Otakar Ševcík (1852 – 1934), influential Czech violinist, is well known for his detailed analytical studies of major violin concertos, as well as his etude books for the left hand. In the spirit of Sevcik's studies, below are some of the basic patterns in Fox Hand position.
Using an extremely simple exercise like this, students can easily memorize some of the common patterns and begin to think about both the balance, as well as the efficiency of their left hands.
There are two main tasks here:
1) Balance towards the 4th finger when using the 4th finger. Fingers should only be initiated from the basal joints of the hand.
2) If at all possible, leave as many fingers on the string as possible. Only fingers actually being played need a strong arch, but this is a great opportunity to avoid disorganized popcorn fingers, flying off the fingerboard in a haphazard way.
In the last variation, the student can practice lifting and dropping the entire hand shape as a complete unit.
Using an extremely simple exercise like this, students can easily memorize some of the common patterns and begin to think about both the balance, as well as the efficiency of their left hands.
There are two main tasks here:
1) Balance towards the 4th finger when using the 4th finger. Fingers should only be initiated from the basal joints of the hand.
2) If at all possible, leave as many fingers on the string as possible. Only fingers actually being played need a strong arch, but this is a great opportunity to avoid disorganized popcorn fingers, flying off the fingerboard in a haphazard way.
In the last variation, the student can practice lifting and dropping the entire hand shape as a complete unit.
What I love about this simple exercise, is that it opens up a conversation about balance and efficiency in 12 measures of sight-readable music.
From this point, if everything looks okay, there should be relatively little preventing a serious student from attempting something of a similar nature, like Schradieck's Technique Book 1. (available on IMSLP, public domain). Henry Schradieck was a student of the great Belgian teacher/violinist Hubert Leonard, who also taught Eugene Ysaye and Ovide Musin.
Schradieck's Technique Book 1 is an invaluable resource for gaining control over the multitude of patterns that crop up, in first position, in each position separately, and traveling through all 7 positions.
Depending on the student, it may be helpful to transpose Schradieck's first study into other Kung Fu Hand Positions.
You can download a copy of my edition of Schradieck's 1st study at the bottom of the page. Here's a preview.
From this point, if everything looks okay, there should be relatively little preventing a serious student from attempting something of a similar nature, like Schradieck's Technique Book 1. (available on IMSLP, public domain). Henry Schradieck was a student of the great Belgian teacher/violinist Hubert Leonard, who also taught Eugene Ysaye and Ovide Musin.
Schradieck's Technique Book 1 is an invaluable resource for gaining control over the multitude of patterns that crop up, in first position, in each position separately, and traveling through all 7 positions.
Depending on the student, it may be helpful to transpose Schradieck's first study into other Kung Fu Hand Positions.
You can download a copy of my edition of Schradieck's 1st study at the bottom of the page. Here's a preview.
Continue to:
4) We can use the hand shapes to easily find our way through all positions and key signatures.
4) We can use the hand shapes to easily find our way through all positions and key signatures.
Here's a PDF of the sheet music for this page. All images and text on this site are under copyright. Please do not sell or distribute without expressed written consent. Personal use only, please.
fox_common_patterns.pdf | |
File Size: | 20 kb |
File Type: |
schradieck_1.pdf | |
File Size: | 37 kb |
File Type: |