Hi everyone,

Having recently sat my grade 3 violin exam (awaiting results), and looking for a new challenge, am just wondering what exercises or studies would people recommend to work on my technique. I am thinking in particular about intonation, dexterity wtih the bow, and left hand positioning which I feel has suffered in my swotting on exam pieces. I am keen to develop good solid basics by working on many studies and would love some recommendations.

I have the Schradiek book 1 which I started to use with a previous teacher so might get back into that.....

Also going to start over with scales to get them really solid, after the recent disaster in the exam, and starting wtih Grade 1 scales revision this evening.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Orla

Not an expert, but a "fill-in" teacher my son had after he passed his Grade 5 felt (rightly) that he needed to work on correcting some pre-Grade 5 faults, and used Schradieck, commenting that even though it was sometimes hard to obtain, she felt it was very useful at that stage...so why not

Viohazard (son) quite enjoyed the Schradieck that he did.



Possibly things that violinists re-think periodically throughout their entire lives?!

Sevcik for left hand (working one measure at a time) and kreutzer for right hand (start with number two, played very slowly - perhaps this is still a little difficult for just now, though? Violin teachers?...)

Adam Carse also brought out some nice books of violin studies that are graded - check them out too, they have exercises for the bow and ones for the left hand.

Enjoy!

Allan

Thanks Allan, I actually have the Sevcik one too I think. Plenty of material just need to get cracking!

I have the Adam Carse book (book 1?) and find they're really nice and accessible without bending you over backwards with dexterity.

I'm also using Kaiser but my favourite book just now is 'Kinsey' which seems to be the correct level of 'push' for me at Grade 3 (lots of position changing etc..)

I've just posted the following on another strings topic, but it is equally useful here, so for the left hand....

Two key objectives in developing the right muscles in the right way:

A good hand shape and position, with the fingers nicely rounded over the strings. Do not let fingers 'stargaze' when they are not in use, ie. point upwards towards the ceiling, or worse still, backwards towards the scroll of the instrument.

Do not play flat-fingered. Apart from looking asthetically unpleasing, it will seriously restrict your hand and the stretch of your fingers. Ensure your fingernails are short enough to allow you to place the finger tips on the strings. Do not let the finger joints collapse flat either. Some people have a tendancy to collapse the finger joint(s) in order to correct their intonation. This is a very bad habit to get into. Intonation should be corrected by keeping the hand and finger shape and moving the finger tip itself.

Sevcik Opus 1 Part 1, exercises 1 to 4 and number 6 would provide a starting point. The exercises require you to repeat each bar several times, eveness and repetition of intonation is your primary goal, and a good hand position will be of enormous help in achieving that goal. The exercises exploit various finger spacings and stretches, some of which may, to begin with, feel a little uncomfortable, so do be careful to limit the time you spend doing the exercises until your fingers stretch and strengthen. The idea is that you repeat the same exercises on all four strings, not just the one the music is printed for in the book! Persevere, it will pay off in the long run...

For the right hand, studies by Kayser or Wohlfahrt. I would avoid Kreutzer at this stage because the difficulty ramps up very quickly and expects a similar amount of dexterity in both hands. Initially it is better to assimilate/hone skills in one hand first and then the other.

Thank you for all the advice. I had a lesson last night and teacher agreed that Schradieck is a good idea. First page to practice until new term starts in Jan with a variety of separate and slurred notes. She had a good look at my left hand positioning and said it was much improved when I was concentrating on it and also looked at movement of right hand/arm. No elbow wiggling.... :-) need to work on that!!

Also have a study exercise to do from Kinsey changing position book. It's shifting from first to third position which should be very helpful, especially as I am starting to learn the Ave Verum piece from the "old" (about to expire) grade 4 syllabus for violin. It was played at my wedding in April so i am quite excited to learn this piece.

Linking to another thread regarding my grade 3 exam experience.....I told the teacher how awfully the scales went and how I was very embarrassed that I didn't realise how secure they need to be - so I am to revise all scales grades 1 -3 during the christmas break and have two new ones from grade 4 to learn as wel - A flat major and A major with the three notes/four notes slurring which is new.

Lots of work - thanks for all your suggestions. I'll take a look at the Sevcik exercises mentioned also and maybe think about getting the Kayser in the new year.

Orla

Yes, Kreutzer is ahead of Grade 3. Save it for later!

Aprrox what grade level is the Kreutzer suitable for? Just so I know where to aim!!

I can't remember when I started it, to be honest... I think I was probably around the G5 ish mark, but I moved back to France in between and no longer have any grade references, so I don't really know.

What do you think, fiddle teachers, is G5 about right to start looking at, say, Kreutzer 2 - it's the shifting that might trip you up though...

I started looking at Kreutzers 2 months after I took G5 and found numbers 2 and 5 a breeze - 3 was harder, haven't looked at 4 yet...8 is on the grade 7 syllabus and that's taking quite a lot of work from me...so I think they vary from grade 5 upwards. But I suppose it also depends how fast you play them - someone of lower standard than grade 5 could probably manage 2 and 3 slowly, as a shifting exercise (they could do 5 too, but it wouldn't be a lot of use for the shifting side of things as it stays almost exclusively in first position).

Approx Grade 5ish - but some are more advanced.

Casorti?

I've just joined the forum having decided to take up the violin again after a loooong time. I'll have to have a dig around becuase somewhere I have both Sevcik and Kreutzer books. I wonder if it's playing them that encouraged me to give up in the first place?

I'm not surprised with Sevcik! There are lots of other better books of studies. Well done on taking up violin again!