2nd position is the friendly neighbour of 1st position … why not pop over for a chat and a cup of tea with these one octave scales and arpeggios in C, F, and Bb major!
2nd position is the friendly neighbour of 1st position … why not pop over for a chat and a cup of tea with these one octave scales and arpeggios in C, F, and Bb major!
Are you ready for the Dominant 7th Games?! Get in shape with these one octave dominant seventh exercises and become masters of dodgeball, hopscotch and leapfrog!
A diminished 7th is a stack of minor thirds, each note being 3 semitones, or half steps, apart. All that minor thirdiness gives them a somewhat dark, ominous quality.
Nancy by the Prince of Pipers, Tom Clough, could either depict his first wife tripping up and down the stairs, his squeaky wheelbarrow, or his favourite sheep!!
Ready, Steady, Go! Gallop up and down the dominant 7th. Watch out for the arrows showing the finger placements. Sometimes you need to jump, sometimes you need to duck!
Give yourself a second chance and play this lovely, lilting piece entirely in 2nd position! See how many second chances you need before it’s absolutely perfect!
Who would’ve thought doing laundry could be so much fun! This traditional tune is a vivacious jig that you can dance to whilst you wait for your socks to dry!
Make the poor old battered broomstick jump across the sky … play with short bow strokes, big string crossing jumps, and eerie chromatic notes!
This vivacious Allegro in D by Handel is full of triumphant arpeggios, rip-roaring scales and sprightly staccato bowing … guaranteed to give you a spring in your step!
O, how cheerful smiles the star, All through the night. Ar Hyd y Nos is a lovely Welsh lullaby that is guaranteed to give you a good night’s sleep!
Nearly there, you can do it, it’s The Last Shift! This is great piece for practising 4th finger shifts, moving between 1st and 3rd position. Now, get back to work!
Hark! I hear the foe advancing … where are those Men of Harlech! This is a traditional Welsh song about the seven-year siege of Harlech Castle between 1461 and 1468.
Flex your pinky with this set of 4th finger exercises! Make sure it lands perfectly in tune every time, don’t let the other fingers lead you astray … naughty things!
A galopede is not a type of fast-moving insect, but an especially energetic English country dance!! See how fast you can gallop the galopede, but practise slowly first!
Who will win in this game of two halves … the lower half or the upper half of the bow?! Each half is competing to be the most exact and the most pleasing to the ear!
Yeeeeeee-haaaaaaaaaw! Get your feet tapping with this romping barn dance, great for practising open string double stops! See how fast you can get the ending!
A march fit for a king … a 10th century High King of Ireland, no less … Brian Boru of the Dalcassians! Brian must have been a fan of dotted rhythms and string crossing!
Dvořák wrote his set of Humoresques in the summer of 1894 when he must have been in a pretty good mood! The 7th one is probably the best known and probably the best!
John Eccles wrote this achingly beautiful music for a stage play by John Fletcher, a tragicomedy called The Mad Lover. It’s also a really good string crossing exercise!
It’s always worth getting a second opinions! Hopefully, 2nd position doesn’t disagree with 1st position too much! The aim of these exercises is to achieve consensus!
Make 2nd position a winning position with this series of broken chord exercises in C, F, and Bb major. Every note needs to be in tune to win the trophy! Good luck!
Wait a second, take a moment, and make sure you’ve got the right fingers on the right notes in these soothing 2nd position exercises. Time well spent … every second!
Hmm … not sure Henry VIII would provide good company to pass the time with, but he certainly knew how to write a good tune! Great rhythms, too … enjoy!
The skeletons come out to play in Danse Macabre, Op. 40 by Saint-Saëns … full of unnerving tritones, bone-rattling staccatos and weird waltzing melodies!
For a piece about witches, this is a surprisingly chirpy tune! It's full of crisp bowing and sparkling arpeggios. Play it nicely, or you may discover their dark side!
