The cut showing the fingerboard is exacly the size and propertions of the finger-board of the violin. Indeed if it were cut out carefully along the esges of the jet black portion, and pasted on the finger-board of the violin it would produce every note exactly in tunr if the fingers are placed upon the encircled letters.

If you examine the right end of this cut you will find a staff of five lines and four spaces with the G clef sign at the beginning, and under the G string you will find the note G below the 2nd added line showing that thsi G represents the sound produced by the open G string; under the D string you will find a D on the 1st space below the staff representing that this D is produced by the open D string and so on with the other strings.

If this cut is used to paste on the finger-board it must be cut off at the very edge where it is marked "the nut" and this end pasted carefully against the nut (as the little bridge at the end of the finger-board is called.)

Exercise No. 7, is an exercise which teaches the fingersing of the notes on the D string. The 1st note is open D string, played with the whole length of the bow on a down-stroke, the next note is E made with the 1st finger of the left hand, just a trifle more than an inch above the nut, on the encircled letter El F is made with the 2nd finger just as close to the 1st finger as it is possible to put it. See encircled letter F. The next note G, is a full inch above F, ad is made with the 3rd finger on encircled letter G. The next note A, is a full inch above G and is made with the 4th (little) finger on encircled letter A. The small half note in the music beside the whole note A, is put there as a test note to see whether you are fingering in tune or note and also represents the open A string which produces the the same sound A. By lettering the bow touch the open A string it enables you to tell whether your 4th finger is perfectly placed.

Underneath the 2nd note E, there is a figure 1, with a dotted line extending to the next E in the 8th measure; this means that when you place your 1st finger on E at bar 2, you must HOLD IT THERE, and not let it raise until after you have played the E in the 8th measure and the figure 2 with the dotted lines means that the 2nd finger must be HELD DOWN until after you have played F in the 7th measure and the figure 3 with dotted lines means that the 3rd finger must be held down until after you have played G in the 6th measure.

Count: 1,2,3,4 about as fast as a clock ticks or about as fast as your pulse beats.

No. 2 introduces half notes: count two for each half note.

No. 3 introduces quarter notes: count one foreach quarter.

No. 4 introduces the G string which is the same as D string except that the 2nd finger (B) is an inch away from the first finger (A) and that the 3rd finger (C) is as close to the 2nd finger as you can possibly get it, otherwise the same directions apply to the G string as to the D, which are explained above.

back

© 2003 R. Fingerson
contact me