| Arm steering | The movement of the left arm under and around the violin. |
| Balance point | The place along the bow where the weight is evenly balanced. |
| Base joint, Base knuckle | The part of the finger where it joins the palm of the hand. |
| Bow division | Dividing the bowstroke into fractions of the length of the bow. |
| Chain bowing | Overlapping bowing, where you bow across the shift. |
| Collé | A short quick action that requires a clear connection and then leaving of the string so that the note will ring on after the bow leaves the string. |
| Double contact | The contact of the left hand at the violin neck with both the left thumb and the index finger. |
| Finger action, Fingerfall | The placing and lifting of fingers on the fingerboard. |
| Friction | The degree of contact between bowhair and string. |
| Frog (Heel, Nut) | The end of the bow that houses the screw mechanism, where the hand holds the bow. |
| Galamian 3-octave scales | Added notes before and after the 3-octave scale make it divisible by 3 or 4. |
| Gigue, Giga | Music based on a lively dance, in compound rhythm. |
| Give | Allowing a joint of the body to be flexible, rather than holding it tight. |
| Glissando | Audible sliding between pitches. |
| Harmonic touch | Release of playing pressure with the finger while still touching the string. This is the contact used when playing harmonics. |
| Heel (Frog, Nut) | The end of the bow that houses the screw mechanism, where the hand holds the bow. |
| Lower half (LH) | The part of the bow between middle and frog. |
| Martelé | To begin the note the bow grips the string followed by a release during the stroke. Aim for a short sound with lots of resonance. |
| Moto perpetuo | (Italian: Perpetual motion) A piece of music where the tune is constantly moving, usually at a rapid tempo. |
| Nail joint | End joint of finger with fingernail and fingertip. |
| Nut (Frog, Heel) | The end of the bow that houses the screw mechanism, where the hand holds the bow. |
| Overtones | The sound vibrations in a note that are at a higher frequency than the lowest frequency. |
| Passagework | A virtuosic passage in a musical work, often featuring scales and runs. |
| Pizzicato | Plucking the string. |
| Point of contact | The pathway of the bowstroke in relation to bridge and fingerboard. |
| Ponticello | At or very near the bridge. Bowstrokes made here give a glassy sound. |
| Portato | Articulation within a slur without lifting the bow from the string. |
| Practice break | A pause between groups of notes. This is inserted to monitor the group of notes just played and/or program the next group. |
| Pronate | To rotate the hand and forearm towards the thumb side of the hand. |
| Pulsing | Portato articulation within the slur, in evenly measured beats or divisions of the beat. |
| Sautillé | A fast bowstroke where the hair stays in contact with the string while the stick bounces. |
| Shifting | The changing of positions along the violin fingerboard. |
| Simile | Continue in the same manner. |
| Square position | The 'square position' is formed where the bow touches the string at approximately the middle of the bow, so that the forearm, upper arm, violin and bow make four sides of a square. |
| Supinate | To rotate the hand and forearm towards the little finger side of the hand. |
| Travel bowing | A group of notes where we aim to use unequal amounts of bow in order to travel through the bow. |
| Upper half (UH) | The part of the bow between middle and point. |
| Vibrato | A fluctuation of pitch, produced by a rocking motion of the left-hand fingers. It is used to add expressive qualities to the sound. |
| Whole-hand frame | All fingers are available to drop down to the string. |
| Wobble board | A balancing board that you stand on. |
