Viol Player Book 3 p48. 1, 2, 3
Mrs Nag viol’s crab walking shifts with contracted fingering. A very useful way of getting around the viol! Transferring weight into different fingers to free up the hand and move the rest of the fingers and the thumb to get into a new position. This technique can also be used on string crossing as well.
P49 Mrs Nichol’s Almain with a crab shift
How jumping from 2nd finger to 2nd finger should start to feel wrong in your hand, when using 2nd and 3rd finger in a chordal fingering position should start to more secure and preferable. Useful practice technique: orientate your thinking/learning to right hand and then left, or vice versa. Always try to finger things for thirds to resonate.
Position of the arm on the top string at the tip: keeping the elbow down as a heavy arm equals a loud arm. Holding fingers down and how it should start to feels wrong if you take your fingers off, especially if you are coming back to the same finger.
No 34 The Flat Pavan p49
Starting with the open string version of the music by playing on the string that each note is on, but leaving out the left hand. Planning bowing and for controlled slow playing. Looking at how the 2nd finger on the bow is the loud finger when it presses the hair downwards and the 3rd finger supports the bow hair to enable the string to ring when playing near the heel of the bow and to be able to play quietly. Legato bowing and wrist movement for the quaver passage at the end of the piece.
Category: Jacqui Patreon lessons
P50 Viol Player Book 3
More contracted crab walking shifts. Transferring weight to a single finger to free up the rest of the hand to enable a smooth shift.
Keep an eye on your frets! It is necessary to move them slightly to tune them for 2 reasons: 1. to set a temperament, 2. Where strings are starting to wear out and they stop sharp or flat.
No 37 P 51 Recercada I
Building confidence with shifting from half to first position. Some shifts work with contracted fingering, others are simple shifts, moving the whole hand. Including dynamics when shifting becomes more automatic, so no thought is needed with it. Remembering that when string crossing, it is on the move that moves.
Viol Player books come with play along CDs or downloadable mp3s and are available from;
Viol Player Book 3
• P3 E flat major scale: ‘The scale of threes’ Hand up to enable string crossing with you hand in place on the string. Arpeggio : holding all fingers down together. Play three times and last time with your eyes closed.
• Notes on the G string: and finding the octave below!
• P9 no 9 Grimstock: Chordal fingering to start. Practising pizzicato to feel comfortable and be able to free up head space to work in detail with the bow. Playing elegant (un-clunky) dotted notes by not having too much bow on the quaver after the dotted note. Think of the quaver as an upbeat to the next note. Looking at left hand shape is important for a relaxed thumb.
• P10 Sinfonia Antica tenor part
• How easy music should mean – do lots with the right hand! Bar 20 practising the hemilola. (very similar to B flat major scale). Bar 32 until the end. Looking at hand shape to accommodate the c sharp in bar 40.
• Chapter 2 The Beautiful Bow: How playing with wrist movement increases the resonance. Thumb and stick 90 degrees. Point to the wrist with your left hand and move your wrist towards it. Remembering to keep a heavy arm, so the wrist moves as a reflex action, then doing the same holding the bow.
• Considering Forqueray’s reference to a secure 2nd finger on the bow hair and how that in turn relaxes the thumb and the 1st finger. Checking the points of contact with the bow hair: 2nd finger, base of the 1st finger, under the knuckle and the bow on the string. Demonstrating a back bow, where the back of the hand leads. How to keep the bow parallel with the bridge with wrist movement. Move the wrist first, before moving the bow. How to avoid a flicky wrist.
• P12. Exercise 1: Using breathing to relax your arm. What happens if your wrist pronation gets replaced by finger movement in the dotted rhythms: the 2nd finger contact with the hair becomes unstable and the bow skates across the string. Finger led bowing does not work! (called Jelly fish bowing). Keep the wrist pronation to keep good 2nd finger contact.
• P13 Exercise 4: pizzicato first, left hand up. Arco – not at the tip of the bow. Moving the bow back and forwards to get accurate string crossing.
• P13 Exercise 2: Playing crotchets with wrist movement. Trying to put new muscle memory on autopilot.
Viol Player Book 3
• P14 Excerpt 1. Pavana: Starting with a back bow by just moving the wrist and opening out the hand and not leading with the elbow. Tips about managing the bow with the weight of the third finger, skimming the string to allow resonance. Adding dynamics with more pressure on the 2nd finger pressing down towards the floor.
• P38 The Beautiful Bow: Of the 10 points about bowing, make yourself a personalised list to work out how good you are and where more is needed. The idea is to always make a beautiful sound with this vocabulary of bowing technique, thinking of it as an equivalent as 10 new notes in the left hand. Each piece has an open string version to enable you to practice these points.
• Pavane d’Angleterre: rhythm only. Did you get to the tip on the 3rd beat? Support the hair on the second back bow to enable the string to ring? Did you support the hair at the heel of the bow.
• Pavane d’Angleterre: melody – still thinking about the right hand?
• P39 No 25 Whereto should I express: open string version. Planning bowing so there is enough for long notes and working back gradually avoiding huge bows for one note; called z bowing. How to avoid a bounce when placing the bow back on the string; being aware of the horse hair under the thumb (with the 3rd finger supporting the hair) and how the bow is balanced.
• P39 No 25 Whereto should I express: Complete version
• Pizzicato : Holding C down when playing the E flat and how it should start to feel wrong if it comes off. Applying bowing technique already learnt to the Complete Version. Chapter 2
P15 Lachrimae Antiquae. Pizzicato: Fingers up and round for C sharp in bar 5. Bar 6 practising with weak fingers held down. Arco; thinking about wrist movement and planning the bowing so the quavers in the first bar come at the tip. Dynamics: thinking about good contact with the 2nd finger on the hair, a heavy arm and the wrist when playing loud at bar 5. Playing expressively and leading with the back of the hand and looking at the grace in the movement.
Technical Review:
• Right hand: Wrist movement with a wrist pronation on a push bow and leading with a pull bow, by opening out the hand on a pull bow and how it enables the string to resonate. Starting the bow at the heel, with support from the 3rd finger to avoid a creaky door. Dynamic fingers: 2nd finger loud, 3rd finger quiet or refining.
• Left hand: Half position. Relating notes across the strings and holding fingers down to enable resonance. Chordal Fingering.
• P18 Sweet Nymph, Come to thy Lover: Observing punctuation in texted music with phrasing off (with the 3rd tip on the bow hair). How wrist movement can help the vocal line to be smooth. Bar 32: Moving off the string, on a leap, and landing on the next string, before you need to play the note in the rest before.
• P21 Chapter 3 C minor scale
• Three easy ways to work out how to play a melodic minor scale. 1. Ascending: Play C major scale (recognising 4th finger in half position: E)
2. Ascending: Make the third note E, a semitone (or finger) lower and carry on playing C major scale
3. Descending: Come down in the key of the lowered third note: E flat major – p9. Key signature, B, E A flat. • Arpeggio: Chordal fingering on 3rd and 4th finger.
• P22 No 1 Playing on the C string in half position
• How to learn in layers with the bow:
1st time: just play
2nd time: feeling the weight in the arm
3rd time: leading with wrist and opening out the hand on a back bow. • P22 No 12 Goddesses: Starting arco and observing hand position on the C string. Spot the E flat major in bar 9 and the b flat major arpeggio in bar 10. Recognising ledger line notes in alto clef, and how it’s better to try and learn them in that clef, rather than always transpose. Hold fingers down when playing the same note again, for example, bar 13 and 14. Not forgetting wrist movement when playing faster.
Chapter 4
• P27 Playing in First position with separate and slurred bows. Slurs, if possible, to be on one string, so bar 7 D is on a 4th finger, the same as the penultimate bar. How to co-ordinate the left and right hand when playing slurs. Think about the note value of the bow and how it’s the finger in the left hand that creates the rhythm or note.
• Second section: string crossing section as double stopping; how to play on two strings at once. Playing away from the tip for the string crossing. Practising pizzicato and arco to learn difficult fingering or string crossing. Introducing a triple barre.
• P30 Coronation Bells (Mrs Nag Viol’s Shifty Piece) Getting confident shifting from first to half position and vice versa. How to anticipate shifting on the previous open string. Looking at point of contact with a loose, bent out thumb. If your thumb grips the back of the finger, it makes shifting harder and can make your thumb ache.
Viol Player Book 3
• p29 Another way to shift using Chordal Fingering
• No 1 & 2 Pivot on 3rd finger, letting go with everything, including the thumb, and placing fingers in the new position.
All the weight goes into your 3rd finger, so the rest of the hand is relaxed enough to find the new position. Check thumb to see if it’s moved: Shifting from half position from first position.
• P31 No 1 Thumb needs to follow the 2nd finger when shifting. Practice the movement in bar 2 on its own, to get the feel of it.
• P30 no 19 Great Tom is Cast: using Chordal Fingering to enable us to shift.
• P31. No 3 starting from bar 4 to ‘feel’ the shift. Check the position of your thumb when finishing the piece.
• P42 The Bear’s Dance: Starting with bar 4 to practice the shifts in the quavers. Try not to look at the left hand when shifting, just feel the shift. The piece starts in first position for the octave Gs to reduce the string crossing.
• Open string version: wrist movement on the semiquavers. Comparing bar 2 and the last bar and how the semiquavers fall on alternate bows. Practice with dynamics on the open string version. Learning the piece line by line of the open string version, then the complete version.
• P34 No 23 Under the Linden Tree
• Finding Chordal fingering from the top note from an open string by feeling your way on the viol. Becoming fluent with chordal fingering and using it to shift. Looking at how long fingers can stay down. Listening to the tone on top string and where the bow needs to go in relation to the bridge to get a beautiful sound. Practising slowly to enable faster playing.
Viol Player Book 3
• p29 Another way to shift using Chordal Fingering
• No 1 & 2 Pivot on 3rd finger, letting go with everything, including the thumb, and placing fingers in the new position. All the weight goes into your 3rd finger, so the rest of the hand is relaxed enough to find the new position. Check thumb to see if it’s moved: Shifting from half position from first position.
• P31 No 1 Thumb needs to follow the 2nd finger when shifting. Practice the movement in bar 2 on its own, to get the feel of it.
• P30 no 19 Great Tom is Cast: using Chordal Fingering to enable us to shift.
• P31. No 3 starting from bar 4 to ‘feel’ the shift. Check the position of your thumb when finishing the piece.
Chapter 5
• P42 The Bear’s Dance: Starting with bar 4 to practice the shifts in the quavers. Try not to look at the left hand when shifting, just feel the shift. The piece starts in first position for the octave Gs to reduce the string crossing.
• Open string version: wrist movement on the semiquavers. Comparing bar 2 and the last bar and how the semiquavers fall on alternate bows. Practice with dynamics on the open string version. Learning the piece line by line of the open string version, then the complete version.
• P34 No 23 Under the Linden Tree
• Finding Chordal fingering from the top note from an open string by feeling your way on the viol. Becoming fluent with chordal fingering and using it to shift. Looking at how long fingers can stay down. Listening to the tone on top string and where the bow needs to go in relation to the bridge to get a beautiful sound. Practising slowly to enable faster playing.
Chapter 6
• P46 No 31 Lilliburlero: Learning how to practice to enable fast playing. Using Alexander Technique to focus on breathing, allowing your body to co-ordinate the right and left hand, without thinking about it. Looking at the position of the right arm on the top string, playing loud, and relaxing the right arm, rather than tensing it up.
• P48 A third way to shift: Contracted Fingering
1. With chordal Fingering
2. Moving the whole hand, including the thumb
3. With contracted fingering
• One of the most useful ways of getting around the viol to other positions! Looking at transferring the weight to one finger and moving the next finger adjacent to it, leaving both fingers down, with a finger left over. This technique does not work if you don’t have these contracted fingers down together.
• No 1 Working on the fluency of the movement when it gets faster.
• No 2 Using the same contracted technique, but on a string cross.
• No 3 Finding F sharp on the F string with contracted fingering and shifting back to first position.
• P49. Mrs Nichols Almand: Using contracted fingering and a whole hand shift. Starting with Chordal Fingering, fingering in thirds and relaxed right arm on the top string. Remembering to keep 3rd finger down with 4th finger, to support it.
Chapter 5• P40 Sinkapace Galliard: Looking at how a Galliard goes towards the 4th note, whether in 3 / 4 or 6 / 4. Practising the open string version with dynamics. Getting faster and how to practice doing it. Focusing on breathing to enable relaxation and therefore better co-ordination with the right and left hand.
Viol Player Book 3
P54 Scales with different bowings to aid co-ordination. Slurs in 4s on semiquavers and without. Building up the scale with adding more notes each time from the bottom and focusing on breathing the faster it goes.Chapter 5
• P43 No 29 Come Vyolle Come: Sight reading the open string version and including dynamics and wrist movement. Looking at good bowing technique and starting work out what is happening automatically. Learning to play with a controlled bow when playing slowly. Considering the use of the 2nd and 3rd finger on the bow to make loud and softs; looking at specific places where to do this. Practising quietly and how important it is to do it.
• P51 Recercada I – La Spagna: With lots of shifting and avoiding looking at the left hand when doing so. Looking at contracted fingering as an alternative to shifting with the whole hand. Building confidence with shifting to make it fluent as well as playing with an expressive bow.
Viol Player books come with play along CDs or downloadable mp3s and are available from;
Viol Player Book 1
Chapter 1 P24 Up and Down AgainP40 Soldier’s Call
• Looking at good posture, not arching your back, with knees over feet. Holing the viol with the right side tucked in.
• Does a rubber cloth help in the initial stages of learning the viol? The advantages and disadvantages.
• Learning the names of the strings from the middle out, rather than from the bottom string up.
• Left hand position and the relationship of the thumb to the second finger. Keeping the thumb bent out with the point of contact on the side. Transferring weight to each finger and not pressing too hard.
• Placing of the fingers correctly on the frets so each plucked note rings. Impossible to get a good sound with the bow if the finger on the fret is not placed correctly.
• How to play pizzicato.
• Learning in such a way that the left hand can go on autopilot, playing with your eyes closed and visualising the notes.