"At the bottom of all technic lies the scale. And scale practice is the
ladder by means of which all must climb to higher proficiency. Scales,
in single tones and intervals, thirds, sixths, octaves, tenths, with the
incidental changes of position, are the foundation of technic. They
should be practiced slowly, always with the development of tone in mind,
and not too long a time at any one session. No one can lay claim to a
perfected technic who has not mastered the scale. Better a good tone,
even though a hundred mistakes be made in producing it, than a tone that
is poor, thin and without quality. I find the Singer _Fingerübungen_ are
excellent for muscular development in scale work, for imparting the
great strength which is necessary for the fingers to have; and the
Kreutzer _études_ are indispensable. To secure an absolute _legato_
tone, a true singing tone on the violin, one should play scales with a
perfectly well sustained and steady bow, in whole notes, slowly and
_mezzo-forte_, taking care that each note is clear and pure, and that
its volume does not vary during the stroke. The quality of tone must be
equalized, and each whole note should be 'sung' with a single bowing.
The change from up-bow to down-bow and _vice versa_ should be made
without a break, exclusively through skillful manipulation of the wrist.
To accomplish this unbroken change of bow one should cultivate a loose
wrist, and do special work at the extreme ends, nut and tip.
"The _vibrato_ is a great tone beautifier. Too rapid or too slow a
_vibrato_ defeats the object desired. There is a happy medium of
_tempo_, rather faster than slower, which gives the best results. Carl
Flesch has some interesting theories about vibration which are worth
investigating. A slow and a moderately rapid _vibrato, from the wrist_,
is best for practice, and the underlying idea while working must be
tone, and not fingerwork.
_Staccato_ is one of the less important branches of bow technic. There
is a knack in doing it, and it is purely pyrotechnical. _Staccato_
passages in quantity are only to be found in solos of the virtuoso type.
One never meets with extended _staccato_ passages in Beethoven, Brahms,
Bruch or Lalo. And the Saint-Saëns's violin concerto, if I remember
rightly, contains but a single _staccato_ passage.
"_Spiccato_ is a very different matter from _staccato_: violinists as a
rule use the middle of the bow for _spiccato_: I use the upper third of
the bow, and thus get most satisfactory results, in no matter what
_tempo_. This question as to what portion of the bow to use for
_spiccato_ each violinist must decide for himself, however, through
experiment. I have tried both ways and find that by the last mentioned
use of the bow I secure quicker, cleaner results. Students while
practicing this bowing should take care that the wrist, and never the
arm, be used. Hubay has written some very excellent studies for this
form of 'springing bow.'
"The trill, when it rolls quickly and evenly, is a trill indeed! I never
had any difficulty in acquiring it, and can keep on trilling
indefinitely without the slightest unevenness or slackening of speed.
Auer himself has assured me that I have a trill that runs on and on
without a sign of fatigue or uncertainty. The trill has to be practiced
very slowly at first, later with increasing rapidity, and always with a
firm pressure of the fingers. It is a very beautiful embellishment, and
one much used; one finds it in Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, etc.
"Double notes never seemed hard to me, but harmonics are not as easily
acquired as some of the other violin effects. I advise pressing down the
first finger on the strings _inordinately_, especially in the higher
positions, when playing artificial harmonics. The higher the fingers
ascend on the strings, the more firmly they should press them, otherwise
the harmonics are apt to grow shrill and lose in clearness. The majority
of students have trouble with their harmonics, because they do not
practice them in this way. Of course the quality of the harmonics
produced varies with the quality of the strings that produce them. First
class strings are an absolute necessity for the production of pure
harmonics. Yet in the case of the artist, he himself is held
responsible, and not his strings.
"Octaves? Occasionally, as in Auer's transcript of Beethoven's _Dance of
the Dervishes_, or in the closing section of the Ernst Concerto, when
they are used to obtain a certain weird effect, they sound well. But
ordinarily, if cleanly played, they sound like one-note successions. In
the examples mentioned, the so-called 'fingered octaves,' which are very
difficult, are employed. Ordinary octaves are not so troublesome. After
all, in octave playing we simply double the notes for the purpose of
making them more powerful.
"As regards the playing of tenths, it seems to me that the interval
always sounds constrained, and hardly ever euphonious enough to justify
its difficulty, especially in rapid passages. Yet Paganini used this
awkward interval very freely in his compositions, and one of his
'Caprices' is a variation in tenths, which should be played more often
than it is, as it is very effective. In this connection change of
position, which I have already touched on with regard to scale playing,
should be so smooth that it escapes notice. Among special effects the
_glissando_ is really beautiful when properly done. And this calls for
judgment. It might be added, though, that the _glissando_ is an effect
which should not be overdone. The _portamento_--gliding from one note to
another--is also a lovely effect. Its proper and timely application
calls for good judgment and sound musical taste.