5 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Left-Hand Violin Technique (but should)
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- Опубліковано 26 кві 2021
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1. You can play with any part of the finger above the top knuckles: i.e. more on the pads than on the tips
2. The faster you play, the less finger pressure is required, Sevcík Op. 1
3. The knuckles should generally angle more towards the scroll (instead of towards the front): usually a result of pressing more with the pads
4. Keep left elbow in front of the violin: even when playing on the e-string
5. You can (and should be able to) release the side of the hand from the neck: assisted by (moving to) the more forward position of the elbow
matur suksma 🙏😇
thanks yehudi
"It's stability not pressure that makes a clear sound"--mind blown. Thanks for another great insight.
I can’t believe how helpful this video is for me. Bloody brilliant teacher! This is as close as you can get to an instant level up 😂🎉
Half the time I think there's something wrong with my left hand, it's really something wrong with my right hand and the tension is rippling out to everything else.
you are the most reasonable violin teacher I have ever seen.
I highly recommend Tobiah as a violin teacher, he is very knowledgeable but most of all 'very passionate' about violin pedagogy and doing his best to pass on his knowledge to his students.
He also goes above and beyond trying to help his students out by using different 'approaches' to each person's 'problems' along the way, from emotional tips to practical ones and he sees violin and music from all angles, a truly 'holistic approach'.
Many out there are talented but not everyone shines as bright, Tobiah is one of the 'shining' ones, you really are going to get very good quality teaching if you hire him as your teacher.
And no I do not get any commission from this statement, I know because I am one of the lucky ones to receive lessons from him :) I know I am in good hands and if I carry on doing exactly as he tells me I know I will become good at playing the violin :)
aku juga mau belajar biola dengan tobiah. tapi rumahku di bali
This is so helpful. Thank you. Clearly explained so it comes across as simple. It’s strange that these things aren’t taught much, well certainly not here in the UK.
Many useful advices for me as a self-taught learner. Thank you so much for your video!
Great video! The thumb location greatly depends on one's hand anatomy, and having thumb under neck doesn't always mean 1st finger releases contact with side of neck , especially if fingers are short.
One thing that's super important, which you mention, is the ability to adjust the hand position! So I hope people are watching this to the end ;)
Great explanations, thanks a lot my bro!!! 😍
Thank you so much for your videos. I hope you can produce more helping all the violonists community
Such excellent teaching - thanks
Honestly, I do get kinda stoked when I find really good content about the right hand, because I've neglected it so much during my development years, which I really regret.
Also, 6:25, wow the producing quality is soaring.
Edit: One channel I really like is the Violinmasterclass Channel, those ancient videos are really informative.
haha, if you had looked at from outside the camera view, it would have looked rather silly. I had awkwardly affixed one of these (m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71iNwni9TsL._AC_.jpg) onto my chinrest. I need to get an actual go-pro for shots like that.
I'll be making a video on the right hand before too long here
@@MurphyMusicAcademy 404 link
@@technicmachine ah, dang it. It was supposed to be a pic of a c920 webcam.
Wow, I'm learning so much from your videos! I've been struggling with a chronic headache now. It started when trying to learn vibrato...clamping with my chin too much. Then just even a tiny bit of weight on the chinrest triggers an immediate headache. The violin wants to slide right down my chest. I'm going to need a chinrest like yours so my chin can be over the tailpiece and a bit to the right of the tailpiece. I think that will keep the violin from sliding. Then I can stop this neck tension headache.
The tip at the end if this video is so helpful... just moving the left elbow over, changes the thumb position for nice vibrato! That's going to help SO much!! Thank you! 😊
Interestingly, I always pay the most attention to the bow hand when watching a performance. It's what I struggle the most with, and I really appreciate fine bowing technique when I see it.
great info. thanks
indeed
Is it possible to play with the pads and still not touch the higher string? For example, while playing an A on the D string, the A string will also ring, creating more resonance. But if the higher string is touched, it is impeded from creating that ring. Are you still able to create that ringing effect while playing with the pads?
thx man
matur suksma untuk videonya. salam dari pulau bali 🙏
Holy... i play at the tip and i occasianlly use the pad especially when doing 5ths and there's something i find pleasing with the pad but my brain automatically says "your finger tripped but that's fine".
A floating hand(tip of thumb under the neck) was my default for 10 months then my teacher taught me to move my hand closer to the neck.
My left hand is my bow hand and my right hand is on the strings
One extra tip is that if a finger feels weird, specially 4th finger and specially on higher positions. is probably the bow fault xd
❤ 😊
So could you say the bow is still the driver of the music, or not?
As the lungs/diaphragm of a singer may not be seen in action but are "partners " of
interdependence in driving the air up thorax before it reaches larynx teeth tongue ?
How can the left hand operate without the right?
Hey Tobiah, since we’re talking left hand. I wanted to retake a comment I posted on the livestream video: Have you read Ruggiero Ricci’s book ‘On Glissando”? I would really like to know your and Brian’s views on it because it does frontally challenge many of the contemporary concepts regarding the left hand .
Oh, yes, sorry I never got around to replying to that. I don't think I've read that one, but I have read his book on Left Hand technique. He has a lot of fascinating ideas that are very much worth experimenting with if you are already a more advanced player, but I wouldn't take what he says as a guide to build up technique from the ground.
I still didn't find a comfortable hand frame for all my fingers. My pinky is way shorter than my 2nd finger, so if I want a curved pinky on 4, my 1,2,3 are all on their tips and reaching back from 4 to low 1st/2nd finger notes feels awkward.
On the other hand, when I play relaxed, like you said fingers 'more towards the scroll' 1,2,3 are more agile and relaxed but I need to stretch my pinky to reach 4.
Shouldn't a default hand frame easily reach all notes?
I have small hands and somewhat short fingers, I've gone through the same problems as you.
What I've come up with is to try and keep the weight or center of gravity between the 3rd and 2nd finger. This leaves my 1st and 4th relaxed.
To try it: just put your 3rd finger and then your 2nd, then gently place your 4th and then your 1st. The key is to feel that the weight is on your 3rd!
I hope it helps
No matter how big or how small someone's hand is, almost everyone has to learn to pivot somewhat (like I showed in the final point of the video). Like all motor patterns in the violin, the pivoting must also be both simple and easily repeatable. One of my old teachers was a Korean guy with a very stubby fourth finger. He had pivoting down to a science and was one of the best players I've every known. I'm currently working with a smaller woman student, and through careful going through Sevcik exercises we are finding the appropriate motion, frame, and position of her left hand frame, and this will certainly involve some pivoting.
This being said, a lot of issues people have, small hands or no, IS in fact due to a lack of flexibility in the fingers, especially the 4th finger. If that can be expanded, then it will also help a lot with finding your proper frame. The very first exercise in Sevcik op. 1 is very revealing on this front, as it uses a low 2nd finger, which a lot of adult learners find difficult. Either they will end up pulling their 2nd finger upwards to where it is comfortable to play the fourth finger, or they will just play the 4th finger flat. You have to learn to (carefully, don't hurt yourself) stretch that part of your hand out. On top of this, a tiny bit of tactical pivoting will go a long way.
@@MurphyMusicAcademy THIS. I was watching this video to solve exactly this problem (small woman struggling with low 2nd finger and 4th. I wanted to know if it was a technique problem or a flexibility one. I have more clarity now. Thanks! I love your videos.
@@psicosupervivencia8570 thanks! Glad to hear!
Hey Tobiah I'm currently working on the arpeggios passage in Vivaldi Violin concerto 3rd movement. I've been approaching it by keeping some fingers on the string at a time but I've been told that doing so causes much tension in the left hand. What are your thoughts?
This is an excellent way to start practice something like that passage in order to cultivate proper hand frame and understanding of the relationships of the intervals and fingers. Whenever I teach this I also have students practice this way, sometimes playing double stops over each string crossing. This being said, the more secure and automatic your handframe becomes, the less you will want to keep your fingers on the strings all the time.
The thing a lot of advanced violinists who give out advice need to remember is that there is a a lot of stuff you do as a younger player (which they have often forgotten about) that serves as a kind of training wheels. Leaving fingers down is one of them. It is very, very useful to teach beginners to leave down fingers and it helps develop the shape of the hand. However, it is in fact true that if you can play without doing that, you will be more dexterous. But, if you try to force someone to play in the more "final form" of technique too early, they won't have the base or understanding to execute it properly, and therefore could end up causing more harm than good.
@@MurphyMusicAcademy thank you for your response. How should I go about getting to this final stage? Is it something that happens naturally as I progress?
@@hopelessviolin4690 more or less, yeah. Building in reliable motor patterns takes time. I’d advise a regular diet of scales, and careful practice of sevcik/schradieck
@@MurphyMusicAcademy Great! Thank you for your advice!
What’s the name of the violinist at 11:57 please?
And thank you for your advices 😊
Zino Francescatti.
And you’re welcome
This pads versus tips reminds me of rock guitarists and classical or folk guitarists. A rock guitarist's fingers are laying all over the fretboard - even the thumb comes up over the top. A classical or folk guitarist works on his finger tips and the thumb is always behind the neck. Why the difference? I think I found out by watching. A rock guitarist seems to play mainly one string at a time whereas classical and folk guitarists play a lot of chords (multiple strings). Playing multiple strings means you have to NOT touch other strings or you will mute the "ring" of the tone. Is that the same with violinists - they mainly play one string at a time? If they play multiple strings (notes) then they go onto their finger tips? Oh, for anyone interested, you CAN play classical music on the electric guitar. Check out Tina S and several other girls playing Beethoven and of course Steve Vai playing Paganini. They've turned the guitar into a piano. Instead of a pick in the right hand, they tap the strings. They also use the pick conventionally, too.
lol nope. I’m a lefty, all my fun is in my right hand but I’m using a little student cheapy.
Thanks again for the reminder regarding the elbow under and forward. As for players that have their thumb under the neck, Filip Pogady plays this way, and in my opinion his sound is coarse and gritty. Not pleasant at all. Though I mean no disrespect to him as an accomplished player, I really dislike his sound.
Pogady has been making some great videos lately, and I really do like his performances, but I know what you're saying about his sound. However, I think that might have something to do with Mic placement. He has his microphone right over the fiddle, and so a lot of extraneous sound that would get "lost in the hall" as they say, is picked up. It's pretty common for soloists to intentionally play this way, as the effect in a large concert hall is very powerful. However, in a small home studio with a close mic, it's a bit scratchy. I don't think that has to do with his thumb placement, though.
You look like Mark Zuckerberg xD
The finger tip vibrato was far more aesthetically pleasing. Y'all classical/romantic musicians abuse the use of vibrato. It makes all your music sound cheesy.
Great tips but Jesus Christ what a toxic tag line.
Music is for everyone and some of the happiest, most joy filled musicians I know are “mediocre”.
And they all have the proper left hand technique in the video.
Id seriously consider changing that tagline.
Make no mistake- musicians are liked but we are just playing games with a toy.
The god complexes and haughtiness are actually what kills joy in music. Not being “average”.
But I get it. You’ve got “secrets of excellence” to sell
Yep. I’m a mediocre musician and I perform almost every week, and I get paid.
I can’t believe how helpful this video is for me. Bloody brilliant teacher! This is as close as you can get to an instant level up 😂🎉