isaqbusy@gmail.

com 20 Apr 2024

9 Exercises to
Transform your Technique
by Samuel Applebaum

Kurganov Masterclasses #31

 isaqbusy@gmail.com 20 Apr 2024

PREFACE

EDACHARTISThashis ownseries of specialexercisesto maintain

his technic, especially in the upper positions. I shall present nine
of these.
Exercise No. I. First, play a onc-octave scale.on any one
string, but with left hand pizzicato. Go up and down the scale
with the rst nger while the fourth nger plucks the string.
Now play the same scale in arti cial harmonics on one string.
In this way a relationship is established between the rst and
fourth ngers. This scale should be practiced in separate bows,
two to a bow, four to a bow, dotted 8ths and 1óths, and róths
and dotted 8ths.
Before descending, repeat the tonic note. Bear in mind that
the activity of the thumb is of prime importance. The thumb must
be at right angles to the neck when we are in the ffth position.
Ascending, the thumb starts to go under the neck of the violin
immediately upon leaving the rst position, and continues to
go under with cach of the high positions.
Of course, by the time you reach the sixth and seventh
positions (depending upon the size of the thumb), the tip of the
thumb actually touches the end of the neck. That is, at the spot
where the neck joins the body of the instrument.
At all times the thumb must coordinate its activity with the
ngers. On the way up, they must move together and on the
way down it is permissible for the thumb to lead the way.
Exercise No. 2. Play a two-octave scale on one string with a
single nger. Starting with the open G string, play the rst nger
and continue up with the rst nger for two octaves. When you
reach the upper tonic, begin to go down immediately. Do not
repeat the tonic.
Then start again with the open string and play the rst nger,
then the second nger, and then nish the two octave scale with
the second nger, ascending and descending. Do the same
thing with the third, and then with the fourth nger.
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The author, Dr Samuel Applebaum, discussingexercises with

Viktor Tretyakou, the winner of the 1966 Tchaikousky Competi-
tion, when the artist visited New York in 1975.

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As you reach the top octave it is sometimes a little easier to

bring the violin slightly to the left.
The scale, of course, is to be practiced in separate bows, two to
a bow, four to a bow, dotted Sths and 1óths, I6ths and dotted 8ths.
There are certain additional considerations which must be
kept in mindthat the higher on the string you play, the rmer
must be the nger pressure. The reason for this is evident: the
distance between the string and ngerboard becomes a little
greater as we approach the end of the ngerboard.
There is another consideration, and that is the fact that the
distances between cach note becomes less.

Another Tchaikousky winner was Vladimir Spivakov, shown here

discussing Brahms' Third Sonta with Dr. Applebaum and Paul
Paradise. Paradise was String Superisor in the Boston, Massa-
chusettsschools for many years, is a competent violinist lplaying
in the rst violin section of the New Jersey Symphony] and is
Vice President of Paganiniana Publications, Inc.
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From the standpoint of tone production, the higher

the string the closer the bow must be drawn to the bridge. At the
same time, the bow weight on the string must become less and
less. Light bow pressure in the very high positions, but an
additional rmness in nger pressure of the left hand.
Exercise No. 3. This may well be considered one of the most
important exercises there are. We will call it the matching tone
study.
Play the Ist nger on the E string, F natural. Play the second
nger on the A string in the 4th position. Then play the same
note, F natural, with the third nger on the D string (7eh
position). Last, the same F natural with the fourth nger on the
G string in the 1oth position.

Mrs. Dorothy Bales and Miss Dolores Carillo-Flores look on as

the author discusses theneuwlydiscovered Third Violin Concerto
of Paganini with Henryk Seryng, whodiscovered it.

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Illustration I
E A D G G D A E EA D G

1 2 3
4 4 3 2
1 2 3 4

Then go back to the third nger on D, same note. Go back to

the second nger on the A string, and then back to the original
F natural, the rst nger on theE string.
Do this in half notes, quarter notes, separate bows, two to a
bow, four to a bow, dotted 8ths and 1óths, 16ths and dotted 8ths.
Then start on F sharp on the E string and go through the same
procedure, playing an F sharp on each string.
Then do it with G natural, and follow this with G sharp, A
natural, B at, B natural and C. Make sure that your thumb goes
well under the violin as you go to each lower string.
If the thumb is so short that the player cannot keep the tip
of the thumb in contact with the neck, it is permissible to leave
the neck with the thumb and have it slide on the side of the
ngerboard. (Illustration I).
Exercise No. 4. This is very valuable for maintaining a ne
technic. Play the following nger pattern four times (llustration
II). Then play the same nger pattern an octave higher four
times; following this, go back immediately to the original nger
pattern an octave lower and do it four times.
Use the entire bow. This will mean that the rst note will
require a very fast bow, while the up-bow for the additional
notes will require a much slower bow.
Then start one note higher, G, and play that nger pattern
four times, then an octave higher, four times as in Illustration II.
Do the same thing starting on A, then B at, C, D and all the
way up to E, which is in the zth position. From then on, the same
Kercise is played an octave higher.

Illustration II
8va-
8va ---- 8ra-

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The following advantages should come from this exercise:

One; the player develops a well-controlled bow arm, par-
ticularly on the fast down bow. Make sure, however, as you
play it that you do not allow the bow to slide towards the
ngerboard or the bridge, also that the bow remains on the
string and does not bounce off.
Tuo: One becomes familiar with the different types of nger
pressure when the pattern is played in the lower octave and when
it is played an octave higher.
In the higher octave, some ngers will actually come off the
string in order to play the next note in tune.
Three: It develops good intonation in the various parts of the
ngerboard.
Four: It develops immediately anawarenessof the correct bow
contact. When you do it an octave higher the bow must move
markedly towards the bridge, and it must go toward the nger-
board when the exercise is played an octave lower. Some artists
do this exercise every single day.
Exercise No. 5. This is very interesting when two players are
involved. I call it the development of a kinesthetic sense of the

In 1974 the author servedas a concertmaster in the Bach Double

Concerto with the A.S. T.A. orchestra with Yehudi Menuhin and
kcob Krachmalnick assoloists. This photo shous Menuhin, the
athor and thebrothersKrachmalnick, cob andSamuel.

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Illustration III

ngerboard. If a player does this alone, he should go to the piano

or any other instrument and play any note in the following range
from the note D to the note G (llustration III).
Once the player hears the note, he is to nd it on the G string
with the fourth nger. But he is not to slide to the note from
above or below. He should allow his fourth nger to drop right
that note.If it is too low or too high,make thecorrection, of
course. The object is to nd the note immediately by memorizing
just where it is on the ngerboard.
When you nd notes in between the range shown in Illustration
III, play notes that are either sharped or atted. By this method, a
sense is developed, so that after hearing a note, one can strike it
nmediately without having to slide.

The author at his studio-home in NewJersey, conducts chamber

music groups and coaches them in exercises to maintain their
technique throughout their live.

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After you have reached the point where you can nd most of
thesenotes with the fourth nger, try to nd them by htting
squarely on the note with the third nger. This exercise can be
practiced on all strings.
Exercise No. 6. Play a two octave scale on one string,
ascending with the rst and second nger: one-two, one-two, etc.
Descending, it will be 2-1, 2-1. Now do the same thing
ascending : open, I, 2, 3-2, 3-2, 3, etc.
On the way down, it will be 3-2, 3-2, etc. Now do the same
thing: open, I, 2, 3, 4-3, 4-3, 4, etc. On the way down it will be
4, 3-4, 3-4, 3. Practice this on all strings in various bowings an
in various rhythms (Illustration IV).

Illustration IV

2
2

2
1

3
2

23
1 2
2
1

32 3
2 2

23
1
22 3 2 3
2
2
1

3
2

2
I
3
2
2 3
2
2
1
2 1

0 2 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3
2 3 4
1 2

Exercise No. 7. Play one-octave major scales in thirds,

sixths, octaves, and tenths ascending and descending. They are
to be played on two strings. Play this one-octave scale starting
on the G string with the 1st on D and the 3rd on G. This will be
a major third, C and E. After a little practice, play another
one-octave scale in thirds, but start now from the second
position. This could well be aD major scale.
Then start in the third position, which could be in the key of
E at. Then play a major scale starting in the fourth position, say
in the key of F.
Now play a major scale in sixths, octaves, ngered octaves and
tenths. These one octave scales on the strings should be played
testing cach note very carefully where an open string makes it
possible.
They should be played in separate bows, two and four to a
bow, in slow eighth notes, and then in dotted 8ths and 1óths,
and 1óths and dotted 8ths.
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Exercise No. 8. This exercise will develop con dence

nding notes over the entire ngerboard. Play every harmonic
on the G string, holding each one for one beat, starting from the
rst positionandgoing al the way to the top of the ngerboard.
Play the ascending harmonics in one bow, and on the downbow
play all the descending harmonics. Do this in quarter notes and
in 8th notes.
Try also practicing them holding cach one in separatebows for
four counts todevelop alightmessof the bow arm. Try practicing them
in separate bows in spiccato and even in whole bow martelés
(Illustration V).

Illustration V
on the G string 4
4

2 2 3 4 4

3 3 3 3
3 3
2 3

Exercise No. 9. To develop a ne left hand play double trills

in the rst position on the G and D strings, starting with C
natural on the G string with the third nger, and then E natusal
with the rst nger on D. Do these in quarter notes rst to
make sure of the accuracy of intonation, then in 8th notes,
triplets, dotted 8ths and 1óths, 1óths and dotted 8ths, and then in
IŐth notes, eight beats to a bow (Illustration VI).

Illustration VI
Variants
(a), (c) (d) (e)

Each measure below is to played with each of the above variants.

Now do the same thing in the second position, third position,

fourth position, up to the fth position,
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The entire exercise is on the G string and D string

I Position
1 (2) (3)

2
A 3 3

II Position

III Position

Practice also lifting the lower ngers from the strings.

For many years throughout the country I have listened to

violinists at auditions, and have reached the conclusion that
development of the left hand has been more rapid than the right
hand. It requires more patience to develop different bowing styles,
but I nd that pupils with excellent left hand technics are often
unable to draw long bows with an even volume of tone
throughout the bow stroke.

These trill studies will assist in the development of a well-shaped

left hand. This close-up study of Emmamel Vardi's double-stop
trilling is exemplary.

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