Playing F natural on E string
I've been playing violin for under one year and I've had very little instruction. In fact I had one lesson where the teacher showed me how to hold everything. At the time I thought I could figure the rest out by practicing scales... Boy was I wrong.
I've been plagued by many ergonomic problems and I know the best solution would be getting a teacher. That however is impossible until August.
One of my problems which I think can be easily remedied is playing F natural on the E string. When the note comes up during normal play I find it specially difficult to press down. My hand is positioned almost parallel to the neck, and it takes considerable effort to bend my index close enough to my palm to hit F.
What I've been doing to remedy the problem is swing my palm to almost a right angle with the neck, and press the string somewhat from the side. This works fine in the context of a scale (E F G), but not so well descending or out of order.
My question is, how should I play F natural on the E string? Should my palm make a right angle with the neck, is it supposed to be painful, or should I relieve the grip on the violin and put some distance between my palm and the neck? (I haven't liked this solution because I've been told the neck should rest on the "V" created by my thumb and palm at all times)
Replies (7)
Try never to "grip" the violin neck with your left hand, but to keep your hand relaxed so your fingers can "float" on the fingerboard (Are you holding the violin up properly with your chin/jaw?). I'm a little confused as to what you're doing, but I think it is better to have a space between your hand and the fingerboard than to turn your hand away. Your hand deinitely shouldn't make a right angle with the fingerboard, and it shouldn't be painfull. Maybe you should avoid low 1st fingers untill you have a teacher.
I think of 1st position as starting at F#, and as F natural as sort of reaching backward a half step. With me, the hand position doesn't change, the finger just slides back. Can you play a D-F double stop on the A and E strings, keeping the neck against your index finger? If so, that's pretty much what it should look like when you're playing F natural alone. Practice going from F to F# and back. For intonation play it with D or the open A. There are lots of published exercises that work on high and low finger positions in 1st position.
Hi,
Yep, I agree with Jim also - 1st finger natural/flat is just a stretch back from where 1st position is, the hand doesn't move out of position. I wouldn't go for having the palm right angle to the neck of the violin as later on when you play faster passages, or even just more notes on the fingerboard, you'll be flicking fingers out when they're not needed and then throwing them back on when they are needed. The notes would definately be out of tune that way.
Good luck!
Note: the finger motion is the same motion that Darth Vader uses to choke people, using the dark side of the force.
Her point is it's a powerful movement, so use it wisely.
My advice would be to practice F natural in this way:
-hold the violin properly on your shoulder with the weight of your head. Don't squeeze with your chin.
-Put your left hand in playing position by gently cradling the neck and push your hand all the way back to the scroll. Don't squeeze the neck with your thumb. Keep your wrist and forearm as one "straight road."
-Place your 1st finger on F# and bow a few notes. Repeat with 2nd and 3rd finger.
-Once you have all 3 fingers down, you have your "frame" for your hand position.
-Leaving all three fingers down, scoot your 1st finger back and forth from F to F#. This will keep your hand in the proper position.
After doing this for awhile, try playing F and see if it is more comfortable. Think of playing F as "low 1st finger position," that is a backward extension of F#.
Hope this helps,
Keri
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June 5, 2005 at 10:15 PM · When you play the F natural on the E string be sure your finger nail on the first finger is facing you. Imagine you finger nail is a mirror and you're looking at your face in the mirror. Then you have it.