Shifting

March 12, 2007 at 3:33 AM

One of the first thing Teacher did to me when I started over again eight years ago was to teach me how to shift. There was some obligatory posture work with the left hand that was very important (that I will save for another day.)

But there were three rules that are of profound importance:

1. All shifts are slow. Teacher prohibited sudden jerks of the hand from one position to another. The shifts start near the beginning of the note one shifts from. Usually the shift can and should be heard and if it should not then the shift is covered by appropriate use of the bow.
2. Shift on a finger on a string. No air shifts. This is actually one of his harder rules. I think we are all used to shifting "in the air" on open strings. He forbids it. There is always a finger down on some string that one shifts on.
3. Shift to a position not a finger. This really means that we shift from a finger pattern to another finger pattern. (See Robert Gerle's book on Practicing for an extnsive discussion of finger patterns.

Kreisler's Praeludium and Allegro is a great piece for mastery of some of these shifting rules.

When I was a teenager I worked on Praeludium and Allegro rather vainly.

The "bariolage" passage on the last page was the very devil. I lifted my fingers off the string on every shift. I couldn't hold them down because they got in the way of the open strings. Shift on a finger on a string!

I didn't have any sense of the finger patterns I was moving to when I shifted. My hand had no shape or posture suitable for the position and my fingers were not formed into patterns. Shift to a position not to a finger!

All the shifts were jerky and quick. Slow shifts on this passage of Praeludium and Allegro are not a problem because one always shifts while the bow is on the open string. All shifts are slow!

I won't minimize the other issues I had to deal with. Hand posture is very important in all shifts and particularly in shifts that cross the bout.

Did I mention that Teacher made me ditch the shoulder rest? This was vital for me. I could not have resolved my posture issues while still using a shoulder rest.

I have changed my posture but the rules are still very useful daily guides to solving left hand problems.

From Emily Grossman
Posted on March 12, 2007 at 8:39 AM

Your teacher sounds like a good one. You should post some of your shifts. :)

From Donna Clegg
Posted on March 12, 2007 at 2:46 PM

It does sound like you have an excellent teacher. I enjoy hearing another teacher's strategies.

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