After we leave the third position, the thumb goes under the violin in a horizontal plane. The fingers must fall well over the strings, without unnecessary movements. One may rest the palm in the third position or not, according to one’s physical limitations, but there must be no pressure at the base of the first finger and no depression of the joints of any finger in the positions. All fingers should seek their places at once and remain fixed, unless one is playing vibrato. The character and tempo of an exercise determine how it shall be played. The first finger must always remain near its original place, so that the position may not be disturbed as a whole. Whenever the fourth finger seeks a place, the first should fall at once into its position; that is to say, the position must be mastered. In this étude the bowing is varied, a sure test of mastery of several styles or forms of triplet playing. One thing the teacher must insist upon: that the bow remain usually on the outer edge, also that accents that fall with the up bow shall be well defined. The closing chord, according to the tenets of the Berlin school, should never be played like an arpeggio. Other schools differ in this respect.
No. 10.
This étude is similar in style to number nine. It should be played in the upper part of the bow, forte. In taking the fifth position on the last note, first measure, the first finger passes at once into place and remains there. It is a very common fault, and entirely opposed to a fluent left hand technic, to allow the first finger to be released when playing in the higher positions. Note the Halir exercises for sliding quickly from the third to the fifth position and back. One must remember that the thumb does not press on the neck of the violin, also that it slides at once around the neck of the violin when passing to the fifth position. One must never press with the fleshy part of the thumb. The pressure point is below the joint, on the bone. Also, the chin must relieve the thumb of all care as to support.
The fourth and fifth lines should be practiced near the point of the bow, and memorized. After playing a run several times, the progression is mastered. The player should play the whole passage mentally, then place the fingers on the strings exactly as they will fall. I have often asked my pupils to write down the arpeggios as an evidence that they knew the musical content of certain études. Again we must insist that all the fingers seek a new position at once. The strings should not be pulled from side to side in the higher positions. This causes false intonation. While a fairly free forearm stroke is desired, with accentuated first notes of triplets, the staccato is not usually practical. Too little bow gives no character to the work. Too much bow causes a jerky movement of the forearm. Intonation is difficult in the half-position, hence students must play such passages many times. The fingers must be prepared for what is coming. In all étude work we must read ahead and place the fingers mentally before we come to the next passage. In the half-position work, fourth line, you will observe that the note followed by two slurred notes may be played staccato lightly near the point. A long stroke is dangerous to the freedom of the forearm. We swing the forearm, the shoulder joint being free, the arm following the wrist in passages like this: