to hold the violin and bow comfortably, 
 proceed to place the bow on separate strings at about 
 an inch distant from the bridge, and draw down and up, 
 from one end of the bow to the other, keeping it parallel 
 with the bridge. Commence at the heel of the bow, 
 keeping the wrist loose and moveable, while holding the 
 thumb rather firmly against the bow. 
 
 The manner of holding the violin and bow just 
 explained is the only one to which the student should 
 endeavour to adhere, at any rate as nearly as the shape 
 of the hand (and other conditions) will allow. It must 
 not be supposed, however, that the holding of the violin, 
 or the bow particularly as regards the holding of the 
 violin by the left hand should always be maintained 
 in one set, rigid manner. This applies to beginners as 
 well as advanced students. For instance, in many 
 awkward progressions the fingering would become 
 cramped if the tip of the thumb were not allowed to 
 drop to, say, the level of the fingerboard, or even lower. 
 Except, perhaps, in reaching with the fourth finger over 
 to the G string, the beginner will find little difficulty 
 in keeping to a fairly rigid position of the left hand 
 and this is perhaps advisable until a thorough grasp of 
 the normal position is acquired. 
 
 The position of the thumb on the bow should be 
 opposite the second finger. This may vary slightly with 
 different performers, but only very slightly. A great 
 many players, I believe, place their thumb opposite 
 the first or between the second and third fingers. Neither 
 of these methods are as good as the afore-mentioned. 
 
 The thumb's joint must bend slightly outwards and 
 never at all inwards except when playing at the heel. 
 
 A great deal of freedom must be allowed the first 
 finger, being as it is the medium of pressure, as also of 
 non- pressure, which is possible by its kind permission 
 only. Still the correct point at which the first finger 
 touches the bow will scarcely vary at all whatever 
 kind of bowing be performed. Perhaps for light or
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 17 
 
 " hopping " bowing it may touch a little nearer towards 
 the tip, and for heavy bowing the least shade in the 
 opposite direction. Such liberties as these are not 
 intended for beginners. 
 
 Practising drawing the bow along the open string is 
 a capital means of learning straight bowing. Alas ! 
 how many players have acquired this ? Observe each 
 member of the first violins in any of our orchestras and 
 what do we see ? Straight bowing perhaps ? but at 
 what a variety of angles with the bridge. In order to 
 attain a uniform straightness of bowing, perhaps the best 
 method is to practise half bows first. Upper half from 
 middle to point, and lower half from middle to heel and 
 vice versa. 
 
 Try to remember exactly at what point your upper 
 arm should pause, in order to keep the bow parallel with 
 the bridge after moving from the middle to the heel and 
 vice versa. From the middle to the point if the arm is 
 long enough the forearm will simply have to drop 
 gradually until it is in a straight line with the upper 
 arm, but remember the whole thing depends on the 
 upper arm knowing its correct stopping place. The 
 wrist, too, plays an important part in straight bowing. 
 At the middle of the bow the wrist and hand should be 
 about on a flat level with the forearm, whereas from the 
 middle to the heel it must make a gradual " dip." It 
 must from the same point to the opposite end of the 
 bow assume an opposite tendency.
 
 l8 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 On Fingering Generally. 
 
 THE VARIOUS POSITIONS SCALES RECOMMENDED THE 
 MODERN ORCHESTRAL "PRINCIPAL" OR (SO-CALLED) 
 " LEADER." 
 
 NOW we proceed to the fingering. The position 
 already given of the left hand holding the neck 
 is called the first position. To the beginner it is 
 absolutely indispensable that he should obtain a fair 
 knowledge and facility in this before attempting higher 
 flights. It is the basis of the whole mechanism of the 
 left hand. It is generally found the easiest in which 
 to play in tune. The others are more difficult, because 
 the relative distances between the notes being less, the 
 higher the hand proceeds up the fingerboard, the greater 
 the difference any slight deviation from the note makes. 
 The fingers should be placed firmly on the strings. The 
 greatest firmness is obtained when they fall on the very 
 utmost point of their tips with all the joints bending 
 outwards. 
 
 This will be difficult at the student's elementary stages, 
 as also in some cases the curling up of the fourth finger 
 when the third finger has to be pressed down. All the 
 fingers should learn to move independently, and this, 
 as well as the preceding rule, must be overcome by 
 continual attention and perseverance. The fourth finger 
 pressed down gives the same note as the following open 
 string. Now some beginners never seem to be sure 
 when to use the one and when the other. Probably this
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. ig 
 
 is why their teachers allow them to use open strings on 
 all occasions. 
 
 It requires much experience to know exactly when it 
 is best to use open strings or when fourth finger. The 
 principal object for the use of the fourth finger in 
 ordinary passages is to avoid too much crossing strings. 
 
 The open string is to be preferred for ease and clear- 
 ness in scale passages. Violin playing differs from piano 
 playing in respect of lifting up each finger as you put 
 down the next. On the violin any fingers just used are 
 allowed to remain down on the string except those above 
 the note being sounded, say, for instance, if a note has 
 to be repeated immediately after playing the next note 
 above it, or if instead of the note being repeated, the 
 passage ascends another note or two on the same string. 
 
 The slur in violin playing means two or more notes 
 played in one stroke (slowly as a rule) of the bow. 
 The bow must be carefully managed, so as to use 
 the same quantity of bow for each note, if there are 
 several notes in the slur. Others besides beginners 
 commit the error of jerky playing caused through 
 incorrectly gauging the exact quantity of bow required 
 for each note of a slur. Spohr's " School " is very good 
 for gaining a perfect knowledge in this respect. 
 
 The whole range of the first position extends from 
 the open G on the fourth string, to the lower B natural 
 on the first string, with the next note (C) above taken 
 by extending the fourth finger. 
 
 After a fair amount of facility has been acquired in this 
 position the student may proceed to the third position. 
 The best way to learn to calculate the exact place 
 the hand must occupy up the neck for this position, is 
 to place the first finger on, say B (second string) in the 
 first position, and make a sudden glide of the finger 
 two notes higher to D on the same string, allowing 
 the hand to " shift " simultaneously with the finger, so 
 that the thumb occupies about the same position, or a 
 shade higher, in relation to the first finger, as it did in 
 the first position. 
 
 C 2
 
 2O VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 The fourth finger will come more into play in this 
 position, and a peculiarity is the extension of the fourth 
 finger to just one note beyond its natural falling place, 
 and when touching each string very lightly this gives 
 four, full round-toned, natural harmonics, one on each 
 string. These are most useful for obtaining many 
 charming effects peculiar to the violin. 
 
 After gaining a thorough knowledge of the first and 
 third positions, the sooner the other positions are learnt 
 the better. The easiest to master is the fifth. Here the 
 fingering resembles that of the first, but the hand being 
 a fifth higher, the fingers which play the same notes in 
 the first position on the A string, for instance, will now 
 be playing them on the D string, and so on. The 
 notes in the fifth position falling on the E string being 
 above any notes in the first position, will present a 
 little difficulty and their fingering needs to be committed 
 to memory. The other positions may be taken in their 
 proper order, beginning with the second all being 
 equally difficult, both as regards learning their special 
 fingering and intonation. The position of the thumb on 
 the neck of the violin up to the fourth position is similar 
 to the first and third, the whole hand being placed 
 exactly between the first and third positions for the 
 second position, and exactly between the third and fifth 
 for the fourth position. From the fourth position 
 upwards the thumb will gradually fall a trifle lower, 
 until the sixth position is reached, when it will have 
 dropped quite underneath in the hollow of the neck- 
 near the button, the end of the thumb supporting the 
 hand. The readiest means now of gaining proficiency 
 in moving from one position to another will be to take 
 scales through all the positions. The best arrange- 
 ments of scales I know of are those given in " David's 
 School," and in Schradieck's " Tonleiter Studien," the 
 latter being unique in arrangement for elementary as 
 well as advanced students. 
 
 The great difficulty experienced by all violinists is in 
 the descending movement of the hand from the higher
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 21 
 
 positions, rather than in upward progressions, therefore 
 where the beginner has to exercise care is in the manage- 
 ment of the thumb when moving from one position to 
 another. The hand must be quite free in whatever 
 position it may be, and this cannot possibly be the case 
 when the fingers are moving through the third to the 
 sixth and higher positions, and the thumb's tip is allowed 
 to remain where it was in the third position, i.e., above 
 the fingerboard, instead of having gradually dropped 
 underneath the neck of the violin during the fingers' 
 ascent. In descending scales the thumb must, without 
 relinquishing its support of the fingers, gradually move 
 back to its normal position. 
 
 To most students, learning the positions is a some- 
 what tedious operation, in fact it may be termed the 
 most dreary of the driest portion of a violinist's course. 
 A strange fact about the higher positions, sixth, seventh 
 and eighth, etc., is that not one violinist in a thousand 
 ever takes the trouble to thoroughly learn them, and 
 were they ever questioned as to the position they happened 
 to be in, the ability to answer with certainty would 
 have to be preceded by several moments' hesitation. At 
 the same time, in the second, third, fourth and fifth 
 positions, all or mostly all good violinists know when 
 they are in one or the other, and are equally at home 
 in the entire compass of each. There is no doubt that 
 this familiarity with the lower positions, and the reverse 
 with regard to the higher ones, is owing to the lower ones 
 being used constantly, while the higher positions are 
 seldom used except for passages on the E string (and 
 sometimes special G string passages), or odd notes on 
 the D and A strings. The reason for their avoidance 
 is the difficulty of obtaining as resonant a tone and 
 true intonation as in the lower positions. Yet for vocal 
 effects, smoothness, gliding, pianissimo, etc., etc., what 
 would the soloist do without using the positions above 
 the third ? His instrument would no longer be the 
 perfect solo instrument it is. With a better knowledge 
 of the higher positions I am of opinion still finer effects
 
 22 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 might be gained. Their extreme difficulty, especially 
 to thick fingers, causes them to be almost unexplored 
 regions. 
 
 Throughout the whole course of violin studies, passages 
 occurring in these lofty regions are usually treated as 
 special passages, and are learnt through some particular 
 fingering of the passage, in which one finger bears some 
 relation to the preceding one or that following, with the 
 ear as general guide. This method is pretty universal 
 and answers very well with the soloist, who has time to 
 fix his fingering and practise the passages beforehand. 
 
 It does not, however, appear quite so successful with 
 the orchestral player reading a new work at sight. He 
 has not time to decide what fingering to take, and when 
 in the middle of a passage, not being quite sure in 
 what position he is playing, confusion is the common 
 result. This is less to be wondered at when we 
 consider that the tone of his own violin would be so 
 lost amid the vast mass of orchestral sound that his ear 
 would be no longer much help in guiding his fingers in 
 the course of their destination. Except then by " finger 
 instinct" and a few methodical fingerings (almost parrot 
 learnt) he is, in the higher positions, neither certain of 
 the correct stop nor of accurate intonation. This is 
 why there is usually a scramble among the violins in an 
 orchestra when attempting any passages they do not 
 know above the fifth position, even though they might 
 execute the passage fairly well individually and alone 
 especially with a little time beforehand to decide as to 
 the fingering. How much better if they were all such 
 players that playing in tune in the positions up to even 
 the eighth were possible. And if they were equally at 
 home up there as in the third position, at least one of 
 the difficulties which hamper the ordinary orchestral 
 player would then be removed. Of all the deficiencies 
 of orchestral playing there are none further from 
 eradication than this. There is hope, however, that 
 time will alter these matters, and now that the number 
 of solo violinists increases year by year to such an extent,
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 23 
 
 we may some day reasonably expect to find orchestras 
 with strings composed entirely of correct and finished, 
 if nQifine solo players. 
 
 By correct and finished players I mean those who 
 have sufficient talent to have learnt well all that can be 
 taught, and technically able to play anything written, and 
 by fine players I mean those who do all that and show 
 some originality besides. This is usually the difference 
 between soloists who have been perfectly taught by a 
 great master and are exact copies with a perfect tech- 
 nique, but devoid of originality to improve upon that 
 which has been taught them, and soloists who have also a 
 perfect technique and style acquired from a great player, 
 and still know where and how to alter that which has 
 been taught them, without deteriorating in style. The 
 talent, or rather genius, of the one would be wasted 
 in an orchestra, just the same as the amount of talent 
 the other possesses is sufficient, and not more than 
 what is required in an orchestra, and at the same time 
 inadequate for "great" solo playing. The number of 
 great solo players would be very few if judged from this 
 high standpoint. Still, on an instrument so difficult as 
 is the violin, it is an achievement to obtain even correct 
 playing to perfection. With more of this we might hope 
 to have leaders capable of doing what little is nowadays 
 required of them, such as marking the bowings in all the 
 parts alike so as to obtain a correct and uniform phrasing 
 and bowing throughout, etc., etc. 
 
 Speaking of orchestras, it seems to me when a so- 
 called "leader" neglects either from want of ability or 
 inclination to perform such duties as the above, he is 
 no longer entitled to the distinction of "leader." He 
 does not actually lead the band, or even the violins. 
 In large orchestras a violin would have to possess a tone 
 like a cornet or a trombone to predominate sufficiently 
 for actual leading purposes in such a sense. In the old 
 days, with small orchestras, the principal violin did 
 11 lead " in reality, because he was the one they all 
 looked to for a sign to start, etc., separate conductors not
 
 24 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 being in vogue. Now, on the other hand, all look to the 
 conductor if he be a conductor. Except that the principal 
 first and second violins, viola, 'cello, and bass are usually 
 expected to be much better and more reliable players 
 than the rest of the strings, I fail to see what need there 
 is of distinction of any kind, especially when, as in many 
 cases, there is no difference whatever in the matter of 
 either experience or ability from the majority at the rest 
 of the desks. 
 
 Great changes seem to be taking place of late years, 
 and many conductors are almost indifferent as to the 
 ability of their leader, so long as he can in tolerable 
 fashion accomplish any little bit of cadenza or obbligato 
 passage which may occasionally occur. When this is 
 anything out of the ordinary, and requiring real artistic 
 style for its adequate performance, then the mistake 
 makes itself apparent. 
 
 A striking example was afforded some years ago at one 
 of the great festivals, when the newspaper critics could 
 not refrain from pointing out the advisability at future 
 festivals of better obbligato playing, even if some solo 
 player had to be specially engaged for the same. Similar 
 instances have occurred at other festivals and elsewhere, 
 and though not always criticized in the papers this fact 
 remains recorded. 
 
 Amongst other duties expected of the " leader " was 
 taking the baton in the absence of the conductor through 
 indisposition, etc. I suppose nowadays, with first class 
 conductors such as Richter, Mottl, Lamoreux, etc., etc., 
 the only alternative would be to postpone the concert. 
 
 As circumstances are, there seems to be little for the 
 aspiring orchestral player to aim at except an increase in 
 reputation and salary. And as time rolls on, I should not 
 wonder at seeing these luxuries docked. Indeed, where 
 there is little or no difference except in the " title " 
 from the rest of the fiddles, I wonder why conductors 
 continue paying three or four times the salary for a 
 " principal." As there are no doubt a number of aspiring 
 orchestral players among my readers, I may be excused
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 25 
 
 for explaining as above the true duties and modern 
 tendencies in the status of principals and leaders, and 
 thus drifting into what may seem a digression from my 
 main subject, violin playing. 
 
 To return to further consideration of the positions, I 
 should not recommend that they should be learnt hurriedly 
 one after the other and then as soon forgotten ; it is better 
 to take them in the easy order afore-mentioned and 
 learn each thoroughly and by degrees, with a sufficient 
 length of time between to allow of the fingering being 
 permanently stamped on the memory. Many recapitula- 
 tions of them will have to take place before perfection is 
 attained. Along with the positions should be practised 
 ordinary slurred bowings, mixed with plain bowing of 
 separate strokes, for one note either short or long. Of 
 these mixed bowings there are endless varieties, all more 
 or less simple except those regularly crossing the strings. 
 Of these I will write later. The simple mixed slurred 
 and detached bowings are done with the same motion of 
 the arm and wrist as quarter, half, and full length 
 bowings on one string. The position of the wrist and 
 arm will simply depend on the part of the bow used at 
 any moment.
 
 26 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 On Gliding. 
 
 SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SOME OF THE MOST 
 EMINENT PLAYERS. 
 
 IN moving from a note in one position slurred to a. 
 note in another position, certain rules have to be 
 considered. This introduces us to the important 
 subjects, gliding, glissando, and similar effects. 
 
 The general rule set forth by Ferdinand David and 
 others respecting gliding from a note in one position 
 to a note in another, is something to the effect that 
 which ever position you happen to be in, allow the ringer 
 last used to glide from the note it stopped, and along the 
 same string, to its natural place in the position in which 
 the next note happens to be, taking care to stop this 
 second note, if anything, almost before, rather than after 
 the gliding finger has reached the position. For instance, 
 the correct manner of gliding from say B to G on the 
 second string first to third position would be to glide 
 the first finger from B along the string to its natural 
 place D in the third position, to which also belongs the 
 second note G, this latter being stopped with the fourth 
 finger immediately or almost before the first finger has 
 reached its place in the third position. The same 
 principle applies to gliding from any note stopped with 
 either first, second, or third finger to a note in a higher 
 position, whether on the same string as the one from 
 which the glide is made or not. The glide will be made 
 not with the finger you are going to use, but with the finger
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 last used, i.e., on the note preceding the higher note if the 
 glide is upwards, and with the finger used on the note 
 preceding the lower note if the glide is in a downward 
 direction. The following will make this clear : 
 
 224 
 
 f ~ /*"""*". ~~"r\ s*~\t ri T^~ *' ~i --- 
 
 ' 5th pos. 
 
 etc. 
 
 
 
 etc. 
 
 The small grace notes only indicate the point at which 
 the gliding ends, and this must be instantly covered by 
 the second note to prevent any possibility of the inter- 
 mediate grace note being heard. Beginners especially 
 should besides bear in mind that the whole hand must 
 be allowed to glide along the neck simultaneously with 
 the gliding of the finger, except in downward gliding, 
 when the thumb moves down somewhat in advance of 
 the rest of the hand. 
 
 These, then, are a few explanations of the simple rules 
 and methods for gliding from one position to another, 
 and the same can be adopted in all instances with one 
 exception, viz., when the second note to which you are
 
 28 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 gliding happens to require stopping with the same finger 
 as the first note from which you glide. Here there is 
 no chance of any intermediate break, as the same finger 
 which stops the first and second notes also performs the 
 glide between them. Great care is here necessary to 
 guard against the monotony of too lazily drawling this 
 gliding with one and the same finger from one note to 
 the other the effect would be apt to remind the listener 
 but too realistically of certain boot-jack episodes. 
 
 Though many players do it, it is not in the best taste to 
 glide to a stopped note with the same finger which stops 
 it, when the first note happens to be stopped with another 
 finger than that which stops the second note. The 
 exception to this is when the second note happens to be 
 a natural harmonic. Here the same finger which makes 
 the harmonic may glide to it whether this same finger 
 stops the preceding note or not. The note preceding 
 the harmonic may be on another string or on the same 
 as the harmonic, still the finger used for the harmonic 
 may glide to it along its string. The point at which to 
 commence the glide in this case is a matter of taste I 
 should say at any note along the string which would 
 form a component part of the harmony implied by the 
 harmonic and the note preceding it. The point at 
 which the glide commences must be managed so skilfully 
 as hardly to be heard. If the harmonic be very high 
 and the glide preferred so short as to commence only 
 within a few notes of the harmonic, very great skill will 
 be necessary to make the commencement of the gliding 
 imperceptible. 
 
 Of course the first mentioned of the above methods of 
 gliding to an ordinary stopped note is also available 
 in passing to a harmonic. To a certain extent the 
 character of the piece or particular passage will help 
 the player to determine which is the better of the 
 two methods to use in passing from a note to a natural 
 harmonic. If the glide is done with the same finger as 
 the harmonic, that finger will as soon as possible stretch 
 out to its full extent, and thus give a more subtle
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 29 
 
 delicacy to the gliding between the one note and the 
 other (harmonic). Whether the natural harmonic 
 happens to be low or high in the positions, the whole 
 hand in this case will not require to move simultaneously 
 with the gliding quite up to the position of the finger 
 touching the harmonic. The extension of this finger 
 will make what difference there is. 
 
 Though I have by the above brief explanations and 
 examples given the three most legitimate methods of 
 gliding, I do not for a moment insist, like some pro- 
 fessors, that all gliding must be performed strictly in 
 accordance with the above limited rules. Rules cer- 
 tainly are all very fine for beginners and for those in the 
 early stages of solo playing, such as the most advanced 
 amateurs, but we do not exactly desire that every 
 violinist should glide in precisely the same stereotyped 
 manner, even though it may be correct and according ta 
 rule. Neither is it, and without violating the rules, at 
 all necessary for every player to glide in the self-same 
 manner. Here steps in the ingenuity of the player ; and 
 it is for the individuality of each violinist to decide for 
 himself how he can with good effect escape the strictness 
 of the rules, and rob them of some of their force, without 
 really breaking them. In gliding from an open string to 
 any other note above it, the same rules apply as above 
 explained. The finger will, of course, be placed on the 
 nut and begin gliding from it. 
 
 Several notes, usually diatonic or chromatic, slurred 
 in one bow can be done by a " glissando," or the gliding 
 movement of one finger either up or down a string. 
 This is managed in the same way as "vibrato," the 
 regular shaking of the hand corresponding with its free 
 movement down or up the string, so that one shake 
 moves the finger one semitone or tone, etc., according 
 to the usually regular intervals of the passage. The 
 shaking of the hand is done by a free wrist. The 
 motion from the string lifts the finger slightly, assisting 
 rapid movement of the hand, while the notes are as it 
 were regularly checked off by a slight and delicate
 
 30 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 pressure on the string caused by the shake of the hand 
 towards the string. It is like shaking a branch of 
 brilliant dewdrops, a shower of glittering notes, a sweet 
 cascade of sparkling music. The angle of the shaking 
 is very difficult to describe. To do this, as also vibrato, 
 or slurred staccato, at say an allegro moderato pace, is 
 generally acknowledged by violinists to be a natural gift. 
 They are all three very closely akin, the wrist movement 
 of the slurred staccato being perhaps the most compli- 
 cated, and requiring the greatest command over the 
 action of the wrist. It is often interesting as a study in 
 gliding to note the peculiar manner in this respect 
 characteristic of the finest artists. Take Joachim's* 
 playing throughout, and we have infinite variety in this 
 particular feature of our art. It is clearly obvious to 
 any violinist how well he knows how to make use of its 
 means, and what an amount of individuality charac- 
 terizes his manner of gliding. It would take more than 
 my pen to describe the almost enthralling effects he often 
 obtains by means of gliding alone. Almost unique in 
 striking contrast to him is Sarasate.* There seems to 
 be an almost total absence of gliding ; an effort to hide 
 the interval between one note and another by leaving 
 out all gliding, and substituting most electric leaps. 
 Rarely does he emphasize an interval between two 
 successive notes by gliding, and so rapidly is the interval 
 covered that the effect gives the impression of there 
 being absolutely no necessity for any gliding, his fingers 
 seemingly reaching the interval without "shifting" the 
 hand. This only proves that there is no law compelling 
 you to glide at all if your taste prompts otherwise. It 
 is all a matter of taste. Of course Sarasate does glide, 
 as also does Joachim make electric leaps, but what I 
 have above noted are the leading characteristics about 
 the gliding of these two artists. The other part of 
 their gliding does not strike one prominently. Lady 
 Halle's gliding is, if anything, rather more STRICTLY 
 
 * The above was written when Dr. Joachim and Sarasate were still 
 alive, and performing in public.
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 3! 
 
 according to rule than is that of the above two artists, 
 except for an occasional use of a striking mannerism 
 common to many, but not all, players of the modern 
 French school. In gliding, say, from B in the first 
 position on the second string to B an octave higher in 
 the third position on the first string, instead of gliding 
 with the first finger to D in the third position on the 
 second string and merely stopping the octave B with 
 the second finger, Lady Halle and others seem to glide 
 with the second finger on the first string until reaching 
 the B in the third position. I think I have only noticed 
 this particular mannerism in instances when the one 
 note happened to be on a different string. To violinists 
 taught in the strictly German school such a mannerism 
 is at first disagreeably striking, but it gradually wears 
 off with custom. Other noted players have other 
 characteristic methods of gliding. 
 
 It would be nearly impossible, and certainly to no 
 purpose, to give further hints than I have already done 
 on gliding. Varying the speed of the gliding finger 
 and the strength or delicacy in pressure, and "stopping" 
 either the gliding or the other finger with a force or 
 delicacy, besides other possibilities, are all a matter for 
 individual experiment and use. Some players frequently 
 vary the first rule by extending the finger and stopping 
 the second note before the gliding finger has actually 
 reached the position to which the second note belongs. 
 These and other variations in the opposite extreme are 
 merely given as passing hints. In concluding this 
 extremely interesting portion of our main subject, I must 
 impress upon the reader that the great point to be borne 
 in mind in all such matters is, really, that the effect 
 desired and obtained be a justification of the means 
 used.
 
 32 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Double Stopping. 
 
 THE MAIN DIFFICULTY IN DOUBLE STOPPING HOW TO 
 GAIN INDEPENDENCE OF FINGER. 
 
 DOUBLE stopping is a part of our main subject best 
 learnt at the present stage, and though in itself a 
 purely mechanical study, much knowledge and 
 thoughtful judgment are required towards its perfect 
 production. Taste, however, does enter into consideration, 
 but only in-so-far as that it would be very bad taste on 
 the part of the player when his double stopping is heard 
 out of tune in public. It must, however, be suffered in 
 this excruciating condition very often, especially by the 
 player, before he may hope to arrive at anything like the 
 standard of safety required for public performance. A 
 knowledge of harmony, or at least of intervals, is as 
 essential to playing double stopping in tune at all with 
 perfect security as are thin finger-tips, for making, up 
 in the positions, such double stops as minor sixths, 
 augmented fourths, etc. The main difficulty in double- 
 stopping is to know when the intervals necessitate 
 the finger-tips being together or apart. Except by
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 33 
 
 ear-instinct this can only be calculated through possess- 
 ing a knowledge of intervals. Anyone on recognising 
 an augmented fourth, augmented fifth, diminished fifth, 
 or minor sixth, will at a glance easily remember that the 
 finger tips should be stopped quite closely together in 
 order to obtain these intervals, as double stops dead in 
 tune ; while perfect fourths and major sixths will be 
 stopped with finger tips a full tone apart, major thirds 
 one and a half tones apart, and minor thirds two tones 
 apart, that is a semitone wider apart than major thirds. 
 Strange as this latter might appear to a harmonist with 
 no knowledge of violin fingering, it is very simple and 
 easy to understand for any violin player with a correct 
 knowledge of the different intervals. So soon as this is 
 attained there can be hardly any difficulty for the least 
 advanced pupil in playing double stopping tolerably 
 near the mark, or even correctly in tune, at a rather 
 slow tempo. 
 
 The beginner will find it difficult at first even to keep 
 the bow evenly on two strings from one end of the bow 
 to the other. This should be practised first on two open 
 strings very slowly up and down and afterwards crossing 
 strings at the change of stroke. 
 
 To gain a beginning at independence of finger in 
 elementary double stopping a " slow shake " on thirds is 
 very beneficial. That is, for example, on the third and 
 fourth strings (first position) B and open D played alter- 
 nately with C and E, keeping the second finger down all 
 the while on B, and pressing down firmly and then 
 raising as high as possible the C and E several times in 
 succession. 
 
 Other alternate thirds may be practised in the same 
 manner. Scales played in thirds, sixths, octaves, etc., 
 with long detached bows, and afterwards slurred, are 
 indispensable towards independence of finger in double 
 stop playing. In nearly every book of studies, as well as 
 in most of the difficult solo pieces, are to be found double 
 stopping passages of all kinds in abundance. To men- 
 tion only a few: "Mazas," "Spohr's School" and other 
 
 D
 
 34 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 schools, " Kreutzer," " Fiorillo," " Rode," " Gavinies," 
 "Alard," " Dont," "David," "Schradieck," "Paganini," 
 etc., etc. With such a rich store of studies to choose 
 from, together with the few preceding remarks as some 
 slight guide, the merely ordinarily talented student should 
 feel it possible, with proper practice, to arrive at some- 
 thing very near perfection in double stopping.
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 35 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Bowings. 
 
 SMOOTH BOWINGS SOLID STACCATO SPICCATO 
 
 SPRING-BOW MIXED BOWINGS. 
 
 AT this point of the student's progress I should 
 advise, as the next important step, a thorough 
 study of the various kinds of bowings. Roughly 
 speaking then, these may be classified under the 
 following headings : Smooth Bowings, Solid Staccato, 
 Spiccato, Spring-bow, and a great number of what may 
 be termed special Mixed Bowings, usually made up of 
 two or more of the main or "staff" kinds just mentioned. 
 
 Smooth Bowings also include, besides plain up and 
 down-stroke, a considerable number and variety of the 
 same, mixed with notes simply tied with the ordinary 
 slur. Smoothness is essential to this class of bowing, 
 and it is this quality which makes it entirely distinct 
 from the other three main classes, etc. 
 
 A very common error I may here mention, which is 
 certain to waylay the inexperienced student, is that of 
 regarding a dot placed above a note as invariably in- 
 dicating that it should be specially played staccato. 
 Careful judgment must decide as to whether the dot is 
 merely a sign, contradictory of some slurring amidst the 
 entirely smooth class, or whether the special character 
 or importance of the note or notes really demand any 
 
 D 2
 
 36 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 marked staccato. As is very frequently the case, a dot 
 may mean no more than that the note over which it is 
 played must not on any account be slurred to its neigh- 
 bour and that is all. 
 
 Perhaps several notes in a long passage will be dotted, 
 which in like manner means little more than that slurring 
 these dotted notes is strictly prohibited, the dotting 
 having no reference to staccato proper. The most 
 obvious of all instances where this meaning of the dot 
 may be safely followed is where the speed of the 
 passage prevents any possibility of the usual plain solid 
 staccato being observed. 
 
 The proper manner of indicating these one-note-to-a- 
 stroke smooth bowings, if necessary at all, would be by 
 a short horizontal stroke above the note, making it 
 clearly understood that they belong neither to the 
 staccato nor the other classes. The part of the bow 
 generally taken for smooth up and down stroke (non- 
 slurred in contradistinction to staccato) passages, is the 
 upper half (middle to point) and as much of it as possible, 
 according to the speed allowed. 
 
 In order to keep the bow parallel with the bridge, the 
 back arm i.e.. from the elbow upwards must not be 
 allowed to move backwards and forwards with each 
 stroke, but should be kept steady while the FREE move- 
 ment of the elbow-joint allows the fore-arm to manage 
 the straight running of the bow, with corresponding free 
 and ready assistance from the wrist. It will hardly be 
 necessary here to repeat what is the correct motion of 
 the wrist in this class of bowing, as I have already done 
 so in a previous chapter. I will merely add that in 
 crossing strings the hand will be raised in crossing from a 
 higher (or front) to a lower (or back) string, and reversely 
 dip or bend downwards when crossing from a lower to a 
 higher string, and this whether for up or down bow. 
 
 Preliminary to giving an explanation of the several 
 varieties of pure staccato, spiccato, etc., and how they 
 are all conquered, I will make a few remarks of my own 
 upon the subject of the elbow and its relation to tone
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 37 
 
 management, as also to the flexibility of the wrist. The 
 question is doubtless often vaguely pondered, at what 
 height or distance from the body should the elbow be 
 kept whilst playing, without preventing either the freedom 
 of the wrist, or the drawing forth all shades of tone 
 from the loudest ^ to the most delicate touches. Should 
 the elbow be kept near the side, or held high, or how ? 
 It would be absurd for anyone to lay down the law 
 either way, as clearly, each will be found to possess its 
 special advantages on certain occasions, whilst neither 
 method can be said to answer advantageously as a regular 
 mode to be adhered to on all occasions. 
 
 If we follow the method actually practised by the 
 greatest public performers we shall, both for delicate as 
 well as for loud playing, rather incline towards an out- 
 ward arching of the arm that is, we shall allow the 
 elbow to be just sufficiently distant from the body to 
 form a very slight curve of the arm from the shoulder 
 to the wrist. Then, again, there are the players 
 who adhere rigidly to the elbow being close to the 
 side ; and again, those who can only play with the 
 opposite extreme of elbow being kept high all the while. 
 Both these latter methods are exaggerations of the 
 correct method, and they hinder to a great extent the 
 proper action of the wrist, and, besides altogether 
 hindering the possible performance of certain bowings, 
 give generally a disagreeable stiffness to the performance 
 and an unnecessary awkwardness to the performer. 
 Numerous examples of the species flourish everywhere. 
 Need I comment further on what seems to me utter 
 narrow-mindedness on the part of those who practise 
 and believe in these extremes ? Certainly the one 
 extreme is about as " sensible " as the other the possi- 
 bility of doing some of the most useful bowings being 
 barred to either the elbow close to the body or the 
 opposite extreme. 
 
 After due consideration of the advantages of the 
 different methods, one comes to that usually safe alter- 
 native, the happy medium, for all occasions except
 
 38 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 where, of course, special means must be used to bring 
 out special effects. To become successful in this middle 
 course, or what seems to be the most natural method, is 
 simply to allow the elbow to form, if anything, a very 
 slight outward curve from the body at a little distance 
 from it. Of course, only when playing with the upper 
 part of the bow will this curve be noticeable. I wonder 
 what can be said of those who still insist on their pupils 
 practising with the upper part of the arm tied to the side, 
 intended, no doubt, as a drastic measure in correction of 
 the opposite extreme of the high elbow. As often as not, 
 however, it misleads the thoughtless student to imagine 
 that the perfection of the bow-arm depends solely upon 
 the degree of closeness maintained by the elbow against 
 the side while playing. 
 
 The sooner, however, the student learns to avoid these 
 unnecessary extremes, except as I have mentioned, on 
 occasion, the better will it be for his or her advancement. 
 
 Now let us pass on from these few preliminary hints 
 and special remarks to that most valuable and delightful 
 species of bow-technique Staccato. 
 
 Both in effect and execution it differs strikingly from 
 what violinists understand as spiccato as well as from 
 spring bowing. Still there are so many different kinds, 
 degrees or shades of each as to almost admit of some 
 shades of the one main class being indistinguishable 
 from remote shades of the other main class, practically 
 forming a connecting link of shades midway. The 
 simplest of all is the plain up and down stroke, one-note- 
 to-a-bow, solid staccato. This I will explain first. 
 
 Solid staccato requires at first very slow and careful 
 practice in order to acquire the precise method by which 
 it can be produced. To obtain a vigorous crispness of 
 bite at the change of stroke, without any of the clumsy 
 scratchiness one so often hears, some attention to the 
 following instructions may be of assistance. First, take 
 either the upper half or the upper fourth part of the bow. 
 Commence, say, with a down bow. Place the bow on 
 the strings ready to draw the first stroke, but before
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 39 
 
 drawing it, take care to press down the stick through the 
 medium of the first finger, so that the hair touches the 
 stick in the middle. After this careful preparation the 
 bow will be ready to move for its first stroke. Now, 
 always bearing in mind firmness without scratchiness at 
 the change of stroke, release the pressure at the instant 
 of moving the bow, and draw the bow rapidly and 
 smoothly to the point for the first stroke. Then again 
 resume the pressure between each stroke at the instant 
 of stopping the bow, and also as before release the 
 pressure the instant of moving for each stroke. 
 
 More than ordinary rapidity of stroke is necessary in 
 order to save sufficient time towards the pressing down 
 process in between strokes. The difficulty is to manage 
 all this with neatness and to avoid scratchiness of tone. 
 Careful and slow practice according to the foregoing 
 directions will accomplish this. It will be found necessary 
 to give a little extra pressure to the bite of the up- 
 stroke ; this being more difficult to effect than the down- 
 stroke, the extra pressure will tend to equalise the two 
 in firmness. 
 
 This species of staccato may be summed up as being 
 a very precise, martial kind of bowing (martele, ham- 
 mered, as the French style it). It is not extensively 
 used, even for slow staccato, and still less in any 
 passages except those at a moderate pace. 
 
 Its rapid performance seems to be defined by the 
 time necessarily occupied towards the preparation for 
 the bite. Still, for firmness and emphasis, as well as 
 for crisp lightness, it forms an indispensable feature 
 amongst the great expressive resources of the instru- 
 ment. It can be executed at any portion of the bow, 
 or by taking the whole bow for each stroke. 
 
 Solid staccato at a rapid tempo is usually done by 
 slurring several notes in one bow. The process of 
 execution almost precisely resembles that of the foregoing, 
 except that greater delicacy is here a necessary feature. 
 When a large number of notes are slurred in one bow, 
 the amount of the stroke for each note is so small that
 
 40 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 the wrist will have to perform the pushing of the stroke, 
 as well as the pressure for each bite. 
 
 This alternate looseness and pressure is by no means 
 easy of mastery. There must be just sufficient of the 
 one to avoid scratchiness, and the same degree of the 
 other so as to maintain regular clicks without allowing 
 the bow to run away unsteadily. This slurred solid 
 staccato, like a perfect trill, is said to be a gift. Some 
 players can only manage the extremely rapid staccato, 
 over which they seem to have very little stopping control. 
 By far the most beautiful and most useful is the 
 moderately quick staccato of Spohr and Vieuxtemps. 
 
 Players who can do this form and speed of solid 
 slurred staccato are the real, legitimate, staccato players, 
 and no speed except the prestissimo kind comes amiss 
 to them. Slurred spring-bow (proper), however, amply 
 supplies the deficiency, and is more appropriately 
 adapted for any staccato effects that are quicker than 
 the ordinary allegro movement. Therefore those who 
 are unable to do staccato in all tempos up to allegro 
 cannot be said to be possessed of a staccato proper 
 (of the solid slurred kind) at all. Joachim is* a promi- 
 nent example of a great artist, but with an imperfect 
 solid slurred staccato, just as Lady Halle is of one 
 who possesses it to perfection. Unfortunately I never 
 heard Wieniawski, though I suppose he was an isolated 
 example of one who was able to do legitimate staccato 
 at any speed up to prestissimo. A marvellous accom- 
 plishment if achieved by practice, but I think there is a 
 great deal in the gift. All the same, a moderate amount 
 of practice is absolutely necessary in order to obtain 
 facility even in tempi up to the ordinary allegro. 
 Nothing becomes rusty more quickly than proper 
 staccato, and happily nothing is so easily polished up 
 when once acquired. 
 
 The slower the staccato, of course the more bow 
 can be used for each note. There is a slight difference 
 in the effect of slurred staccato when done with a down 
 * See footnote on page 30.
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 4! 
 
 bow as compared with the more common up bow 
 generally taken. Certainly the down-bow runs more 
 smoothly, but it is not quite so clear and piquant as the 
 up-bow. Therefore the up-bow is nearly always used 
 for slurred staccato in preference to the down-bow. 
 The up-bow is easier at the upper half of the bow, 
 while the lower half suits the down bow best. Before 
 attempting this slurred staccato, a thorough mastery 
 should be made of the preceding " one note to a bow," 
 and then the various two, three, four and eight notes, 
 etc., to a bow. 
 
 Spiccato is a lighter kind of bowing than solid 
 staccato. The characteristic sharp bite of the latter is 
 dropped and its absence is replaced by the bow actually 
 bouncing off or leaving the string slightly between each 
 note. Although generally known as one-note-to-a-bow 
 light staccato it may be slurred, several notes to a bow, 
 as in the last movement of the Mendelssohn Concerto 
 and elsewhere, when the effect becomes still more 
 closely akin to ordinary solid slurred staccato, though 
 not quite the same. 
 
 Slight variety may be obtained by the length of stroke 
 varying from a mere touch to being a couple of inches 
 long. The longer-stroked (and heavier) spiccato is done 
 anywhere below the middle of the bow, while the shorter 
 and more rapid spiccato is easier at, or near, the middle 
 of the bow. This latter is the common ordinary, or 
 " Moto perpetuo " variety, to the satisfactory perform- 
 ance of which every loyal amateur and many a 
 struggling professional longingly aspires. It is of most 
 rare occurrence to find a violinist of the modern French 
 school deficient in this or any other kind of bowing. 
 Neglect in this respect is amongst the German and 
 English players. The more classical schools give 
 scant encouragement to the cultivation of spiccato 
 proper. Spohr excludes it altogether, and though 
 passages in many of the classical compositions of the 
 great masters lend themselves on occasion to this 
 manner of bowing, yet had it not crept into use through
 
 42 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 the medium of such men as David and Joachim it would 
 without doubt long ere this have been condemned and 
 crushed by the extreme wisdom of would-be critics. 
 The heavier kind of spiccato is* one of Joachim's 
 specialities, and whenever opportunity affords he does 
 not hesitate to introduce it. What a relief it forms to 
 the stolid monotony of everlasting solid bowing ! Any- 
 one listening to Joachim's rendering of a sonata, etc., 
 will at once note the endless resource it affords him, and 
 will feel what a boon it is that critics, so-called, dare 
 not forbid its use, because it is fostered by the very 
 model from which they must needs base -their argu- 
 ments. Nor is the lighter kind of spiccato despised 
 by modern classical violinists, Bach's Senates affording 
 ample opportunity for its introduction notably the well- 
 known Prelude in E (Sonate No. 6). Here again, Joachim 
 sets the example, and everywhere with regard to the 
 adoption of medium and heavy spiccato throws off much 
 of the timid reserve which might otherwise be established. 
 The difficulty in this, as in all other bowings, as Dr. 
 Joachim once casually remarked to me, is to hold the 
 bow moderately firmly while allowing the wrist to be 
 free and loose. Not that it is necessary to hold the 
 bow very firmly for spiccato. That would be impossible. 
 The first and fourth fingers need scarcely any pressure, in 
 fact the fourth might be dispensed with almost entirely. 
 The bow is held rather firmly with the second and 
 third fingers, and should be placed on the strings a little 
 below the middle and without any pressure, drawn 
 entirely by the wrist unaided by the arm, down and up 
 stroke rather quickly, using perhaps an inch of bow. The 
 effect will be a smooth pp orchestral tremolo. After this 
 preliminary practice, by which the angle of the wrist is 
 obtained, keep to one note only and the same part of the 
 bow, and again with a still arm raise the bow, entirely 
 by the wrist, about half an inch or less from the string 
 before each down stroke, taking care that both up and 
 down stroke must be done entirely by the movement of 
 * See footnote on page 30.
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 4J 
 
 the wrist. After this a third preliminary would be 
 similar to the last, only this time commencing with the 
 ^-stroke and lifting the bow off the strings before each 
 up-stroke. 
 
 Now try the first exercise of Kreutzer, playing each 
 note twice i.e., down and up stroke to each note this 
 being a considerable simplification and only afterwards 
 play each note once. Of course it is possible to com- 
 mence straight away without any preliminary exercises, 
 but then there is the danger of learning up to a certain 
 point of proficiency but with a semi-stiff wrist. A little 
 trouble, with my hints respecting preliminary exercises, 
 will save much labour and worry, and at the same time 
 insensibly lead the student and striving amateur into 
 the correct method of making spiccato to order as it 
 were at any given moment. We will now pass on to 
 spring-bow proper a la Paganini. 
 
 Spring-bowing slurred is essentially a light tripping 
 kind of bowing, on account of which and owing to the 
 mathematically equal nature of its clicks it is chiefly 
 suited to music of a trivial and gay, frolicsome character. 
 It runs along with equal stress on each note except 
 at the beginning of a group (slurred) the natural 
 springiness of the bow having full play or nearly all 
 its own way. The difficulty is to manage so as not 
 to hinder this natural elasticity on the bow's part, but 
 rather, after first giving it a vigorous start, to be able 
 to prolong or check the bouncing at will. 
 
 Paganini is noted for having executed most of his 
 staccato passages in this mode, in preference to the 
 more solid kind pertaining to Spohr and the old classics 
 of his period, a fact bespeaking the rapid rate at which 
 Paganini must have taken his staccato. He evidently 
 regarded slurred spring-bowing as the most natural 
 manner of effecting slurred staccato at tempos accele- 
 rated beyond the allegro moderato natural to the quickest 
 slurred solid staccatos. That " mongrel kind " of 
 rapid solid " staccato " often " scrambled " as a trick 
 by players with no gift for the natural solid staccato
 
 44 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 proper, though certainly solid and rapid enough, is un- 
 certain of accomplishment, even up-bow, and wanting 
 in variety of speed and piquancy. Therefore, regarded 
 in the light of being an extension of solid slurred 
 staccato, it cannot compare with rapid slurred spring- 
 bowing. 
 
 As solid staccato suits best for moderate tempi, so 
 spring-bowing is most suitable for very rapid tempi. 
 
 The production of spring-bowing is immensely facili- 
 tated by an elastic and finely balanced bow. 
 
 The principle is that the right arm should conduct 
 itself so as to allow the bow to bounce on the strings as 
 long as it will. 
 
 To do this the bow must be thrown on the string with 
 sufficient force to start the bouncing. 
 
 It may perhaps be as well here to mention that if the 
 bow be a good one care should be taken not to become 
 too enthusiastic, nor to try to start the bouncing too near 
 the head, as this part of the stick's "anatomy" is always 
 more easily broken than mended. 
 
 Of course the louder and the greater the number of 
 notes to be played in one bow, the more force must be 
 used in throwing the bow, and the reverse for a lesser 
 number of notes played softly. The bow should not at 
 first move onwards, but simply bounce for the first few 
 notes, the wrist being kept perfectly steady and not 
 necessarily loose at all. A kind of gently-sustained 
 pressure at about the point at which the bow should 
 commence moving onwards will materially assist the 
 continuance of the bouncing. 
 
 Up and down bow are both produced in the same 
 manner, but, as is the case with solid slurred staccato, 
 the down-bow will sound slightly less piquant than the 
 up-stroke. 
 
 To gain the requisite quantity of bouncing for so few 
 as from two to eight notes (slurred), played alternately 
 up and down-bow, all that will be necessary is a mere 
 jerk of the wrist at the change of stroke, and chiefly at 
 the down-stroke. The elasticity of the bow will do the
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 45 
 
 rest if the wrist and arm can only abstain from any 
 clumsy pressure. 
 
 All spring-bow varieties of arpeggios are done in the 
 manner just described, the only occasion for any special 
 looseness of wrist being at the change of stroke, in order 
 to raise or lower the hand. 
 
 In arpeggios the hand from the wrist will be raised at 
 the change of bow at the back string and lowered at the 
 front string. Crossing strings in spring-bowing must be 
 done with a still wrist, and thus it forms an exception in 
 this respect to most other kinds of bowing. 
 
 There are bowings made up of slurred, etc., with 
 slurred spring-bow, which, however, really come under 
 the heading of " mixed bowings." These will be next 
 explained. 
 
 It will be unnecessary to enter into minute explana- 
 tion of all the mixed bowings in use, when we reflect to 
 what an endless number the list would extend. There- 
 fore, after what has already been said of the regular or 
 staff bowings, the student will have to rest content with 
 the citation of a few notable examples, which will be 
 specially selected on account of their peculiar mode of 
 execution, and for the rest merely a few general remarks 
 must suffice. 
 
 To produce some kind of systematic order in the 
 different varieties, we will commence with general re- 
 marks and an odd illustration or so on the more common 
 mixed bowings, and then first those special kinds played 
 chiefly at or near the point, and next those played near 
 the middle and heel of the bow. The beginner will do 
 well to make at once a mental division of the bow into 
 eight equal parts that is, conceive as nearly as possible 
 the half way or middle between the lower (heel) and 
 the upper (point) part of the bow. Then the half way 
 between the heel and middle, and also between the 
 middle and point. These would be upper and lower 
 fourth parts at point and heel and above and below 
 middle. These fourth parts, again equally sub-divided, 
 become eighth parts. Such are the divisions a violinist
 
 46 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 must constantly have in his mind. Small portions such 
 as eighth parts are usually sufficient for short notes, 
 as quick quavers, semiquavers, etc., while for notes 
 double the length, double the quantity of bow should be 
 used. According to this, if a quaver receives an eighth, 
 a crotchet will require a fourth, a minim a half, and a 
 semibreve the whole length of the bow. These are the 
 lengths which may be taken in a general way, but 
 various matters may influence one way or another the 
 extent of the portion to be used. For instance, in quick 
 tempi, a note will require less bow than in slow tempi, 
 also the degrees of softness or loudness required cause a 
 lesser or greater amount of bow to be used. Of course 
 two quavers tied together will take just the same 
 amount of bow as would their equivalent, a crotchet, 
 and in like manner any number of short notes slurred 
 would follow the same principle. 
 
 Most students, and more especially beginners, will 
 find it very much easier to slur a great number of notes 
 in a given length of bow played softly than when 
 played loudly. This is because the softer the passage 
 the less will be the pressure required and the less the 
 risk, therefore, of grittiness of tone caused through want 
 of steady equality of pressure. It is only when the 
 bow has to be used sparingly that loud playing is at all 
 difficult. On the other hand, immensely more difficult 
 is it to play softly when using long sweeps of bow. 
 Quite early in the violinist's course is this difficulty 
 experienced, of drawing the bow softly across the 
 strings and of playing loudly while sparing the bow, 
 at the same time it may be mentioned how infinitely 
 more easy is the reverse process, especially of playing 
 loudly and using long stretches of bow. It means hard 
 work muscularly. Many of the soloists who have earned 
 a name for " great breadth of tone " have only main- 
 tained it in pieces admitting of lengthy strokes of the 
 bow to every note long or short. This is not possible 
 in Spohr without violating the composer- violinist's own 
 bowing-markings. Thus big-tone players avoid Spohr,
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 47 
 
 or else play him throughout mezzo-forte and with hardly 
 any variety of tone. I will further remark upon these 
 peculiarities of tone production. It will be safer, cer- 
 tainly, for the beginner, to try to learn the medium 
 quantity to be used on most occasions, remembering that 
 for loud passages, or a crescendo, more bow than ordinary 
 may be used, and the reverse for soft passages and 
 diminuendos. As examples of simple mixed bowings 
 ordinary slur mixed with plain, smooth, single note to 
 a stroke the following will suffice as specimens, the 
 principle being the same in all similar cases. 
 
 * * ; - 
 
 jt r rTj ^^^ 
 
 tO L^-gg I H 
 
 For Example I. take the upper fourth part of the bow 
 nearest the point. Draw the bow to the point for the 
 first two notes, use only an eighth part for each of the 
 next two notes, and then return with the next note to 
 where you started (the distance of a fourth part from 
 the point). Again, for each of the two notes following 
 use only an eighth part, and so on. The second example 
 and the first are very similar. For Example III. either 
 the entire length of the bow may be used or simply half. 
 If the entire length, draw the first three tied notes to the 
 middle, use an eighth part for the next note and draw 
 the bow to the point for the following two notes slurred, 
 and then use an eighth part for each of the two semi- 
 quavers. The next remaining eight notes, being bowed 
 exactly as those described, will require the same propor- 
 tionate lengths of bow, only commencing here with up 
 bow instead of down bow. 
 
 However little bow is taken, whether half or a fourth, 
 the proportion will be about the same as I have explained.
 
 48 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 These examples are very simple and ordinary, but an 
 explanation seems necessary when so many players will 
 insist on using as much bow for a semiquaver as for 
 two or three tied in one bow, never realising the 
 possibility of any natural division of the length of the 
 bow. Nevertheless, this is the first step towards a 
 mastery of bowing. 
 
 Leaving these general remarks and their illustrations, 
 we proceed to the special mixed bowings in proper 
 order : 
 
 For the first of these three examples it will be obvious 
 that the same quantity of bow will have to be used for 
 the short demi-semiquaver as for the longer dotted 
 semiquaver, otherwise the student will soon find himself 
 travelling towards the heel of the bow. In order, then, 
 to use the same quantity of bow for both, and still make 
 the second note sound three times shorter than the first, 
 the second note must simply be drawn just thrice as 
 rapidly as the first. This would be all right if the 
 second note were not meant to be staccato. When this 
 is the case the first note should be drawn quite as rapidly 
 as the second, in order to save sufficient time to prepare 
 the bite for the other. 
 
 This is the process : commence with up-bow at the 
 point drawn smoothly and rapidly, taking for the first 
 note anything under an eighth part of the bow. Stop 
 the bow in order to prepare the sharp bite for the short 
 second note, which must sound very staccato, and take 
 care to make neither stop nor break between this and 
 the following rapid smooth up bow, which is a repetition 
 of the manner in which the first note was done, and each 
 succeeding up and down stroke is done precisely as 
 the first two. The wrist will be flexible except at the
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 49 
 
 moment of preparing the staccato bite, and the right 
 hand will be turned upwards for the rapid short down 
 bow stroke. 
 
 No. II. is a similar kind of bowing to No. I., except 
 that the slurring produces a variety in the effect, just as 
 the difference in character is distinguishable between 
 any ordinary regular succession of down and up strokes. 
 This is, whereas in No. I. all the dotted semiquavers are 
 up bows done with not more bow than the demi-semi- 
 quavers, in No. II. more bow may be taken for the 
 dotted note which comes in the same bow with the short 
 note, the two slurred together being played alternately. 
 The first note is smooth and the second staccato, the 
 mode of execution being the same as in the preceding 
 example, except that the two are tied in one bow, which 
 brings a staccato note on the up bow, and a smooth note 
 down bow, instead of all the smooth bows being the 
 same way. At least double the quantity of bow will 
 have to be taken for No. II., and indeed in slow tempos 
 half or nearly the whole length of the bow may be 
 taken. In this instance, whenever the bow nears the 
 heel in the up-stroke, it will be better to raise the bow 
 from the strings slightly between the long and short 
 notes slurred this is to avoid any grittiness. 
 
 No. III. resembles No. II. in having the first of the 
 two tied notes merely smooth and without bite, while 
 the second of each two tied is made very staccato ; also 
 more bow must be used for this second note than for 
 the first smooth note. The upper portion near the point 
 is usually taken for this bowing, but it may also be done 
 at or near the middle of the bow. 
 
 Placing the stress on the second of the two notes 
 tied is at first somewhat puzzling to beginners, but this 
 is usually soon overcome. 
 
 It is a kind of bowing not so frequently introduced 
 into solos as it might be. Rode, Spohr, David and one 
 or two others have odd short passages of its vigorous 
 characteristic rhythm, yet much more use might be 
 made of it.
 
 5O VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 Our next three bowings will follow exactly the same 
 principle of execution as the previous one, namely, the 
 accented note will be the last of each group tied to- 
 gether, slightly more bow being taken for this accented 
 note than for any of the other notes. The first note 
 of any of the tied groups will again be smooth, and 
 the remaining notes in between, simply ordinary slurred 
 staccato. 
 
 The following three bowings are done at the point, in 
 order to obtain the accent on the first note resembling 
 staccato. This is the martele of the French " with a 
 vengeance," as the bow for this accented note up-bow 
 at the point may be raised each time and be thrown on 
 the strings, hammering the notes, though really, I 
 suppose, the French expression is more applicable to 
 some methods of piano playing, from which the idea 
 possibly originated : 
 
 I. 2. 
 
 9 
 
 Of course these three examples may also be played 
 at the middle, when the bow will not be raised, sounding 
 not nearly so firm. The third example can also be 
 taken at the heel, commencing down bow, when the bow 
 will be raised for the accented notes as at the point.
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 The next examples are played at the middle portion 
 of the bow, No. i being a combination of semi-staccato 
 and spring-bow, and No. 2 of ordinary slur and light 
 slurred staccato. 
 
 (I.) Allegretto. 
 
 V P-N 
 
 feg^e 
 
 / ~ s -f"""g5! f*5B 
 
 
 .II.) 
 
 It is possible to commence Example I. down-bow, 
 but, as here, with only two notes slurred spring-bow, it 
 is far more usual to commence with the semi-staccato 
 note up-bow so as to bring the two notes (spring- bow) 
 with a down-bow. 
 
 The first note is very nearly as firm as solid staccato, 
 and, as indicated by the short rests in the first bar, the 
 bow must leave the strings by a slight screwing round 
 of the hand and wrist. The next movement is to screw 
 the hand back with a jerk of sufficient force to make 
 the bow bounce a little more than required for the 
 two notes. This produces the first two bounces very 
 strong and clear, after which a sudden pressure sufficient 
 to make the hair touch the stick will stop the bow and 
 check any possibility of further bouncing. At the same 
 time the heavy pressure which checks the bouncing at 
 the second bound also forms the preparation for the 
 staccato bite of the following short up-stroke. Then, 
 again, repeat the spring-bow, etc., over and over again. 
 
 Similarly, if there were three notes, spring-bow, the 
 bow would be brought to a sudden standstill after the 
 third bounce, and the pressure used for thus checking 
 the bouncing would form a most piquant staccato bite 
 for the up-stroke. 
 
 E 2
 
 52 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 When there are as many as four or more notes in the 
 slurred spring-bow, it may have a more piquant effect 
 if the spring-bow be contrived so as to fall on the up- 
 bow, or alternately down and up. However, this is a 
 matter of choice for the performer to decide himself. 
 
 All that need be said of Example II. is that the two 
 notes slurred staccato are up-bow, and are not played as 
 firmly as solid staccato, nor yet by throwing the bow on 
 the strings like spring-bow. The bow must leave the 
 strings for each note and make a separate movement 
 for the same, just as if the bow were kept on the strings 
 as in solid slurred staccato. The effect is a kind of 
 fluent light staccato, or what we might term the " De 
 Beriot " staccato. Of course here are merely two notes 
 of light slurred staccato. Up-bow suits it best. When 
 more are tied together in one bow and played in the 
 same light manner something between solid staccato 
 and spring-bow, but neither one nor the other really a 
 very pretty bright effect is produced, as say in the last 
 movement of De Beriot's seventh and best concerto 
 and elsewhere amongst his compositions. 
 
 In rapid tempo, forte, a passage like the following 
 would be done spring-bow proper a little below the 
 middle of the bow, where spring-bow retains all its 
 natural equality and gains strength : 
 
 Allegro vivace. 
 n v>" ^ . 
 
 The same or similar passage at a slow tempo would 
 require nearly the whole length of the bow for the three 
 notes of the triplet, merely stopping the bow to separate 
 each of the three notes by the gentlest break possible. 
 A. moderate tempo would require perhaps a separate 
 bow for each note, at any rate if slurred not quite so 
 springy as the above allegro vivace. These few remarks
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 53 
 
 on so simple an example only serve to show what a 
 variety of methods there are of playing the same 
 passage under various circumstances, and how much 
 judgment is necessary to obtain the best possible 
 effect. 
 
 Chord-playing is at first learnt at the heel with nothing 
 but down-bows, lifting the bow off for each successive 
 chord. This could be done, though not necessarily 
 entirely, with the wrist, using two or three inches of 
 bow quite at the heel. The effect is very non-legato, 
 and suitable chiefly for any very marked emphasis. To 
 gain a more sustained or singing effect of the chords 
 a regular or occasional alternating with up-bow will be 
 advisable. The character of the phrase, passage, or 
 piece will be the best guide as to which kind of bowing 
 is required, and then wherever an up-bow is necessary 
 it should be contrived so as to be taken for chords which 
 are accented least. When two full chords follow each 
 other, both requiring a strong accent, down-bows for 
 both will be preferable so long as the tempo is slow 
 enough to allow for the loss of time in lifting the bow 
 off for each chord. 
 
 (Chacone) BACH. 
 
 " n 
 
 v 
 
 In most cases where the chords are not clearly of 
 a heavy or abrupt, slightly detached, nature, it will be 
 seldom necessary to sustain more than one or two 
 parts, chiefly the upper part (or note) of the chord, and 
 it is then possible to play the chords, treating the other
 
 54 
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 unsustained notes like a double or a single long grace 
 note, thus : 
 
 (Caprice) PAGANINI. 
 
 i , &C. 
 
 -- -M- - I , &C. 
 
 y :\ i .^'^A-* -Jj ii p= 
 
 W=f** ^M=^=|5^tP^k^ 
 
 P 
 
 * K 
 
 or, V 
 
 BACH. 
 
 instead of, 
 
 1 J-A 
 
 &C. 
 
 1 
 
 r 
 
 Should, however, the lower notes happen to form part 
 of a melody in a chord passage, these should be sus- 
 tained after the bow has touched the rest of the chord 
 in the usual manner, thus : 
 
 v BACH. 
 
 j lU^y^jtej 
 
 or ' 
 
 r 
 
 instead of, 
 
 
 
 It would be practically impossible with the ordinary 
 arching of the bridge to sustain all the notes of a chord
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 55 
 
 at the same time with good effect. For playing three 
 or four-part chords Ole Bull resorted to a flat-topped 
 bridge and succeeded in producing a good effect. 
 
 Clowns and the like manage to play some simple kind 
 of tune arrangements in three or four-part chords by 
 merely drawing out the screw from the bow, and so 
 placing the hair underneath or between the strings that 
 with the assistance of a well-neglected rosiny stick all 
 four strings may be sustained simultaneously. Nothing 
 artistic can be attained by such imperfect tricks. A 
 single violin was never intended for the performance of 
 quartets or trios, though by considerable ingenuity duets 
 are accomplished with satisfactory results. 
 
 Chords, when bowed so that the notes come one after 
 another, form arpeggios. These were explained under 
 the heading of spring-bowings. Some arpeggios, are, 
 however, not played with spring-bow. They are merely 
 slurred in different ways or mixed with ordinary non- 
 slur or other bowing. But whether legato or spring- 
 bow, the method by which the equality of the one or 
 the bouncing of the other is obtained is, by allowing the 
 right hand to be raised at the lower strings and dipped 
 downwards at the upper strings, and this whether it be 
 up or down bow. This will seem strange at first, being 
 somewhat at variance with the motion of the wrist in 
 ordinary long bowings on one string. 
 
 After all, the object of the wrist moving at all is 
 mainly to save the impracticability of a great deal of 
 unnecessary raising and lowering of the arm in crossing 
 the strings or in keeping the bow parallel with the 
 bridge. All the awkwardness of a beginner's arm is 
 the result of trying to accomplish straight bowing and 
 string crossing by wrong movement of the wrist. Once 
 this is correctly understood the arm will be saved half 
 its labour. For instance, in arpeggios it is quite 
 possible, though clumsy and faulty, to do them after a 
 fashion with a motionless wrist, gaining all the bouncing 
 entirely by the movement of the arm and at the down- 
 bow alone.
 
 56 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 But to gain the correct amount of bouncing with both 
 up and down bow, touching each string equally and 
 clearly, the above described correct motion of the wrist, 
 together with a good jerk at each change of the bow, 
 will be found immensely more to the purpose. The arm 
 will no longer have the appearance of superfluous hard 
 work and small results, but will appear to be doing 
 wonderful things with ease. This is of course one of the 
 surest signs of an accomplished player. I may say as 
 regards arpeggios, that they are the simplest of all 
 bowings, and if, instead of struggling to master them the 
 amateur would try to understand the simple method by 
 which they are accomplished, his ambition in this respect 
 would be no longer unrealised. 
 
 It would be useless to merely multiply examples of 
 special bowings. Those already given, with the expla- 
 nations of all the various stock-bowings, should form 
 a perfectly sufficient and sound foundation for the 
 correct understanding and performance of any other 
 variety of combination that may come before the intelli- 
 gent student.
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 57 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Tone Production. 
 
 CHARACTER OF TONE RULES AND CONDITIONS NECES- 
 SARY TO PRODUCE A GOOD TONE STYLE AND 
 EXPRESSION. 
 
 THE study of Tone Production will now receive our 
 attention. 
 
 The student will wonder what I am going to 
 say on this subject. 
 
 It must not be imagined that any hints can be given 
 by which a violinist may acquire a tone better than his 
 own, and at the same time out of harmony with his 
 temperament and character. However much a violinist 
 may practise or study to improve his tone, the most he 
 will gain will be ease and certainty of method. Actual 
 character of tone is so much a part of the player that 
 the same peculiarity may be distinguished in him from 
 the very beginning to the end of his career, however 
 much or little the early rasping or later polish may 
 tend to disguise it. 
 
 The student's aim, therefore, should be to gain cer- 
 tainty and facility of method rather than to try and 
 imitate some other character of tone than his own. The 
 inferiority of one's tone in comparison with another's 
 may not be entirely due to the character of one's tone 
 being at fault, but may be merely that the method of 
 production is so crude as to quite prevent one's taste 
 having fair play.
 
 58 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 Take, for instance, two players, the one possessing a 
 fair amount of genuine talent and the other only a scant 
 allowance. Suppose the former has been taught on 
 impossible principles from the commencement and the 
 latter on the most fluent lines. What will be the result ? 
 The one of lesser talent will surpass the other in the 
 effect he produces. There may be little character in 
 the tone he produces, but it will be more pleasant to 
 listen to than the disagreeable scrape produced by the 
 hampered method of the former. 
 
 There are many violinists who have a natural aptitude 
 for acquiring all ths faults that can possibly be taught 
 them, while some few others with more common sense, 
 seem to avoid many of the errors of their master's 
 teaching. Why do the latter class escape ? 
 
 Because they have taste, and this directs their efforts 
 towards acquiring a certain ideal tone of their fancy. 
 They would produce this tone of theirs in simple 
 passages even were their arm wooden and as stiff as 
 a poker. Then again, the constant effort at producing 
 this same ideal tone-quality in more complicated 
 passages tends to release them from the bondage of 
 some of those faults in method which, if they were 
 blindly to labour under them, would cause their strivings 
 so long to remain unsatisfactory. 
 
 Those, then, who in spite of partial faultiness of 
 method manage to produce a good toue in simple 
 passages, may conclude they possess talent for tone 
 production. But even the more talented will find their 
 best results much more easily gained by acquiring a 
 correctly-trained method. 
 
 It is only those artists whose method is perfect who 
 are able with absolute certainty to produce all the tone 
 effect they desire. 
 
 True, the difficulty would be increased by a crude or 
 thin-toned violin and flabby or stiff bow, or lessened 
 by a full, rich-toned violin and a strong, elastic bow. 
 Still it is far more often due to the player than to the 
 instruments that better results are not obtained.
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 59 
 
 Now what are all the rules and conditions necessary 
 towards good tone production in whatever kind of pas- 
 sage ? All the explanations already given regarding 
 holding the violin and bow, together with the position 
 of the right arm and wrist in the many varieties of 
 bowings, form the main ground-work of good tone 
 production under all circumstances. Certain additional 
 hints and suggestions which I will presently give may 
 be of service. Brilliance, power, delicacy, nuances, 
 shading, etc., depend on the character of the player and 
 the shape and touch peculiar to each player's hand and 
 wrist. Usually if a player believes in brilliancy he will 
 play thus. If cold and powerful or rigid he will play in 
 this manner, and generally have a large tone and so 
 forth, while a broad character will possess all or most of 
 the qualities combined. It is the latter broad character 
 of violinist which we should strive to imitate if we desire 
 to play almost every style of music. The man with 
 nothing but brilliance to grace his playing would not be 
 very acceptable in the more gentle or contemplative 
 styles, and the massive-toned player would probably 
 fall short in delicate nuances, etc. The most talented, 
 however, usually only excel naturally in one or two 
 styles, and therefore in order to become all-round players 
 have particularly to cultivate the rest. The qualities of 
 tone most difficult to effect are loud tone with slow bow, 
 soft tone, crescendo, diminuendo, sforzando and general 
 accents. The many different methods of producing all 
 these make it a difficult matter to lay down any law 
 amounting to a set rule even for any particular occasion. 
 
 The following may be regarded as safe hints : For 
 ordinary medium tone, not much pressure will be neces- 
 sary, and only a correspondingly moderate amount of 
 pressure from the resisting grip of the thumb. The 
 bow will travel about an inch from the bridge on the 
 second string, nearer the bridge on the first and fourth 
 strings and a shade over an inch on the D. That 
 is, the thinner the string the nearer may the bridge be 
 approached without producing a grating tone. The
 
 6O VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 bow should always be well tilted over at the heel and 
 gradually assume a non-tilted position by the time the 
 down stroke reaches the point of the bow. This latter 
 may be regarded as a strict rule in producing medium 
 tone and may be frequently disregarded in the production 
 of loud tone. The louder the tone the nearer the bridge 
 is the usual plan. In allowing that position of wrist 
 (unbent) at the heel which brings the hair flat on the 
 strings, more power is gained, but great care will be 
 required to avoid the slightest scraping. It should be 
 resorted to only for very coarse effects. 
 
 Greater pressure of the first finger on the stick, and 
 greater rigidity of thumb pressure, etc., are also neces- 
 sary for very loud, sustained, tone production. For 
 soft playing the reverse process must be observed : the 
 stick held gently and with absolutely no pressure, and 
 with the wrist curved in the extremest degree even at 
 the point and the bow removed far from the bridge. 
 Very soft flutey tone is produced when the bow is 
 removed slightly over the fingerboard. 
 
 Making a gradual swell from one end of the bow to 
 the other is usually most easily effected with an up- 
 stroke. This should be so contrived whenever possible 
 by altering the writer's bowing marks in pieces requiring 
 such revision. Many of the principal classics for the 
 instruments have, however, at least one good edition 
 with all suitable fingering and bowing for the student's 
 requirements. Great command of the bow is necessary 
 for making crescendos, even when taken with the up- 
 bow, but much more difficult will be found a down- 
 bow crescendo. In any case the bow will be placed a 
 good inch or so from the bridge as in pianissimo, and 
 well tilted over, gradually becoming less tilted as the 
 stroke swells to forte, and at the same time moving 
 nearer the bridge. It is well to be economical with the 
 bow in crescendos, reserving the greater part for the 
 loudest portion of the stroke. 
 
 Thus the bow will move very slowly at the beginning 
 of a crescendo for about a third part of the bow, and
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 6l 
 
 then the speed will accelerate in proportion to the 
 pressure and loud tone required. Exactly the reverse 
 of the crescendo process is practised for producing a 
 decrescendo. The position of the arm has a great deal 
 to do with facilitating the crescendo and decrescendo. 
 This then would be a slight raising for the soft portion, 
 and lowering towards the loud for a crescendo, and vice 
 versa for a decrescendo. But mind very slightly as a rule. 
 
 Ordinary sforzandos can be attained in several ways. 
 The bow may be set firmly on the strings or simply be 
 let fall on them, or pushed or drawn. The heel or the 
 point are most commonly chosen for any of these methods, 
 but other parts of the bow are equally suitable. 
 
 In the first method care must be taken to set the bow 
 on the strings without too much bite or scratch, unless 
 a very harsh sforzando is required, and the same 
 care must also be taken in " dropping " the bow on the 
 strings. The pushed sforzando is used when no crisp- 
 ness of attack is intended. Many degrees of force may 
 be used just as occasion may suggest from the most 
 furious down to the merest emphasis. The soft sfor- 
 zandos or common accentuations of notes require little 
 more than the slightest extra force or crispness, or 
 perhaps a trifle more of the bow. Some surprising 
 results are obtainable through means of the many 
 varieties of sforzandos, but the highest skill is essential 
 for their production. 
 
 The above hints on tone production, etc., and the 
 method of improving same, are almost as much as can 
 be explained of those means by which great violinists 
 embellish their playing. Like colours to the painter 
 artist unless they are used properly and in the right 
 place the effect will be without life or meaning. This 
 giving life and sense in the use of the great variety 
 of expressive resources is the highest and most exacting 
 task of the violinist. Most violinists think they are 
 solo players by the time they are capable of technically 
 correct bowings of a few of the classical masterpieces. 
 They little dream what a great deal there is to learn
 
 62 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 after mastering the technique. It is one thing to be 
 able to execute a passage and another to give life and 
 sense and beauty to it. The latter can only be accom- 
 plished when, on the top of a perfect technique, the 
 feeling and musically reasoning powers have been 
 thoroughly educated and then developed by years of 
 varied experience. Feeling is innate. It improves and 
 enlarges with time. Musical reasoning is the result of 
 study and perfects the style and taste. Most violinists 
 of talent have a certain amount of feeling even if they 
 have no idea of style. They then play all composers 
 in their own manner. But supposing they were cultured 
 musicians, with sufficient critical knowledge of the 
 leading composers to be able to reason musically con- 
 cerning the manner in which any particular passage 
 should be performed, then their style generally would 
 be improved and would possess variety. 
 
 There are also several distinct methods truly " Violin- 
 istic," containing peculiarities of their own, which have 
 been handed down from their originators. In order to 
 gain a clear idea of each one purely and separately 
 from the others it is necessary to hear players exactly 
 representing each distinct style. The majority of players 
 nowadays make a confusion of several styles or methods, 
 and play without regard to the composer whose works 
 they happen to be performing. Spohr, Vieuxtemps 
 and others, besides Paganini, all originated fixed styles, 
 though unfortunately little is known of the best part 
 of Paganini's style. He left his posthumous composi- 
 tions evidently without any bowing marks or fingering, 
 and those editions which have since been fingered, etc., 
 are certainly wide of the mark. Critics should bear 
 this in mind in criticising Paganini. If there had been 
 no charm in Paganini's style and method, how is it that 
 with even the pieces he left behind him he entranced all 
 Europe great musicians included ? What would a 
 piece of Vieuxtemps sound like were we similarly fixed 
 as we are with regard to Paganini's compositions ? 
 Fancy no fingering nor bowing to the music and no
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 63 
 
 teacher to give any idea of the rendering! The charm 
 would be lost, because it would be almost impossible to 
 conceive what effects were intended. Fortunately we 
 are in a different position with other composers than 
 that in which we are with Paganini, as there are many 
 teachers living who have themselves heard, or who have 
 had handed down to them, the exact style and method 
 of rendering their works. Besides, their printed bowing 
 and fingering marks are less vague than those in 
 Paganini's posthumous compositions. 
 
 Style and expression are indeed great studies, and 
 intensely absorbing to the true artist. 
 
 It takes a thorough artist to fully appreciate an artist 
 from all points. The general public only appreciate a 
 few striking characteristics perhaps mannerisms and 
 certainly would never have the curiosity to go and hear 
 a player at all but for the enterprising catch-penny 
 newspaper-puff tricks they may have swallowed. 
 
 I should hardly include among the " G.PJ' such lovers 
 of music as those who, though unable from want of 
 training to judge of minute differences of good or bad 
 points, yet possess sufficient instinct to form a fairly 
 accurate estimate of a player. 
 
 Important among other features connected with tone 
 and expression is the natural power to produce ordinary 
 vibrato. Like slurred staccato and trilling it is a natural 
 gift and should require no explanation. It is almost 
 impossible to the beginner and comes without any special 
 practice to the player usually after one, two or more 
 years' study. 
 
 It should not be attempted before the student becomes 
 fairly advanced as, if forced or attempted in any other 
 than the natural way, it is sure to sound very bad indeed. 
 
 Great pressure from the finger hinders its accomplish- 
 ment as does any gripping of the hand whatever. I 
 may here mention that many teachers and works give 
 it as a rule that the fingers should always press down 
 the notes firmly. Hence the anxious student falls 
 slavishly into the habit of gripping every note like a
 
 64 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 vice. In rapid passages this is exceedingly good, but 
 if everywhere adhered to, many would be the lovely 
 effects lost when one should more gently press down the 
 fingers in slow or moderate tempi. Slow vibrato, soft 
 tone, and gentle pressure of finger go together, while the 
 increase of the speed of the vibrato should be accom- 
 panied by firmer pressure of the finger and louder tone. 
 
 Should beginners desire to hear themselves trying 
 vibrato on a note, they may do so by resting the head 
 of the violin against a wall, or on a table, for a while, 
 allowing the hand to shake regularly from the wrist. 
 
 There is a peculiarly rare kind of vibrato very weird 
 in effect done by an alternate pressure and non-pressure 
 of the finger always however touching the string. This 
 is a thousand times more difficult and less useful than 
 the ordinary vibrato. 
 
 Vibrato varies according to the shape of the hand or 
 temperament of the player. Some can do it equally 
 well slow or fast, while to others it is impossible except 
 the fast variety. Here, then, is the same peculiarity 
 between one and the other which we noticed regarding 
 natural slurred staccato, and evidently, as I have before 
 remarked, some relationship exists between the two as 
 also between them and the natural trill. To a certain 
 extent all three more or less defy that old nursery maxim 
 bidding us if not succeeding to " try again." Of course 
 the player must not conclude that the gift is not there 
 merely because first results are disappointing. Perhaps 
 he has not yet arrived at that state of technical pro- 
 ficiency requisite for the easy production of natural 
 vibrato. Then again, see to the method of holding the 
 violin, etc., etc., being correct and suitable to the 
 formation of the hand. This done, even those who do 
 not exactly possess much real gift for it eventually more 
 or less accomplish the vibrato. 
 
 There is no fixed rule as to where or on what notes to 
 use vibrato, but being a special kind of effect for ex- 
 pressive purposes it should not be used without the 
 utmost discretion as to the quantity and place. There
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING 65 
 
 are many places or whole passages where it would 
 sound insipid and ridiculous. Yet how many players 
 have the habit of wagging their hands with less reason 
 than a dog wags his tail, as it pleases him. 
 
 Trilling can be done like vibrato in two ways, from 
 the finger aided by the wrist, or entirely by the finger. 
 
 Except in very rapid trilling the latter way never 
 sounds quite so round or so even as the former. The 
 best trilling finger is the third, but occasionally the 
 second is preferred. Trilling with the fourth is not 
 often required. The trilling finger must come in contact 
 with the string moderately firmly after each raising. 
 
 The height at which to raise the finger depends on the 
 rapidity of the trill. For extremely rapid trilling the 
 finger should barely leave the string at all. This is 
 more difficult than it may seem. 
 
 Loose-jointed fingers have the advantage for rapid 
 shaking. Violinists who are naturally stiff-jointed may 
 soon improve their trilling, as practice loosens the joint. 
 
 But I doubt whether even practice will bring such 
 fine results as simply possessing loose-jointed fingers. 
 Sarasate's equal, rapid, and bird-like trill could hardly 
 be rivalled except by excessively loose joints. 
 
 These natural advantages generally manage to give 
 other players a long start. But if loose joints have the 
 best of it in matters of rapid velocity, firm joints have 
 the advantage in many other ways, such as grip in 
 gliding, double-stopping, etc. So it is certain that one 
 man cannot possess everything to perfection. 
 
 A slight accent on short trills slurred among other 
 notes usually helps the production of the trill. 
 
 As a rule, when the note following a trill ascends, the 
 trill should be finished off by the ordinary turn. Not so 
 when it descends, unless the trill happens to form the pen- 
 ultimate of a section of apiece, whenaturn should be made. 
 
 Double trills are made on thirds, sixths, and octaves, 
 the fingering is the same for all three, viz. : followed 
 by | except when an open string can be used % *. 
 Double turns are usually accomplished by shifting back 
 
 F
 
 66 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 the I a note, this not being necessary in the first position 
 giving the required turn. 
 
 Most of the explanations so far have dealt with the 
 technical part of the art of violin playing, that is, they 
 have endeavoured to direct the student how to execute, 
 and how to know whether he is either teaching or being 
 taught, the correct means employed towards a techni- 
 cally thorough and sound performance. I am aware 
 that the majority of violin students find it no easy 
 matter to grasp even the technical part of violin playing 
 without the aid of direct illustrations upon the instru- 
 ment, and then constant after supervision from an 
 experienced master. Still, though it is difficult, it is 
 quite possible to the talented student to learn all that 
 has been herein explained. It may have to be, so to 
 speak, " drummed " into him. Where this fails the 
 student must be indeed poor in talent. Looking at the 
 matter in a high sense, we may lay it down as a rule 
 that to learn to play the violin with merely technical 
 perfection is less dependent on talent than on the 
 qualities of the teacher, except in a few cases where the 
 pupil has an ear and little brains, or is merely deficient 
 in the musical ear. 
 
 The remaining features of violin playing, such as a 
 thorough system of fingering and the application of the 
 same, and of all the various bowings and other technical 
 means best adapted to bringing out the several methods 
 characteristic of the widely differing recognised schools 
 or styles, a thorough analysis and explanation of har- 
 monics and other peculiarities specially typical of the 
 giant of violinists Paganini these, and divers other 
 hints and suggestions suitable to each individual student's 
 case, are best learnt from verbal explanations, aided by 
 the immediate advantage of hearing and seeing the 
 teacher's illustrations upon the violin. Really and truly 
 must it be said that such teachers as are competent for 
 this purpose are, as every good violinist knows, few and 
 far between. Yet the fact that several violinists with 
 only mediocre talent are actually able to play in
 
 VIOLIN PLAYING. 67 
 
 public at good concerts proves all that has been above 
 maintained. Of course this class of " made " players 
 must never be confounded with the born artist. The 
 difference is, however, easy enough to be distinguished, 
 if only by the repertoire. Pieces containing any of the 
 features by which a true violinist can be known, are 
 usually avoided by the " made " player. The Mendels- 
 sohn Concerto is one of those pieces that can be, and is, 
 drawn upon by any class of violinist, hence it figures in 
 nearly every examination syllabus, or, in its absence, 
 pieces with the same absence of the true test of a 
 violinist. No inference should be drawn that the writer 
 has any contempt for this class of solo far from it 
 or that he deprecates the craze for examinations. Of 
 the latter, however, perhaps the least said of some of 
 them the better, at any rate from this pen. 
 
 Style is as dependent on fingering and bowing as is 
 the latter on style, each special style requiring special 
 peculiarities of fingering and bowing. This is why a 
 system of fingering would be of little use if learnt in a 
 technical way. Like bowing it is best learnt in connec- 
 tion with style. 
 
 I have already hinted that there are certain pieces 
 particularly suitable for the student's purpose, and fre- 
 quently while they form the best examples of each 
 particular style, they happen at the same time to be the 
 choicest and most favourite inspiration of the composer 
 suitable for the platform. To understand style in violin 
 playing it will be absolutely necessary for the student 
 to go through a thorough course of such pieces with a 
 master of the art. 
 
 After each style of solo playing has been mastered 
 there is yet a vast field for study among chamber music. 
 This, being the purest style of composition in every 
 respect, will require an extra pure style of performance. 
 The first violin part is not always the chief melody, and 
 therefore will frequently have to sink itself to allow the 
 other parts to come to the fore. Much care and restraint 
 is necessary towards this mode of performance, and an 
 
 F 2
 
 68 VIOLIN PLAYING. 
 
 extraordinary amount of judgment in order to give the 
 requisite intensity of expression without marring the 
 general deliverance or ensemble effect. 
 
 In England there is little encouragement towards the 
 practice of chamber music. Where music is worshipped, 
 as on the continent, chamber music is not so much 
 neglected. Music is their chief "god" on the continent. 
 On our island a bit of grass and any kind of a ball forms 
 the chief national excitement. Our public is very useful 
 to those who wish to " gull " and the same course is 
 open to every one. The only pity is that it does not 
 offer any field for the improvement and encouragement 
 of art. We must see what can be done to alter matters 
 in the future. In England the chief thing which attracts 
 a crowd to a "popular" chamber concert is the fact that 
 two stars are down for Bach's Concerto for two violins 
 not that this old fashioned work offers much scope for 
 any new rendering or any very extraordinary ensemble 
 or anything else. 
 
 As yet we have had no English violinist who has 
 formed a school or style that might be termed the 
 " English School " in the sense that we speak of the 
 French and German Schools, etc. In conclusion let us 
 hope, then, should any such style be originated in the 
 future, that it will be founded on the best features of 
 technique and the choicest touches of inspiration con- 
 nected with our nationality more can not be boasted 
 by any folk. 
 
 THE END.
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles MAY 4 1989 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 
 UNIV. OF CALIF LIBRA
 
 000614451 3 
 
 MUSIC 
 
 URPAJBf 
 MT 
 260 
 D86 
 1915