Shift up and down with the first finger - from 1st through to 4th position - to get a new, and hopefully nice and clear, perspective on things!
Shift up and down with the first finger - from 1st through to 4th position - to get a new, and hopefully nice and clear, perspective on things!
Drill those scales with these punishing exercises! Get the metronome going and then lift and drop the fingers with energy and precision of timing and tuning.
Juuuuuuump! You’ll need really agile, accurate shifting and string crossing for this exercise. If you miss, the Lazy Dog could very quickly become an Angry Dog!
Make sure there’s nothing makeshift about the way you make shifts! Glide smoothly between 1st and 3rd position on each string, landing perfectly in tune every time!
Telemann’s Canonic Sonatas are an absolute marvel. Both musicians play exactly the same thing, but one bar apart … and, amazingly, they still sound really nice!
Cross swords in this epic battle between the G string and the E string in 1st and 3rd position! Which string will emerge victorious as the master of intonation?
Louise Farrenc (1804-75) was a piano teacher at the Paris Conservatoire for over 30 years. Her Étude in A minor is a mysterious siciliana with lots of dotted rhythms.
Schubert’s Three Marches Militaires were originally written for piano 4-hands (not a 4-handed pianist!). The first one is the most famous, and definitely the best!
Shhhh! It’s Le Secret! Don’t tell anyone about this delightfully sprightly sweetmeat by Léonard Gautier, also known as Intermezzo Pizzicato No. 276 and written in 1916.
This is a gorgeous, idyllic, pastoral song by the excellently named Norwegian violinist and composer, Ole Bull. Those herd-girls must be having a really lovely Sunday!
Move through the gears as you shift up and up and up on each string, from 1st position through to 6th!
The tide rises ever so slowly as you move up and up the chromatic scale to 3rd position on each string. Remember, a rising tide lifts all notes!!
The Easy Winners is one of Scott Joplin’s most popular piano rags. The title refers to athletes who can win a sporting event with no trouble at all! Easy-peasy!
This lilting lament is a lovely duet for two violins … it’s also great for practising string crossings, producing syncopated rhythms, and playing in 3rd position!
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!
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!
