Let’s get a bit deeper into the mystery of shifting techniques on the violin. To fully understand what we are doing we have to ask first:
What does it mean to change positions?
Looking at a normal scale we start with the first finger, for instance and carry on up to the fourth finger. Then we change the string and start all over again.
When I shift to the next higher position my first finger hits the string where the second finger has been before. When I go to the third position my first finger replaces the third finger in the first position and so on.
We could play an entire scale just with one finger on one string, sliding upwards for every new note. Every note would mean a new position.
What does a shift look like?
Basically a shift from one position to another consists of three parts:
A note, a movement and a second note. Our shift is complete. The two notes normally don’t make any problems. The most difficult part is the movement between them. And that’s the phase where most mistakes are made.
One of the elementary rules in violin playing is keeping your left hand steady. Keep your fingers directly above the strings, so you can use them instantly. The distance between the first and the fourth finger is the foundation of our left hand, so we can play a fourth at once without correcting excessively.
So never change your hand’s “geometry”, otherwise you would run into intonation problems very soon.
That’s exactly what happens during a shift. You keep your hand steady. There are some points you should note:
- Do not “jack-knife” your wrist
Neither before nor during or after the shift. Even in the 1930s violinists played like this. They learned the wrist had to be flexible like an aquatic plant. Well, flexibility is great but there is a huge difference between flexibility and active wrist movement.
Fortunately nowadays people play differently with much more success.
- Take the thumb with you
That’s another point that changed within the last 50 or 60 years. Before, people changed the position upwards with their fingers first and then with the thumb. Downwards it was the other way round. They first placed their thumb into the right position and the other parts of the hand followed.
That was very complicated and, even worse, not necessary. Shifts are much safer if you move the entire hand, together with thumb, fingers, wrist-watch and nail polish.
- The shift is never jerky
That sounds funny but it’s a mistake I see most frequently. Some people shift as if struck by a lightning. Those kangaroo-shifts are the main reason why people often fail with their intonation.
Always use very smooth and controlled movements. You would never park your car at 30 mph. Chances are good you would crash into another. You would park it smoothly and slowly instead. Same happens with shifts.
In the next episode we’ll have a deeper look into the technical part of a shift.
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Shifting, Violin Lessons
