An efficient shifting technique is vital for a fluid playing style and will increase your ability to play expressively. Definitions Technical sh… New members register …read more
Shifting
Sirens
Slide a finger along a string with a light touch, like playing an harmonic. This will help develop the fluid left arm and hand movement …read more
Matching Harmonics – Close Up
“Match the bottom harmonic with the top harmonic. Try with the 3rd finger. Try with the 3rd finger on C#.” Begin to add specific landing …read more
Matching Harmonics – Wide
This is a wide view of matching harmonics. Whenever possible leave your thumb at the throat of the violin and notice how the higher you …read more
Take Out the Slide
Shifting could have been called ‘sliding’ as there is usually a guide finger touching the string during the shift. However some shifts also involve ‘j… …read more
Basic Actions with Broomstick
“If we only played the broomstick, we would only need to use a piston shifting action. However, since we play the violin, we can only …read more
1st to 3rd Position Shifting
A basic principle of shifting is that we need to hear the note in our head before we shift to it. You could say that …read more
View of Left Side
This is the same exercise, seen from the other side of the violin. This view is often neglected but it gives us important information about …read more
Release Finger Pressure – Chromatic Scale Shifting
The finger releases to the top of the string, as if playing a harmonic, and the thumb responds by also releasing pressure on the violin …read more
One-Finger Arpeggio
“Make sure you release the pressure of the finger before shifting and listen for the new note before putting the finger down again. Make sure …read more