Advanced Approach to Violin Shifting - Part 2

Hi and welcome to VirtualSheetMusic.com's Meet the Expert. My name is William Fitzpatrick, and I am the Temianka professor of violin at the Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music, which is located on the campus of Chapman University in Orange, California. I am as well Director of MusiShare in Irvine, California.

Okay, so now that we've understood the mechanics of shifting a little better, let's look at specific shifts and real pieces and how to use these areas of awareness to determine the kind of practice needed to assure success in the shift.

So let's look into Monti's Czardas. I have to go from this A to this A. Let's look at Monti's Czardas. I have to go from an A to an A. What kind of a shift did I do? [plays] First finger to the third finger. My finger pressure a weight pattern, less weight to more. Or what about Massenet's Thais? At the end, when it goes from the A to the A, [plays] it's a similar shift. It's a shift in a similar pattern to Monti's Czardas. [plays]

Now we have talked about a lot of different shifts, but we haven't really explored when you totally release, when you jump to the note. Which one could we do? What about Sibelius, from the B flat to the B flat. [plays] I remember having a big discussion with Ms Delay about that, B flat because I wanted to do [plays] and she said, "Bill, you can't slide into it!"

So if you're gonna jump, how are you gonna find it? [plays] Let's see, what could we do? You could use where you wrist is to the violin, where your thumb is to the neck, and where, of course, your elbow is, under the violin. [plays] Oh, there's another one. What about in the Paganini Concerto? The opening string, the D major Concerto. [plays] Again, you have to be aware of where your finger is in relation to the string, to the fingerboard, to the body of the instrument, where your elbow is, to be able to locate that note.

Here's another kind of a shift found in Tchaikovsky's Concerto. Right at the beginning. [plays] What kind of shift was that? Why I believe we call it Russian. Now finally we have a passage that will require quick shifts from Bruch's Scottish Fantasy. [plays] We had to have a place that we were going to, remember that marker, that place in the sand. And that place was the F. Everything [plays] goes to that F. Here, I'll do it again. [plays]

Well, that's it for this video. Now if you have a comment, question, or a special request, please feel free to post them. See you next time.

Automatic video-to-text transcription by DaDaScribe.com

Thank you for your comment, question or request!

Comment/Question deleted successfully.

Post a comment, question or special request:

Comments or questions must be between 3 and 10,000 characters long.

You may: Login  or  

Otherwise, fill out the form below to post your comment:

Add your name below:


Add your email below: (to receive replies, will not be displayed or shared)


For verification purposes, please enter the word MUSIC in the field below

---