Mapping Paths

For violinists, navigating large distances accurately is an issue.

For many years I relied on physical touch and what we call muscle memory to accomplish this, but with inconsistent results.

It was when I started mapping paths on my fingering board that things solidified.

Figuring out how to map the path of a large distance in the music, which produced a large leap on the violin, became clearer using my fingering board.

I mean, I don't think it would be a great idea to just close our eyes, leap, So figuring out how to map a path is probably the best way to go, don't you think? For example, say you needed to get from a first finger A on the G string to a third finger C sharp on the E string.

The goal then is to be able to play the same C sharp all the time. Missing the C sharp, even by just a little, could be the deciding factor in an orchestral audition, or playing for a spot on a management roster.

You know, just thinking about it, when you compare sports averages to what is expected of a professional violinist, well we can't miss anything, and they can, and do, in any event back to the A to C sharp.

First of all, we need to be sure we know where we are going, where exactly that C sharp is located.

Once it's decided, we can go back and map a way to get there.

What about crossing the strings like this? Personally, I don't think that's a good idea. Why? Well, doing it that way means your fingers must leave the string.

This would be like flying off in an airplane without GPS or ground controllers.

I mean, how would you know for sure where to land? You'd probably have to guess.

Which I don't think is the best idea.

So what if we start with what we know? For example, how comfortable do you feel finding an A first finger on the G string? Why don't we take our hands away and see how many times out of ten we can play the same A? Well, what I notice is that to do it with Okay then.

Since we now know where the A is, doesn't that mean that we also know where the E on the D string is? And consequently the B on the A string and the F sharp on the E string.

I think this path works, but we do need to be careful because if we just move our finger, the placement on the pad changes.

With this in mind, we need to move our elbow instead to maintain a similar angle to what it was on the G string.

Doing it this way means that the finger will stay in the same spot on the pad while crossing the strings.

Great, so we are now at the F sharp first finger on the E string.

Let's place the third finger but using the second finger as a guide as we did in the video on arpeggios.

Now, put the first finger in place of the third finger. Next, let's place the third finger C sharp but again with the aid of the second finger.

And with that, we've arrived.

But I do hear you mumbling that doing it like this is way too complicated, way too many steps. Well, I agree. So let's see what steps we can eliminate.

We do however need a time frame to measure our progress. So let's say that the A and C sharp are half notes and the tempo is 60 to a quarter note on the metronome.

Okay then, to get this to happen in that time frame, why not eliminate playing on the E and B instead allowing the finger to follow the same path but not playing the notes, just gliding over them. And then when arriving at the F sharp, lightly touch the third finger on the string so that we can shift our first finger into place. Then place the third finger with our second finger helping to show the way of course. And voila, we've arrived at C sharp.

This would mean that the first finger A on the G string, the first finger F sharp on the E string, the third finger replaced by the first finger on the E string, and our arrival to the C sharp using our second finger are physical and visual points we can use to map our reduced path.

But now that we have a path to get to the C sharp, how many times in a row do you think we can hit it without missing? Let's see.

Well, if you did miss, don't worry as we know what to do. You see, because we know exactly what path we took, we can figure out which one of the steps was not working and focus our practicing on that step.

True, doing this is very time-consuming to set up, but the outcome from doing it, well, it speaks for itself.

You know though, thinking about all this makes me realize that in fact, this is what I've been doing for a long time, way before I started using my fingering board, but I just couldn't verbalize it.

That is, until I started teaching in France, in French.

Automatic video-to-text transcription by DaDaScribe.com

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