Tchaikovsky Swan Lake Suite Fingering suggestions for first violin

April 30, 2013 at 12:21 AM · Hi, I suggest that you try to play them on 7th or 8th position on A string, and you should be fine with a natural high A, on E string and going up. That is because your already there.Then shift down on 5th on the the F# on the A string.Then work on your way up again since there is a repeat of the same pattern.

With regards to the scales, I am looking at the version 9, you can run those the F# as your 1st finger but on the 5th position, then shift down to 3rd, on the d will be your 4th finger, then go back down to 1st when you play A, if your not too comfortable playing all of it on 3rd post, and play open A to nail the quarter note F#.

Hope it helps.

E

April 30, 2013 at 08:05 PM · I would play the passage in the old-fashioned way, entirely on the E-string, something like the following:

As to the scale figure I would just play it entirely in fifth position, the more so because you better stay in fifth position the whole time as the scale figure repeats a few times.

May 1, 2013 at 06:57 PM · For practicality, Jean's suggestion is what I have done before, only that in measure 60 I would use fingers 1 & 2 for A# and B, respectively, and then shift to fifth position on the B#/C with a 1. This facilitates your shift and prevents the sliding first finger. For the rest of the passage, the 4th finger stretches naturally and 3 is a solid follow up.

As for the scale runs, fifth position all the way through falls into place very nicely. Practicality is key. Shifting up and down is not as reliable.

May 3, 2013 at 02:31 AM · THank you all. I just started with another community orchestra that plays the same piece. One problem less to solve.