Paganini 6th Caprice

August 25, 2007 at 04:15 PM · Make little dashes where the beats fall and practice with a metronome. I don't think it's very challenging in that way, although when you see the same thing over and over I don't doubt it's hard to miss a chord change.

I'm about to start this caprice too so maybe it is difficult rythmically.

August 25, 2007 at 04:23 PM · Thanks, Pieter.

It's not even the initial counting that's all that nasty--it's pretty straightforward, but the problem is that to play it at tempo, you really CAN'T count. I've tried practicing the whole caprice through VERY slowly, then with rhythms, the whole bit...and then all of a sudden, in tempo, it all goes out the window and you just want to trill rather than playing measured notes.

Good luck...

September 4, 2007 at 07:28 PM · Paganini's music is no joke. He wrote these pretty much for himself to play them. At the time not many people were at his level, so obviously today I dont think that people realize how incredibly difficult it is to play his music with such precise technique.

If you find it hard to count all of those notes, get used to the sound of them together, and slowly raise the metronome click by click and before you know it, with good practice you will be playing the caprice at a decent enough speed. After years of playing caprices, they get easier as your hands adapt to the awkward positions he puts them in, and your mind is expecting the hard work that you have put in to help the caprice become easier. Just keep practicing; Good practice.

Eitan

July 25, 2013 at 12:12 PM · I dredge up this subject again, since I am trying to again pick away at the problems in the caprices. In #6 the basic problems are big extensions, awkward trills for fingering, and sound distortion caused by widely varying sounding points. Also, at times up to 3 fingers are simultaneously doing different things (kind of like those Dounis finger independence exercises). For instance in Measure 4; 3rd finger trills, 2nd stays down, and 1st slides.

Generally the sounding point has to be to make the top notes of the trills respond. I have noted that some of the sound problems can be mitigated by using a very slow bow, as close to the bridge as possible. However, this can make the sound too big. I saw that Julia Fischer uses a mute in her recording from 2010. What a clever solution!

For the left hand problems, the extensions work better for me when I play more on my fingertips. There are some other solutions I have come up with dealing with single notes. For instance in M.1 if I move my first finger which stops both A and D off the A string, I can finally get an extra millimeter of stretch so I can play the 4th beat in tune.

Any other tricks, secrets, or advice from anyone?

July 25, 2013 at 09:23 PM · Any other tricks, secrets, or advice from anyone?

You did say anyone. I am not an expert on Paganini, but I have tried this caprice and some others. I remember having a go at no. 6 and all I wanted to do was play from beginning to end without mistakes. But as you say there are problems with keeping those hemi-demi-semiquavers in time and playing the chord shapes. If I ever try it again I will practise those techniques separately.

October 29, 2013 at 01:41 PM · What worked for me is to count the number of times my finger lands during the "trill", halving the number I have to count, and getting the feel of that. Even at tempo, it is somewhat too fast to count, but capturing the feeling of the finger contact made can be easier. 3 and 6 is usually easier to count than 6 and 12. Just my two cents. :)

October 30, 2013 at 02:54 AM · No violinist who performs this piece does 12 notes per 1/8 note beat. Just trill.

October 30, 2013 at 08:06 AM · Shannon, leaving aside Paganini's really virtuoso pieces such as the Caprices and concertos, there is a respectably large number of enjoyable and more approachable pieces, mostly short sonatas, that he composed for violin-guitar duo. Almost all of them can be played perfectly well as solo violin pieces.

I'm thinking in particular of the Centone and Lucca sonata sets, many of which were dedicated to, or written for, ladies of the Court of Lucca, some of whom were his pupils.

These delightful salon sonatas are in slow-quick two movement format, the aria-like slow first movements often referring to Paganini's love of Italian opera, and the second movements usually being his own transcriptions of popular songs and folk tunes of the time.

October 30, 2013 at 09:53 AM · Greetings,

I think his Barucaba Variations are among the most neglected works in the violinists`s repertoire. A true repository of virtuoso technique in manageable miniatures,

Cheers,

Buri

October 31, 2013 at 04:06 AM · Then don't count them. No one else I've ever known does and my teacher told me to trill. In fact I think his exact words were "trill until you're blue in the face, and then keeping trilling. Trill trill trill".

March 11, 2016 at 10:13 PM · I am reviving this particular discussion since I have been working on an advanced practice method for working on the caprices. This is what I have for #6 so far. Any thoughts?

PAGANINI CAPRICE 6 PRACTICE ADVICE

Bruce Berg

B=beat

M=measure

1. Play the melody with only the lower note of the accompanying tremolo. Then play the melody with only the upper note of the tremolo. Make sure to also finger the silent note of the tremolo when playing with the upper note.

2. Practice trilling 4, 6, 8, then 12 notes.

3. Practice without trilling to develop dynamics and phrasing, first holding down the lower note of the trill, and then holding down the upper note of the trill.

4. Practice slowly using only 4 accompanying notes to each beat. Concentrate on exaggerating phrasing and dynamics and clarity of sound.

5. Play the melody line while silently fingering the accompaniment. Then finger both parts but play only the tremolo accompaniment.

6. In general play close to the bridge using a slow bow speed.

7. Pay attention to the variations in the sounding point. Generally be nearer the bridge when playing the melodic notes. However, in, for instance, m. 1 position the bow nearer the bridge on the D string than on the A string on b. 3, 4, and 5 in order to make the high D string notes sound. Similarly in M. M. 5-6 when trilling the interval of the 5th, be close enough to the bridge. Or M. 13-16 Move progressively nearer the bridge on both strings. Or in M 19-20 move progressively near and farther from the bridge on the D string while maintain the same sounding point on the repeated G’s.

8. The 1st finger will need to be extended far back in M. 1, 9, etc.

9. Practice measure by measure using the Dounis trill exercises in “Fundamental Trill Studies on A Scientific Basis For Violin”.

10. Utilize the vibrato impulse when necessary to activate the trill. For instance on B4-6 in Measures 1-4 a slight vibrato impulse on each of the beats coupled with a slight pulsing of the bow can improve performance.

11. This caprice could be performed with a mute.

M. 1 Prepare the extension By pushing the 1st finger base knuckle in. Hold the scroll to the left. On B4 place the 3rd finger on the left side of the string and pull the A string to the right so that the 4th, trilling finger does not interfere with the melody line.

M. 3 B 6 push the G string to the left with the 2nd finger to prepare for B. 3 of M. 4 (the 2nd and 3rd finger are at the interval of a 5th.

M. 5 B. 5 pull the A string to the right so the trilling 4th finger does not interfere with the melody line.

M. 8 B. 1 push the 2nd finger to the left so that it does not interfere with the A string and also to make room for the 3rd finger trilling the 5th.

M11 B. 6 pull the D string to the right.

March 12, 2016 at 05:12 AM · Great tips Bruce! Please revive more threads :)

March 12, 2016 at 08:31 PM · I think I have just discovered how to solve a lot of problems in this caprice.

Practice slowly using only 4 accompanying notes for each beat. Pay attention to and understand the finger motions when moving from one double stop to the next one. This is of greatest importance, If for no other reason this becomes a great finger independence etude.

I went through the first 3 measures and came up with this analysis:

*) M1.B3-4 2nd finger lifts, while 3rd finger drops. B4-5 3rd finger slides as 4th finger lifts B5-6 2nd finger drops, 4th finger lifts B6-M2B1 both 4th and 2nd finger lift. B3-4 1st finger slides, 2nd finger drops. B4-5 1st and 2nd finger slide, 3rd finger lifts. B5-6 1st finger moves laterally, 2nd and 3rd finger lift. B6-M.3 B1 2nd finger slides 1st finger moves laterally and slides simultaneously. B3-4 2nd and 3rd lift, 4th drops. B4-5 1st finger slides, 2nd finger drops, 3rd and 4th finger lift. B5-6 1st and 2nd fingers move laterally in opposite directions, 3rd finger lifts.