Comments

Thank you for informative articles. I read each one before practicing now. Jazz,
That makes it worth it, thanks for letting me know:-)
D. Hey Drew! Thanks. Though as you well know some of this will beyond me for a while, a lot of it I can use now. (hand shaping, nail faces, smoothness)....

The full and half shifts, I'm sure, will make me better--now.

I intuit, that tweaking (lift>shift>drop) in the spirit of your remarks, may even get me experimenting without my shoulder rest again--I love playing without a rest, but the down-shifting, 'got me'..

Wow...incredibly detailed and specific. Thank you.

Sam

And another thank you, I deeply appreciate your advice.

Ray

So tell us how you feel about Ruggierro Ricci's recent book. :) Dear Sir;
This imformation has assisted me to jump light years... And How Genorous of You! This is a great article to help with those intonation issues! Thanks, and I look forward to other articles in this series. Thank you for your kind remarks.

Al — the most important assist in the downshift is keeping the violin strings level to the floor or 1-3º ascent from the player toward the scroll. Never feel your arm descend in a descending shift. Never have the action of hanging on the violin or pulling down the scroll at any time, anywhere or for any thing.

Another extremely important item is the chin-rest. Even a light shift has friction and the violin should never feel as though it is being pulled away from you. Do not clench. (See my Jaws 3 blog.)

I do not use a shoulder-rest, though I used to all the way into my early-mid 20’s. (This was about the time of the last dinosaurs as I regularly road Bronte around:-) I have a relatively long neck, as I am 6’2” and moderately square shoulders. I give this description so you understand where I come from on the hot topic of hardware. About a third of my students use a shoulder rest of some sort. I am not opposed to them and feel that the player must be comfortable and free to move at all times and in all directions. It really just has to do with physical build and in some cases, desire.

The chin-rest must not be too flat as it comes to the neck. I use a Strad Model by Gotz and have had it slightly modified to raise a few degrees to the left, G-string side. I find this both follows the jaw-line better and the violin remains stable on my collarbone. The chin-rest is center-mounted and my chin is in the air on the right side of the tailpiece. There is enough ridge or hump that fits comfortably behind the jawbone so that there is absolutely no feeling of the violin being pulled out when shifting down — I do not put any pressure on the chin-rest as it is simply blocked by the jawbone.

One other little trick — during up-shifts, sit or stand tall and lift your face fully toward the ceiling. The left hand and arm will support the violin so this should not be attempted beyond the point of their supporting the instrument easily and lightly. Do not arch the back, keep straight and erect. Upon returning to the chin-rest do not let the collarbone or chest fall forward — maintain this position and breathe deeply, not shallow chest breathing.

Personally, I think the chin-rest should be called the jaw-rest.

Jasmine, Sam, Ray, Royce and Holly I am glad to hear that the blog helps. Thank you for letting me know.

Corwin,
I read Laurie’s interview and am interested in reading the book. I think it is on my Christmas list…