June 21, 2005 at 6:03 AM

I hate artificial harmonics. I hate them, hate them, hate them. What else in violin playing is SO unforgiving? Your finger's off by a millimeter, and instead of just getting a note that's slightly out of tune, you get either nothing (if you're lucky) or a horrible-sounding, whistling mess.

I suppose I can take solace in that now only about 1/3 of my notes in this section are this horrible-sounding, whistling mess, instead of all of them. But that's only with cheating...I turned all the A's and D's into natural harmonics. My teacher said it was okay. I think that Monti would have written them as natural harmonics if that's what he'd intended, but is there really a difference in the sound? If there is, I can't hear it.

This brings me to a question, though. If you're working on a piece to become a better violinist in general, not necessarily to perform it, do you still always play something the way it's easiest for you? I have a weak and short pinky, so it's hard for me to do 4th finger shifts up on the G string. I sound much nicer when I use the 3rd finger instead, so that's what Virginia told me to do. But I wonder if I shouldn't just work at it until I can do it the way it's written (which I understand is an arbitrary editorial preference), looking at it as an opportunity rather than an encumbrance.

From Rick Basil
Posted on June 21, 2005 at 1:01 PM

For the artificial harmonics(in fourths) try practicing fourths in doublestop scales. Auer suggested practicing this way in his little book. It really helped me get a better feel for playing artificial harmonics.

From Pratik Desai
Posted on June 21, 2005 at 4:42 PM

when i played csardas, i practiced the artificial harmonic section by doing scales with them- example, start with g major on natural harmonic and keep going up the scale- it helps a lot

From Karin Lin
Posted on June 21, 2005 at 5:14 PM

Pratik, thanks for the suggestion; my teacher told me to do the same, and I've been trying, but it's hard to force yourself to practice something that currently sounds so terrible.

Rick, I think I'm missing something. What is the value of playing double stops in fourths, for artificial harmonics? The fingering would be totally different...

From Rick Basil
Posted on June 21, 2005 at 5:28 PM

Karin, I think the idea is to get a feel for the framework of the hand. Play a d minor scale in fourths. Start with playing A on the ging, while playing open d. For a two octave d minor scale I like to use the fingering
1,0
2,1
3,2
4,3
1,0
once you have to make shift just continue using 4,3. Also try practicing scales on a SINGLE string with only the first finger, one octave, then with only the fourth finger, one octave. Artificial harmonics can be tricky at first, but overall it just takes time.

From Karin Lin
Posted on June 21, 2005 at 6:36 PM

I still don't see how the double stops give you a feel for the framework of the hand. Now, if you said "play fourths on one string shifting up the scale", i.e. G-C (0-3), A-D (1-4), B-E (1-4 in 2nd pos), etc., that would make sense. But the 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 progression you describe doesn't keep the hand in the artificial harmonic position.

From Andy Lin
Posted on June 21, 2005 at 6:57 PM

oh man! i was just cursing artificial harmonics last night. I can do them reasonably well on the G, A, D strings, but on the E I get the vilest sound. I'm thinking of just blaming the violin. hehe.

From John Lanceley
Posted on June 21, 2005 at 10:39 PM

Why dont you just play it at a tempo where you can correct each note on the go and get every note right. If you can play it 3 times like this, it is much better than playing it badly 100 times. Also if you straighten your pinky and use the bit where your skin is really thin underneath the knuckle, that will help. Also try sliding all the way up the fingerboard very slowly with a harmonic, just to get the spacing of the fingerboard stored in your memory. Straight, consistent bowing is also vital for harmomics, so play it in front of a mirror at 10 bpm! :-)

From Bob Johnson
Posted on June 22, 2005 at 12:23 AM

Karin,

When I played Csardas for my exam, I had problems on the artificial harmonics part too. A good way to fix this problem is by playing the first note (G and D) separately, and normally, like without harmonics. If you can keep the notation correct for G, then just lift your finger so that the harmonic floats on the string, then get the D accurate, and the squeaky sound goes away. It usually works fairly well,

Good luck!
Bob

From Bob Johnson
Posted on June 22, 2005 at 12:25 AM

Sorry about the extra message again, but anyways, it is a good idea for you to use the 3rd finger for the first part of Csardas, I'm Chinese too, and my teacher says it's hereditary that our pinkys are weak, so use the 3rd finger for a good vibrato and sound. In response to your quesiton, no matter if you're practicing or performing, usually we play the way the sound comes out best. In performing, even if you have to take the long way, then take the long way and result in a good sound rather than a shortcut and make a bad sound

Cheers,
Bob

From kimberlee dray
Posted on June 22, 2005 at 7:47 AM

There's probably nothing wrong with giving something a shot, and practicing--I mean, isn't that what we're all taught "practice makes perfect?" On the other hand, the point is to be able to make a beautiful sound. So, if you can sound beautiful when you shift on a third finger, why mess with the fourth finger? It's all about being able to play the music. Recently I had to agree that I could only guarantee a certain shift in a piece half the time. My teacher told me it was ludicrous to keep drilling that shift. He asked me to play it another way. I did, and to my surprise, after a couple of times through it, I had it down. I play it the second way. No one knows or cares. The effect is the same, except now, it sounds nice because I can play it.

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June 21, 2005 at 6:03 AM

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