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Shifting Exercises with Double Stops to Test Intonation

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Shifting Exercises with Double Stops to Test Intonation VERY ROUGH AND PRELIMINARY DRAFT!!! Shifting Exercises with Double Stops to Test Intonation These exercises were inspired by lessons I had from 1968 to 1970 with David Smiley of the San Francisco Symphony. I don’t have the book he used, but I believe it was one those written by Dounis on the scientific or artist's technique of violin playing. The exercises were difficult and frustrating, and involved shifting and double stops. Smiley also emphasized routine testing notes against other strings, and I also found some of his tasks frustrating because I couldn’t hear intervals that apparently seemed so familiar to a professional musician. When I found myself giving violin lessons in 2011, I had a mathematical understanding of why it was so difficult to hear certain musical intervals, and decided not to focus on them in my teaching. By then I had also developed some exercises to develop my own intonation. These exercises focus entirely on what is called the just scale. Pianos use the equal tempered scale, which is the predominate choice of intonation in orchestras and symphonies (I NEED VERIFICATION THAT THIS IS TRUE). It takes many years and many types of exercises and activities to become a good violinist. But I contend that everyone should start by mastering the following double stops in “just” intonation: 1. Practice the intervals shown above for all possible pairs of strings on your violin or viola. Learn the first two first, then add one interval at a time. They get harder to hear as you go down the list for reasons having to do with the fractions: 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 3/5, 4/5, 5/6. Perfect fifth (open strings) Take your bow off the string and listen for the beats. Perfect octaves Open lower string and third finger on upper string Perfect fourths First finger on lower string and open upper string. Perfect sixth Open lower string and first finger on upper Major third Second finger close to first on lower string and open upper Minor third Second finger close to third finger on lower string open upper. Listen to these intervals on a piano and see if you can hear the difference between the “just” scale you earr prefers, and the piano’s “tempered” intonation. 2. These intervals can be used to do scales in a number of different variations. Practice the scale on all strings and in all possible variations: Play them slowly until the intonation is perfect. Then practice them fast and with different bowings and rhythms. 3. Introduction to harmonics and “third position”. The following exercise teaches you to shift, teaches your fingers to be relaxed and in the right position, and above all, will not tire your hands. You can do it when your left hand is too tired for actual playing. a) Place your fourth finger very lightly on the G string EXACTLY at the halfway point on the string. Your hand will be closer to the bridge in what we call fourth position. No other fingers (or anything else) should touch the string. The whistling sound you hear when this is bowed is called a harmonic. The note should be a G. b) Other harmonics are available in first position, which is the not only the beginners position, but also probably the most often used in routine playing by experts. These “first position” harmonics of the G string are: o Fourth finger D o Third finger G o Second finger in “sharp” position B o Second finger in “natural” position D c) On a viola, you might want to use the C string. The “first position” harmonics of the C string are: o Fourth finger G o Third finger C o Second finger in “sharp” position E o Second finger in “natural” position G d) Practice these harmonics and see if you can make a little riff (ostinato) from the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. .
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