Blog Journeys of a Lifelong Learner

Violin Technique

My recent performance of the 24th Paganini Caprice presents a useful baseline for measuring advancement. The necessity of growth is readily apparent from even a cursory analysis of the video, as issues of intonation and clarity abound. Nevertheless, there is a usefulness of sharing a rendition so fraught with flaws.

The technical challenges of the 24th Paganini Caprice are numerous, though they appear throughout the repertoire of the violin and must be mastered for any true command of the instrument. They include:

• hooked bowings
• clean breaks in sound
• evenness of sixteenth notes
• clarity in string crossings in passages of single notes
• clarity of grace notes
• evenness in up-bow staccato passages involving string crossings
• perfect placement of the various positions
• the placement of fingers in double-stop combinations
• the projection of a musical line
• slurred patterns of sixteenth notes alternating between two strings
• clarity of grace notes presented within larger groupings of sixteenth notes
• slurs involving adjacent notes on skipped strings
• stretching time in the midst of a figure involving string alternations
• perfect intonation for octaves
• the musical expression of a diminished third resolving to the fifth degree of the scale
• the projection of a musical line in a passage of octaves
• the use of the bow passages involving an extended usage of a single pair of strings
• a consistent and constant vibrato in a passage of octaves
• the resolution of an octave passage to the root of the scale
• a sudden shift from the first position to the seventh
• perfect evenness in chromaticism
• evenness in passages involving chromaticism combined with arpeggiation
• the emphasis of musical distinctness of adjacent measures containing slight differences
• the stretching of time for large leaps in melodic lines
• sudden jumps of from single notes in low positions to fingered octaves in high positions
• perfect intonation in landing on long double-stops immediately following rests
• maintenance of a musical line in scales of tenths
• perfect intonation of tenths
• perfect intonation of unisons
• optimal bow distribution for the endings of phrases in a musical manner
• maintenance of perfect rhythm in slurs from short notes to long notes held in syncopation
• sudden string skips
• maintenance of a musical line in extended passages on the G string
• perfect rhythm in passages requiring successive shifts on a single string
• playing two successive skips of two strings from one long slur to another
• perfect intonation for all chords
• communication of a musical and harmonic line in successive chords
• a strong distinction between major and minor triads
• perfect shifting from chords in the first position to chords in the fifth position
• perfect intonation for successive chords involving a single maintained middle note
• perfect intonation of triads involving an octave with another interval above the octave
• maintenance of sound integrity when going from a chord to a single note within a phrase
• perfect evenness in left-hand pizzicato
• left hand pizzicato involving broken triads
• optimal execution of left hand pizzicato involving successive placement of a single finger
• steadiness in scale passages implemented via left-hand pizzicato
• perfect intonation when landing directly in the ninth position
• perfect resonance of all notes matching pitches of open strings
• perfect intonation involving successive notes using the same finger in different positions
• perfect evenness in rolled chords (the two lower strings followed by the two upper strings)
• simultaneous dropping of the fingers for rolled chords
• perfect intonation of double-stopped perfect fifths not involving open strings
• maintenance of rhythmic integrity within changes of meter
• intonation of successive double-stops involving sixths succeeded by a fifth and followed by a sixth in higher position
• smooth transitions from chords to arpeggios
• perfect intonation of four-note diminished chords
• perfect shifting of the interval of a minor third for successive double-stops
• clear distinctions between dynamic levels
• absolute clarity of trills
• a general powerfully focused sound
• perfection of the use of sudden bursts of bow speed for sound production
• evenness in up-bow staccato passages involving a single string
• perfect intonation for shifting down by the interval of a tritone
• perfect intonation of all arpeggiated passages
• building of tension in successive arpeggios involving progressive expansion of tonal range
• powerful execution of unbroken chords
• general tone projection
• the assumption of a flair appropriate to the character of a particular work
• the development and judicious application of various types of vibrato

Production Possibility Curves

The concept of the production possibility curve is simple: a limited number of outputs can be made with a finite number of inputs, and allocation of resources to one output necessarily diminishes another output.

If software business and musical skill were formulated into a production possibility curve, my typical configuration would be something like this:

For the next couple of weeks, I plan to attend a violin technique workshop, so my schedule will be significantly shifted toward the production of units of musical skill, yielding a production possibility curve (hopefully) more like this: