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] |