Posted on July 22, 2008 by Amy Barston in Double Stops - Left Hand/Arm
This is helpful for practicing (in scales) 6ths, 3rds, octaves, and passages of difficult double stops. Don't do all seven steps in one sitting -- too tiring! Switch it around; do a few here and a few there. I like to do them with a drone.
For each step, shift slowly and audibly between positions, so you can really hear your shift. Make sure to breathe, and stay loose and relaxed. Feel knuckles soften during shifts.
1. Finger both notes, but only play top note.*
Play each double stop in the scale/passage this way. (Both notes are "fingered" but only one is heard.)
2. Finger both notes, but only play bottom note. Play scale/passage this way.
3. Roll from top to bottom and back. Play scale/passage this way.
4. Roll from bottom to top and back. Play scale/passage this way.
5. Roll from top to bottom and then hold double stop. Play scale/passage this way.
6. Roll from bottom to top and then hold double stop. Play scale/passage this way.
7. Play as actual double stops and slide from one double stop to next. Play scale/passage this way.
*(If the "melody" note is on the bottom string, then reverse steps 2 and 1, 4 and 3, 6 and 5, so that you are hearing/drilling the more important note first.)
Try this in:
Saint-Saens Concerto, last mov't (the sixths passages, and the octaves)
Dvorak Concerto, first mov't, page 5
Octaves in Rococo Variations, last variation
Cadenza of Sammartini Sonata, first mov't