Front matter
John Matthews translation
AUGENER’S EDITION, No. 9212.
HANDBOOK OF VIOLIN PLAYING
BY Prof. CARL SCHROEDER
TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY J. MATTHEWS
WITH AN APPENDIX CONSISTING OF A GUIDE THROUGH VIOLIN LITERATURE AND A CHAPTER ON THE VIOLA
FOURTH EDITION
AUGENER Ltd.
LONDON
Printed in England.
CONTENTS.
PART I.
The instrument.
page
Origin of the violin 1
The oldest violins 1
Development and perfecting of the violin 2
Prominent makers of the present day 3
Attempts at improving the violin 4
Search for the discovery of the old Italian makers’ secrets 6
Distinguishing features of the old Italian violins 7
Imitations of the old Italian violins 10
Constituent parts of the violin 10
Function of the soundpost and bass bar 12
Position of the bridge 12
Amount of pressure on the upper table 13
Dimensions of the violin 13
The wood 13
The varnish 14
The strings 14
Strings pure in fifths 15
The string gauge 15
Preservation of the strings 16
The bow 16
Different parts of the bow 17
Resin 18
Violin cases 18
Price of violins 19
Price of violin cases 19
Price of bows 19
Preservation of the instrument 19
Cleaning the hair of the bow 20
Names of the strings, and tuning 20
Compass of the violin 21
PART II.
The technique of violin playing.
Position of the player 22
Holding the violin 22
Position of left hand and arm 23
Holding the bow 25
Position of right hand and arm 25
Examining the manner of holding 25
Bowing 25
Principal signs used for the left hand and for bowing 27
Employment of up and down bows 28
The first exercises 29
Placing the fingers 30
Exercise in intervals 33
Chords in arpeggio 35
Stretching the 4ᵗʰ finger 36
Various styles of bowing and their signs 37
Arpeggi 41
The close shake (vibrato) 42
The open shake 42
The mordent 44
The double shake 44
Scale playing 45
Fingering of scales 46
Chromatic scales 47
The positions 48
Changing the position 49
Movement of the fingers in changing positions 49
Diagram showing the positions 50
Double stops 53
Chords in three parts 58
Chords in four parts 62
Harmonics 64
Pizzicato 69
PART III.
The performance.
Artistic rendering 72
Taste 72
Individuality 73
Phrasing 73
APPENDIX.
Pictorial representation of the bowing 80
The mute 81
The Vibrator 82
Alphabetical list of celebrated violinists of
the 17ᵗʰ, 18ᵗʰ and 19ᵗʰ centuries 84
Violinists of the 20ᵗʰ century 106
TRANSLATOR’S APPENDIX.
The Viola 107
Guide through Violin literature 109
Guide through Viola literature 179