It's probably no secret that children's music schools have recently experienced enrollment difficulties.
There are several reasons for this fact:
Decreased interest in classical music,
Passivity of parents
Computer addiction in children.
Therefore, the music school accepts absolutely everyone who wants to study.
Music teachers are faced with a difficult task: to make the process of learning to play the violin interesting and exciting in order to motivate children to further practice. The initial stage of training is decisive for the further growth of a young musician, so special attention needs to be paid to it.
There are a lot of ways and methods of working with young children, and their choice depends on the ingenuity of the teacher and the capabilities of the child.
The first meeting between a teacher and a student is an important moment. For a child, this impression can be decisive. The way the teacher looks, the manner of communication, the ability to win over the child, make him like him and interest him in music is very important for both parties. Already in the first lessons, I talk with the student on a variety of topics, determine the level of preparation, attitude towards music, find out about the family situation, how he spends his free time. All this suggests the best method to start working with it.
The student comes to the first lesson without a violin. He is 5 or 6 years old. He really wants to practice, but he has no idea about the lessons or the instrument.
After getting to know each other and choosing the right size instrument for him, I make sure to show the student the violin and let him hold and touch it. Together we look at what the violin is made of. We find out that it is wooden. I ask what trees the child knows and tell them which ones the violin is made from (Christmas tree and maple). I place the instrument next to the baby and begin to introduce him to the parts of the violin. The student himself takes an active part in this. - What do we have at the very top? - Head. – Our violin is small, it has a head. – Next comes the neck for you and me, what about the violin? The student answers: - neck. So we find the body (body of the instrument), waist, shoulders, find out where the sound is coming from - the mouth.
I pick up a violin and play different songs on it: for example, “Song about the Lapwing” by M. Iordansky, “Lullaby” by I. Dunaevsky, “May Song” by W. Mozart. I ask, what is the music like? I always hear the correct answer: - To the song.
I show the student the strings: “There are only four of them, but you can play everything on them. The violin doesn’t just play, it sings, it tells, but only without words, those who know how to listen to it understand what it is singing about.”
Next, introducing the student to the name of the strings, I try to give them figurative characteristics. For example: “Here is the first string, it squeaks like a mosquito over your ear - pee-ee! mi-and-and! The second string is ringing, la. She is always in a good mood and sings like a grasshopper. But the third string is serious, businesslike, re. She is the strictest and can even be angry, and then she does not sound, but growls: Rrrre! And all because when the guys start learning to play it and make a lot of mistakes, the D string gets very angry. Finally, the fourth string, salt. This is the thickest string, it buzzes like a bumblebee among flowers. Try plucking all four strings and remember them: mi, la, re, salt.
So, we got acquainted with the violin, with its four strings. It is not worthwhile to memorize the names of the parts of the violin and bow yet, so as not to overload the student with a set of difficult foreign names. It is better to become familiar with the parts of the violin and bow gradually, as practical needs arise.
Now you can begin the exercises that prepare you to work on the production:
1. First of all, I start with relaxation exercises. The student must remember and, most importantly, understand what a relaxed hand is and what a clenched hand is.
1) “fists”: clench your fists tightly for a few seconds, then release them.
2) "hands up": We stretch our arms up, straighten our fingers. Then only the fingers of both hands are dropped, after a short pause - the hands, then the forearm and shoulder.
2. To teach my baby to stand correctly, distributing weight evenly on both legs, an exercise helps me "Bear". After walking around like a clubfoot several times, the child remembers very well that when playing the violin, you need to stand not on one leg, but on two.
3. In order to prepare my right hand for work, the following exercises help me:
1) “twig with leaf”: the arm is bent at the elbow (the arm is a twig, the hand with fingers is a leaf). The wind is blowing strongly - a twig with a leaf is swaying. The wind died down - the leaf and twig froze.
2) “watch”: the arm is bent at the elbow and located at waist level. Raise the hand to the nose (look at the watch closely), then to the starting position, then move the hand forward (look at the watch from afar).
4. To prepare for work left hand The following exercises help me:
1) “Pinocchio”: We bring the thumb of our left hand to our nose, spread our fingers; We bring the thumb of the right hand to the little finger, spread the fingers. Stand for a few seconds and move your fingers. Then we turn and bring the little finger of our left hand to our nose, stand for a few seconds, move our fingers. This exercise will help your left hand make the correct rotation towards the body of the violin.
2) "mirror": the palm of the hand is turned towards you, the fingers are rounded, as if holding a mirror. To be convincing, I always give the child a round mirror and we do the following: we point it either towards ourselves or to the left of ourselves.
5. Be sure to include exercises for hand coordination:
1) Arms bent at the elbows, one palm waving "Goodbye", the other - "come here".
2) One hand draws "Sun"(circle), another - “rain”(vertical lines).
We do each exercise several times. I try to get the child to remember their names, then at home it will be easy for him to remember and repeat everything.
In the next lesson I will add new exercises. The extent to which these exercises are performed depends on the individual abilities of the student. I always try not to overload his attention. Even with short exercises, the student gets tired, and then the best release for him will be singing songs.
I sit the student next to me at the piano and introduce him to the song he will be learning. First I sing myself with words and accompaniment, he listens. Then we deal with its content and character. Then we begin to learn the song in voice. After learning it, it is useful to perform it first without words, clapping the rhythmic pattern with your palms, and then sing it with accompaniment.
Having finished the ear development exercises, be sure to repeat what was covered in the lesson: the names of the strings, some exercises that prepare the positioning of the hands. Summing up the lesson, I draw the student’s attention to what he has already learned, what he is doing well, and I will definitely praise him. And in the first lesson I assign homework: - remember everything you did in class and repeat.
If I see the joyful eyes of a child and his desire to come to the next lesson, then the goal has been achieved and I was able to interest and captivate him. And this is a small victory for me.
Bibliography
1) Yakubovskaya V. Beginner course playing the violin. L., 1986.
2) Miltonyan S. Introductory course in violin performance. M., 1987.
3) Shalman S. I will be a violinist. L., 1987.
4) Grigoryan A. Primary school of violin playing. M., 1989.
5) Rodionov K. Basic violin lessons. M., 1987.
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This is an unusual book. Its author, V. Yu Grigoriev, is a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, an heir to traditions national school A. Yampolsky and Y. Rabinovich - understands teaching methods as the widest field of possible solutions. To do this, it brings together the opinions of past and present masters on the same issue, supporting their arguments with data. modern psychology, physiology, mathematics and physics...
Introduces his impressions and thoughts that were born in the wake of meetings with major domestic and foreign musicians and teachers. The choice of performance decision remains with the student and his mentor, and the measure of the correctness of the choice will always be the artistic result. The author did not have time to complete the planned work. At the same time, the resulting book is not just an ordered and systematized collection of materials, articles, and texts of Grigoriev’s conservatory lectures. This is essentially a textbook - due to the scale of the problem, detailed coverage of various issues of performance. And so far the only one in Russian violin pedagogy. This is its exceptional value.
Name: Methods of learning to play the violin
Grigoriev V.
Year: 2006
Pages: 255
Language: Russian
Format: pdf/rar
Size: 10.35 Mb
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Methodical message
Introduction
Beautiful, expressive sound is one of the most valuable qualities musician-performer, therefore achieving this quality should be a primary goal at all stages of a young violinist’s training.
The history of bow art gives us the opportunity to trace the formation and development of various violin schools. As a rule, their best representatives paid special attention to mastering the art of “singing” on the instrument.
The great Italian masters of the 17th and 18th centuries in their art sought to bring the sound of the violin closer to the human voice. Giuseppe Tartini devoted several years of his life to a six-volume work on the study of the nature of musical sound. He said: “Sounding well requires good singing.”
Russian violin art of the late 18th and early 19th centuries gave rise to several bright names. Among them are Khandoshkin, Dmitriev-Svechin and others. According to contemporaries, their playing was distinguished by a full sound, unusually expressive and warm.
By that time, violin art had also reached great heights in other countries.
A number of subsequent generations of violinists - Spohr and Lvov, Wieniawski and Joachim, Ysaye and Kreisler, Thibault and Heifetz, Szigeti and Polyakin, Stern and Oistrakh, Kogan and Klimov, and finally young Soviet violinists, laureates international competitions, with their art they have repeatedly confirmed the truth that the violin is a singing instrument.
N.G. Chernyshevsky said: “The violin is placed above all instruments, because it comes closest to the human voice of all instruments.”
A violinist who does not master the art of “singing” will never be able to achieve positive results in musical performance.
Sound production problems when teaching students to play the violin
At the very initial stage of learning, problems associated with sound production arise. At first, it is very difficult for a beginning violinist to extract an even, high-quality sound from the instrument.
The movement of the bow is accompanied by a creak, an interruption in sound. The teacher usually anticipates this situation associated with the uncertain movement of the student’s right hand. This is where the work on sound begins, which will continue for many years.At first, the requirements should be as follows:
The sound should not be interrupted;
The sound should be specific (not superficial);
The sound should not be accompanied by creaking or other overtones.
To help the student successfully cope with these tasks, the teacher must have a clear understanding of what determines the quality of sound on the instrument. Firstly, it depends on the correct direction of bow movement.
The bow should move on the string, if possible, at a right angle, as this creates the most favorable conditions to vibrate the string.
The second important condition is the tight contact of the bow with the string.
Superficial movement of the bow along the string leads to a whistling, vague sound, and, conversely, excessive pressure on the string produces a sharp, pinched sound.
When working on sound in the first year of study, the student should not be forced to play any exercises or etudes at an excessively slow tempo, as this poses great difficulty for a beginning violinist. The most successful in this case will be movements in quarter or half beats (in this case, the teacher must constantly remind the student of the beautiful sound).
As certain techniques (skills) of sound production are mastered, the teacher begins to introduce the student to the simplest dynamic shades. This is achieved by comparing the quiet and loud sounds on the instrument. When producing a louder sound, you need to draw the bow wider and more tightly along the string. To produce a softer, quieter sound, the bow is drawn with less density and closer to the fingerboard.
The increase (crescendo) of sound is achieved by increasing the density and scope of the bow. Reducing the sound (diminuendo) - correspondingly by reducing the density and reducing the speed of the bow.
In order for the student to feel the need for beautiful sound production, it is necessary at the very early stage of training to go through the most technically and artistically simple pieces with him, for example, “Allegretto” by W. Mozart, the Belarusian folk song “Quail”, etc.
The associations that arise in his mind should lead to positive results in the sense of extracting the beautiful (for this level) sound.
An important role in this case can be played by the teacher himself playing the given play. Experience shows that a teacher’s example plays a role decisive role in any aspect of educating young musicians.
After the student has received a certain technical and musical training (this means well-learned hand positioning, mastery of three or four positions, pure intonation), one can begin to study vibration - one of brightest means sound colors. Sometimes, without waiting for instructions from the teacher, the student begins to use the vibrator on his own, which is usually caused by personal dissatisfaction with his sound and, often, the first timid oscillatory movements can become the basis of real vibration, which is developed under the guidance of the teacher. Mastering vibration opens up wide horizons for a young violinist to achieve a more complete development. artistic content performed works. The desire for a beautiful tone should be manifested not only in cantilena works, but also in plays of a moving nature, including technically complex passages.
The student must monitor the quality of the sound while working on exercises, scales and etudes.
Excellent material for working on sound here can be F. Mazas’ “Special Etudes” No. 1 and No. 7, G. Handel’s sonatas, especially their slow movements, and much more.
At the next stages of learning, new ones arise complex problems sound production issues. This is due to the tasks that are set for young musicians mastering artistic works of violin literature. There is a need to dwell on these problems in more detail.
One of the main conditions for achieving expressive performance musical works is high quality sound.
What do we mean by this concept - high-quality sound? First of all, this is the sound of the instrument without any extraneous sounds, without a feeling of constriction, rigidity, or superficiality.
An indispensable condition for expressive sound is also: melodiousness, flexibility, depth.
A.I. Yampolsky, in his report at the Gnessin State Musical Pedagogical Institute in 1955, said that “nothing embellishes a musician’s playing more than a melodious, meaningful and meaningful tone - one of the most impressive means of conveying images, feelings and moods, expressing warmth, depth and the content of the performance."
To this day, there is an opinion among teachers that a beautiful, expressive tone is given by nature, and that “it cannot be taught.” Frontline pedagogical science rejects this erroneous opinion. Much attention is paid to the education of language culture in Soviet violin pedagogy.
The basis of the correct method of working on the culture of violin sound should be the development of internal hearing. “Internal” hearing of music must precede its playback on the instrument. The material basis for sound is to combine the correct interaction of the right and left hands. In this regard, it makes sense to consider and understand the functions of both hands in the process of sound production.
A bow moved with the right hand across a stretched string causes sound vibrations, which, through the stand and soul, enter the timbre-acoustic transducer-body of the violin. There the sound is formed and acquires artistic value. The strength and purity of a violin's sound depends on the direction in which the bow moves. As mentioned above, the best sound results should be considered the movement of the bow at right angles to the string.
The strength and purity of a violin sound also depends on the location of the bow on the string.
Depending on changes in the dynamic and timbre shades of sound, as well as on the length of the sounding string segment, those places on the string between the stand and the fingerboard along which the bow moves change.
The quieter the sound, the more transparent the timbre, the relatively farther the bow is held from the bridge.
How louder sound, the richer the timbre, the closer the bow is held to the bridge.
The shorter the sounding string section, the closer the bow position is to the bridge and vice versa.
Changes in the position of the bow should not interfere with the sound quality and, obviously, should be prepared in advance before changing the nuance.
Approaching the bow to the stand and removing it during the game should not disrupt the main direction of its movement.
The strength and purity of a violin sound also depends on the width of the bow hair.
When amplifying the sound, a larger width of the bow hair band will be required ( big square grip with the string). And vice versa: when the sound is weakened, a smaller width is required. In this regard, it is recommended to always play with a slight tilt of the bow.
The area of adhesion of the hair tape to the string will change depending on the increase or decrease in tightness, adjusted by the right hand.
You will notice that at the end of the bow, where the hairline becomes stiffer, the bow angle may be reduced.
The sound capabilities of a violin largely depend on the speed of movement of the bow along the string. If the speed of movement of the hair along the string is too low, full-fledged sound vibrations of the string do not occur, and vice versa, if the speed of movement of the hair along the string is too high, the bow loses its grip on the string, resulting in a superficial sound.
There is the best bow speed to produce high quality sound. This speed provides the most productive result of adhesion of the rosin-coated surface of the hair to the string during the process of sound production.
High-quality sound depends on the violinist's ability to constantly find and communicate the most useful speed of movement to the bow.
Based on these considerations, the famous violinist-methodist I. A. Lesman believes that:
For the nuance of pianissimo, a minimum tightness of the bow to the string and a minimum speed of its movement are required, and the place where the bow is held is relatively farther from the bridge.
The piano nuance also requires a slight, but slightly tighter fit of the bow to the string and, accordingly, a slightly wider movement of the bow, the place of the bow being held a little closer to the bridge.
For a sound of medium volume, mezzoforte requires a tighter fit of the bow to the string than with piano and, accordingly, a wider/faster movement along the string.
The forte nuance requires a very tight fit of the bow to the string and a wider/faster movement of the bow. The position of the bow is correspondingly closer to the stand.
To obtain a sound in the fortissimo nuance, a significant force of pressure and a possibly high speed of movement are required within the limits that allow a free, unforced sound of the string.
With all the indicated relationships - tightness, speed of bowing, place of bowing - necessary to obtain the required shades of sound, tempo is of great importance.
A slow tempo will require the use of wide strokes and, conversely, a fast tempo will require shortening the strokes.
If you do not adhere to this position, then when playing at a fast tempo with strokes that are too wide for a given tightness, the string will not sound full enough.
At a slow tempo, shortened strokes will lead to a pinched sound of the string, since the speed of movement will be insufficient for the given degree of fit of the bow.
The degree of contact between the bow and the string depends on several reasons:
From using hand weight
From finger sensations on the bow reed
From the weight of the bow
Using the weight of the hand, a full, thick, rich sound is formed. Weighted sound production significantly saves the player’s effort, because in this case, amplification of the sound requires a more relaxed hand.
This technique is very effective. It allows violinists who do not have great physical strength to achieve a powerful sound. The fingers of the right hand, along with their role as a mechanism that conveys the ability to create a dynamic pattern of the sound line of a musical phrase.
When producing sound, one cannot ignore the distribution of the weight of the bow in its various parts. It is known that Bottom part The bow is heavier than the top one, therefore, when approaching the block, the bow exerts more pressure on the string, and when approaching the end, its pressure decreases.
The force of the natural pressure of the bow on the string is equalized by the fingers. This finger work is complex and constant and requires special sensitivity and attention from the performer’s auditory center. The natural pressure of the bow on the string changes gradually throughout its entire length.
To maintain a constant sound strength, a gradual change in the finger sensations on the bow reed is necessary.
When the bow is on the string in the area of the block and its overhanging part to the left of the violin, most of it is like a long arm of a lever, the natural pressure of the bow on the string will be maximum. To neutralize it, two fingers are used: the ring and little fingers.
After the bow passes through the middle, its weight begins to no longer be enough to maintain the sound of the previous strength. The index finger is included in the work. Now it falls to his lot to equalize the sound strength.
In the process of sound production, the work of the left hand obviously plays an important role. It must be assumed that if the finger of the left hand does not fit tightly enough to the string, or, on the contrary, presses on it with excessive force, then this will inevitably affect the quality of the sound.
It is absolutely clear that the finger must be lowered onto the string actively and without extra effort press it against the bar; it should remain in this state until another finger replaces it. The finger should come off the string easily and actively, occupying the same, rounded position above the fingerboard, or, if it is convenient for the work of other playing fingers, stop pressing and remain lying on the string.
The fall of your finger on the string should not be accompanied by the string hitting the fingerboard. The audible knocking noise may be caused by excessive high position fingers over the fingerboard.
Such knocking is unacceptable both from the point of view of violin playing technique and from the point of view of aesthetics.
L. Auer, touching on the problem of finger sensations on the strings, writes: “there are special monographs that advise “relaxing” the hand in every case.
I, too, believe in relaxation, if this word is used to denote rest while working, or to use it as a synonym for a certain elasticity of the arm, freedom of the hand, and light pressure of the fingers on the cane. But when it comes to “relaxing” the left hand, in other words, the fingers of the left hand, I have the opposite opinion.”
Auer further writes: “The more one tries to weaken the sound, for example in pianissimo, the more one should increase the pressure of the fingers, especially in positions where the strings are raised higher above the fretboard, as well as on high notes on the string.” These words of the brilliant teacher have not lost their meaning even today, although perhaps they should not be understood straightforwardly. Nowadays it is not customary to use the term “pressure” because it is associated with some kind of excessive pressure. It would be more correct to talk about good finger activity, about sufficient density of contact between the fingers and the string.
Vibrato, which is one of the most important means of expressiveness, plays a major role in achieving high-quality sound production.
O.M. Agarkov in his work “Vibrato” writes: “The melodious cantilena sound is associated with the presence of vibrato in it.” The technique of vibrato is based on swaying the pad of the finger of the left hand pressing the string, in the direction of some intonation increase. Such swings can be more or less frequent (vibrato speed), as well as less wide (vibrato size).
Shaking a finger causes the other fingers and the entire hand to sway. The relatively widest swing of the hand affects movement in the elbow and shoulder joints.
Without going into a detailed analysis of the technique of vibrato, it should be noted that it in itself should not be an end in itself. Here's what he says about it English teacher A. Richard: “When vibrato is a means of expression, then it is inseparable from the music and adapts to all shades of feeling, in a word, when it can be achieved so that it ceases to be a “thing in itself,” then it becomes one of the most powerful and useful factors playing the violin and should be the subject of the closest attention of modern violinists...
Both slow and fast vibrato can be good. Failure to change the speed of vibrato indicates a lack of skill.
Amazing contrast effects can be achieved by stopping vibrato. The nature of the music sometimes requires complete purity and peace and even dryness, where the use of vibrato would lead to a distortion of the concept.”
Vibrato not only decorates the sound, but also enhances it. A successfully found relationship between the speed and amplitude of vibration provides a service to the dynamics of sound production and its special convexity of brightness.
As already mentioned, the techniques of the right and left hands are in close interaction and must be carefully coordinated.
All of the above shows that, while playing, using various speeds of movement of the bow along the string, varying degrees of tightness of the hair ribbon to the string, choosing the location of the bow between the fingerboard and the stand, using vibrato as a means of emotional and dynamic expressiveness and, finally, finding a variety of combinations and interrelation of these possibilities, the violinist-performer receives a rich arsenal expressive means to reveal artistic images. Over the course of even one phrase of any musical work, the qualitative composition, as well as the ratio of these components of violin sound formation, can change many times. It depends on the skill, artistic taste, musical culture and the talent of the performer, and in the first stage of training - from the teacher.
Conclusion
At the end of this work, it would be useful to quote statements from outstanding performing teachers about the importance of high-quality sound production in musical performance:
A.V.Lvov:
“I dare to say that if violinists, chasing an elusive phantom, forget that the main character of the violin is melodiousness, and direct all their strength only to performing tricks known under the false name of Paganiniev’s, then such artists will bitterly repent, they will lose the habit of real, artistic performance on the violin..."
K. Flash:
“The technique of sound production is an essential part of the general foundations of violin playing. Pure sound is the best remedy interpretation of our moods. And, nevertheless, it should always be only a means - albeit a noble one - to achieve the most perfect fulfillment. A violinist, whose ideal is only sound production, has no right to consider himself an artist, since his works serve as a reason for him to reproduce a possibly more beautiful sound.
The means turns into an end."I.A.Lesman:
"played on the violin musical sound always has a certain character, determined by the dynamics, timbre, type of stroke: you cannot work on the sound, forgetting that it always has one or another, desirable or undesirable character. Musicians who do not take this into account inevitably develop certain “clichés” of sound in their playing, which further hinder the development of live expressiveness in performance.”
Literature:
- I. Yampolsky “Russian violin art” 1 volume “On the issue of nurturing a culture of sound among violinists.” Comp. S. Sapozhnikov. M.: Muzyka, 1968
- K. Flesch “The Art of Violin Playing” / Cont. art., ed. translation, comment. and additional K.A. Fortunatova. M.: Muzyka, 1964
- I. Lesman “Essays on methods of teaching the violin” Cont. art., comp., total. ed., additional and approx. M.S. Blok. - M.: State. music ed., 1964.
- L. Auer “My school of violin playing” Interpretation of works of violin classics / Trans. from English, total. ed., intro. Art. and comments by I.M. Yampolsky. -M.: Music, 1965.
- O. Agarkov “Vibrato” Essays on methods of teaching the violin: Questions of the technique of the violinist’s left hand / Under the general. ed. M.S. Blok. M.: Muzgiz, 1960
- L. Raaben “The Life of Remarkable Violinists.” 1969.
- K. Mostras “System of home violin lessons” Methodical essay / Ed. IN. Rabeya. M.: Muzgiz, 1956.
- T. Pogozheva “Issues of methods of teaching the violin” M.: Muzyka, 1966
- K. Sementsov-Ogievsky “The Art of Violin Changes” - M., 1971.
Kurbangaleeva O.V., 2015,
Muravlenko
Fishina Alina Igorevna
Features of studying strokes in the beginning
period of learning to play the violin
Introduction
The entire course of the centuries-old history of violin art has been inextricably linked with the development and improvement of line art.
Mastery of the bow is the main means of artistic influence on the listener. B. Asafiev wrote: “When they talk about a violinist, his violin sings - this is the highest praise for him. Then they not only listen to him, but also strive to listen to what the violin is singing about.”
Such an impact depends on the masterful use of various stroke ways of pronouncing the melody. Mastery of the line technique, like the clear speech of a choreographed human voice, makes musical performance expressive. It is also directly related to the composer’s hearing of the melody and the implementation of his creative plan.
On modern stage Musical practice requires the violinist performer to have highly perfect universal mastery of the line technique not only in solo, ensemble, but also orchestral performance. This indicates the need to constantly improve the level of training of professional violinists.
It is in the initial period of training that basics of sound production and line technique for a violinist. This stage is the most important and largely determines the entire path of further development of the musician.
Modern methodological literature on this issue is presented extensively, including recommendations and developments of more than one generation of experienced musicians. Practice shows that methods, techniques, performance criteria are in constant dynamics, there is an abundance of schools and principles of production. As a result, the task facing each teacher is to choose the most optimal way teaching in order to achieve high results in the shortest possible time. It is especially difficult on this path for beginning teachers who do not yet have teaching experience. This work presents an attempt to understand the way of forming line technique at the initial stage of learning through the prism of the sound of the instrument. Clear Vision task, its specificity can significantly simplify the process of achieving it. Therefore, this work is relevant.
Target work - to consider the features and methods of working on line technique in the initial period of violin training.
Tasks:
– study goals and objectives of the initial period of violin training
– consider stages of the formation of line art technology
– analyze Features of working on the strokes of detail, legato and martel.
An object research is the initial period of learning to play the violin.
Item research - line technique in the initial period of violin training.
Research methods:
– studying specialized literature on research issues;
– generalization And analysis musical and performing experience related to the solution of artistic, stylistic, sound-coloristic and motor-technical features of performance;
Approbation– the results of the study were carried out during a discussion at the department of orchestral string instruments, in the process of making a report at a meeting of the research section of the department of orchestral string instruments.
Practical significance The results of the study may be useful to practicing teachers of children's music schools and children's art schools, as well as students and teachers of colleges and universities, when teaching courses on methods of teaching the violin.
Goals and objectives of the initial period of learning to play the violin
The initial period of a violinist’s training is the most important, determining his entire future fate. D. Oistrakh believed that “errors in fundamental learning can be overcome with great difficulty at later stages of learning.” What is imprinted in the child’s consciousness during initial contacts with the violin becomes so strong that it noticeably speeds up or, on the contrary, accelerates further development.
The age limits for initial training range from the period of early childhood (at 3-4 years old, for example, J. Heifetz, F. Kreisler, P. Sarasate, etc. began to study violin) to 8, rarely 9 years. The optimal age to start learning is from 5 to 6 years. At this age, the child is already sociable, has a fairly rich motor experience, he can be taught due to the presence of stable attention and developing volitional processes. At the same time, the child still perceives the world holistically, intuition, unconscious mental processes, and genetic memory operate vividly.
In Russian psychology, there are clearly defined age periods in the development of a child, each of which is characterized by its own leading type of activity. If for some reason a child is deprived of an environment that provides him with leading activities, then “irreparable damage is caused to his personal development.”
The teacher is obliged to know and in his work take into account the peculiarities of the child’s activity in different periods childhood. Therefore, information about the world around the child in general and about the violin and music in particular must be given to him through typical of his age activities.
The initial period of learning the violin is preschool period (3-7 years). At this time, the child’s activities are more varied; this is the time for the student to master the basic skills. The leading type of activity of a child in the preschool period is a game. The child loves to draw, dance, fantasize, design, play with peers, he imitates the activities of adults in everything. The child happily participates in role-playing activities games, modeling the “adult world”, which is so diverse, incomprehensible and of which he begins to feel and become aware of himself.
In primary education, “not only the teacher’s maximum attention to the child, his full “involvement” is required, but also special “insight” in relation to individual internal qualities a little musician, his character, reaction, accumulated experience.” The development of a young violinist depends on how accurately and deeply the teacher can guess the characteristics of his talent in a student, and then carefully develop this.
The initial training period includes the following goals and objectives:
Musical development, development of internal hearing.
Formation of skills for positioning hands on the instrument.
Development of basic gaming skills.
Study of elementary strokes (detail, legato, beginning to work on martle and their alternation).
The first stage of working with beginning violinists is the most important. The teacher needs to try to interest the student in “the most prosaic moments of positioning the arms, legs, head, etc.”
During the initial training of violinists, teachers are often faced with an almost or completely undeveloped ear for music. “Paradoxical as it may seem, children with a worse ear for music are often admitted to the violin class than to the piano class, and the specialty teacher has to deal with the development of musical ear in parallel with the placement of hands, familiarization with musical literacy, which for violinists has its own specifics.” . The specificity of working with such students is that part of the lesson must be devoted to the development of musical ear with the help of singing at first individual sounds, then motives, gradually complicating the tasks.
The main and very important point is separate positioning of hands.
Particular attention should be paid to position of the violinist's legs and body. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart, with your toes turned slightly to the sides. This is necessary for the correct position of the spine, comfort and stability during the game. The left foot, if positioned correctly, can initially serve as a guide for the position of the violin: the head of the violin should be directed in the same direction as the toe of the left foot, without deviating either to the left or to the right
An important detail will be the pad on the collarbone. It should be optimal for each child in shape, size and density. The ribbons should be comfortable so that they do not cut into the neck or come undone.
Separate education in the initial period involves parallel work on positioning the left and right hands. During the lesson, it is advisable to frequently change all these tasks for easier learning and to increase the student’s interest in the lessons.
– the initial stage lays the foundations for the formation of technique for playing the instrument;
– age of students – 5-7 years – preschool period, leading type of activity – a game, which dictates the need to take into account psychological characteristics this age period in teaching practice;
– in practice training at this time is carried out parallel work Elementary line playing skills are laid over the placement of each hand individually.
Formation of the stroke technique of a beginning violinist
Working on line art begins with mastering the skills rational placement of the right hand.
Word "Rationality"(from the Latin ratio - reason) - “reasonableness, meaningfulness, expediency.” In relation to violin performance, this means understanding the process of the hands on the instrument, the harmonious adaptation of the hands and body of the player to achieve the most perfect sound of the instrument, and the implementation of artistic and expressive tasks.
The problem of owning a bow is in many ways a problem of the sound embodiment of the composer's plan and the realization of the sound capabilities of both the instrument and the performer.
The concept of “right hand technique” includes the following questions:
– sound production;
– distribution of the bow;
– several types of bow transition from string to string;
– many different types of strokes: adjacent, jerky, jumping, combined, etc.;
– mastery of such means of artistic expression as accents, dynamic shades, etc.
Right hand skills And basics of sound production laid down in the initial period of training. One of the main tasks in the initial period of training is to overcome the innate grasping reflexes in students, freeing the muscles from excessive tension, and developing fluency in all joints of the right hand.
It is necessary to work on muscle relaxation from the first lessons, main criterion– this is convenience. Everything is important here, both preparatory exercises and the psychological atmosphere. During the lesson, it is better to avoid phrases such as, “Take the bow in your hand,” it is much better and more correct, “Put your fingers on the bow,” this phrase encourages muscle relaxation.
Bow holding skills begin to be developed with a pencil, since it has practically no weight. It is necessary that the student already knows the name of the fingers. Then the teacher himself places his fingers on the pencil as if it were a bow. It's better to do this in game form. The child begins to fantasize and becomes better involved in the process, remembering everything easier. In the game it is easier to overcome the “grasping” reflex.
When the student has learned to hold a pencil correctly and easily, and has memorized the position of his fingers, he can continue learning with a bow.
The bow should be held very lightly, without squeezing it, but as if just supporting it. “Each finger on the bow plays an important role necessary for the formation of sound.”
Let's take a closer look placing the fingers of the right hand on the bow cane.
The thumb and middle fingers form the main ring surrounding the cane. Thumb is counteracting in relation to the other fingers lying on the cane. It should be easily rounded when the bow moves upward towards the block and somewhat straightened when moving downwards, towards the end of the bow, that is, be flexible and plastic. The index finger gives support to the reed, the weight of the hand when moving the bow in the upper half. Ring finger helps when moving the bow upward, as if pulling the reed. The little finger is the main counterweight when playing at the block. It feels the weight of the bow at the block more than other fingers and prevents excessive pressure in this part of the bow and thereby prevents the possibility of squeaking in beginning students. The fingers should rest on the bow reed in their natural position, that is, they should neither be pressed together nor spread out like a rake.
If they lie calmly, naturally rounded, then the “bones” - the bases of the fingers - will not protrude and they will not have to be artificially removed. If the so-called “grip” of the bow is unnatural, then neither normal sound production nor strokes will be achieved.”
After the student has learned to hold the bow, it is necessary to move on to working on holding it.
First, it is very useful to start moving the un-coated bow along the bend of the elbow of your left hand. We mark the middle of the bow with a white thread and count one - stop - two; while stopping the bow, you need to relax your hand and check the position of the fingers on the cane. The bow is held straight, the hand “opens” forward. Common mistake holding the bow “behind the ear” and “behind the back”. Already in this exercise the skill of holding the bow evenly is practiced.
Then it is useful to complicate the exercise. We place the bow at the block with the cane tilted away from us; as it moves, the brush turns it over to a full length of hair. Gradually it is necessary to achieve smoothness and ease of holding the bow. All movements should become comfortable and natural.
It is necessary that students have a very clear idea of which joints and muscles of the hand are most occupied when playing in one or another part of the bow. It must be explained that when playing in the lower half of the bow, the main role in the movement is played by the shoulder joint, and when playing in the upper half of the bow, the elbow joint. The wrist (carpal) joint plays an auxiliary role when playing in any part of the bow.
The shoulder and the shoulder joint must also be clearly distinguished: it is possible and often necessary to raise the shoulder (for example, when playing the G string), without, however, raising the shoulder joint.
When the bow moves downward, the wrist gradually lowers, when the bow moves up, it gradually rises, and the hand seems to be suspended. Movements of the wrist joint should be smooth and not excessive. A common mistake among students is lateral deflection of the wrist joint. This indicates tension in the forearm muscles and does not contribute to the development of stroke technique.
Violinist's linework technique.
Hatch(German Strich - line, line) - “an expressive way of performing, extracting with a bow one or another character of sound, musical articulation. This type of bowing technique got its name from those dashes and lines that began to be placed above the notes to indicate the method of bowing.” S. Feinberg wrote that “the strokes of bowed instruments can be called the “visible breath” of music. Without taking your eyes off the violinist’s right hand, watch the tension, decline and change of sounding images.”
In the initial period of training, it is wrong to postpone studying strokes for a long time. This leads to the student using insufficiently high-quality motor skills in the game and in the future can slow down the mastery of line art. The basic, most general stroke movements should be taught from the very beginning, and the study of specific strokes can begin as soon as the student masters the principles of production or eliminates shortcomings in it. Practice shows that if a student gets used to monotonous movements of the right hand, then it will be more difficult to achieve a variety of strokes than if one immediately masters contrasting movements.
The study of line techniques must be carried out in a certain sequence– from understanding basic stroke movements to more complex ones. The speed of mastering various strokes is very individual and depends on the student’s abilities (in this case, the ability to perform the most complex strokes may not be combined with general musical talent).
In the process of working on strokes, one should first of all proceed from their artistic purpose, for the implementation of which it is necessary to develop some kind of stroke. The artistic goal must be clearly set before him in a form accessible to the student’s age; the presence of internal hearing the sound result you want to achieve.
High artistic demands should be made from childhood, from the beginning of education. Developed artistic ideas about various strokes can be formed by demonstrations by a teacher, playing by older students, attending violinist concerts, and listening to recordings. A. Yampolsky, P. Stolyarsky noted that it is useful to listen to the performances of any violinists, not necessarily only the best, since “you can learn something from each performer, including what you should not do, since there are shortcomings on the part performances stand out in relief.”
Yu. Yankelevich said: “Beautiful movement gives rise to a beautiful sound.” This means that to achieve a high quality audio result, the stroke movement must be extremely precise. polished, verified and free from all unnecessary elements. At the same time, outwardly it acquires harmony, beauty, and produces a feeling of freedom and lightness. However, in a stroke there cannot be absolute freedom of the hand (in this state it cannot perform a single movement), but there is a necessary degree of minimum tension of certain muscles performing a given movement. If this degree is exceeded or extra muscles are tensed, then we can easily notice from the outside that the violinist’s movement jammed.
When working on line movements, it is important to realize that each of them, as V. Grigoriev notes, “has a certain, more or less wide, zone in which it can most appropriately be performed.” It is important that from the very beginning of studying a specific movement the student feels extreme points this zone. Then “inside it” he will be able to find in the future many options for movement necessary in the search for a stroke.
In the process of performing line movements, muscle work should be the most economical. In this case, not only between strokes, but also within one stroke movement, the muscles can get time to rest. Muscle fatigue and “overworking” occur precisely because they are overworked not so much by hours of exercise, but by a physiologically incorrect regimen and lack of necessary rest.
It is recommended to work on strokes in different ways: on open strings, on the material of scales, etudes, pieces. However, work on strokes should be somewhat ahead of their use in works of art, where it is advisable to use an established, polished stroke, and work on it in the light of a specific artistic tasks of this work.
From all of the above it follows:
– rational formulation means understanding the process of hand action on an instrument;
– work on line technique begins with mastering the skills of rational positioning of the right hand;
– study of strokes in the initial period of training can't be put off for long, this will lead to the student using insufficiently high-quality motor skills and in the future may slow down the mastery of strokes;
– the study of line movements must be carried out in a certain sequence – from simple to more complex;
– in the process of working on line art, one should, first of all, proceed from their artistic purpose, which must be clearly stated in a form accessible to the student’s age. The student must have inner hearing the sound result that should be achieved;
– in works of art it is desirable to use an established, polished stroke, and work on it in the light of the specific artistic objectives of this work.
Features of working on violin strokes
The initial period of learning the violin involves working on mastering the following strokes: Detache, Legato, Martele. Next, we will consider in detail the basic principles of working on each of these strokes separately.
Detache(details)
From French, this stroke is translated as “separate” - it means “a separate movement of the bow adjacent to the string without stopping at the end on each note.” This is one of the most expressive and most frequently used strokes. He is paramount for the development of all other strokes. Depending on the method of execution and the nature of the sound, this stroke has many varieties, and therefore it is very widely used.
In her work “Initial Training of a Violinist” A. Barinskaya formulates a number of specific requirements, requirements for the execution of this stroke:
“- a soft contact sound, that is, the sound produced by the normal adhesion of the bow hair to the string - without pinching, but with sufficient density;
– holding the bow between the bridge and the fingerboard parallel to the bridge to ensure correct string vibrations and, therefore, a natural sound;
– uniform sound throughout the entire length of the hair strip.”
Features of working on the stroke.
From the very beginning of working on the detail stroke, it is necessary to draw the student’s attention to the feeling weight hands. The bow should lie on the string, the hand should be free and soft, the movement along the string should be light and smooth. “The weight of the bow in the lower half is much greater than in the upper half. To maintain a uniform sound along the entire length of the bow, the violinist must play in the upper half with a slightly greater pressure of the bow on the string, as if adding weight to it with his hand using the index finger. And when playing at the block, approaching it, you need to slightly lighten the pressure of the bow on the string using your little finger. The same purpose is also served by a slight inclination of the reed to the fingerboard when playing in the lower half of the bow, which results in a narrowing of the ribbon of hair in contact with the string, and a straightening of the inclination of the reed when playing in the upper half of the bow, which results in an expansion of the ribbon of hair. This change in the inclination of the cane occurs due to the work of the wrist joint."
It is advisable to start working on mastering the stroke with open strings. V. Yakubovskaya's manual contains a number of beautifully harmonized pieces on open strings, the material of which is very convenient for learning the initial skills of bowing and mastering the detail stroke.
"Cockerel"- one of the first pieces for working on the distribution of the bow. It is also written on an open string, the rhythmic pattern is a combination of two eighths and a quarter. This provides an opportunity to explain short and long notes to the student. To better master the rhythm, you should first learn the poem, perform rhythmic exercises (clap, trample it with words). When the rhythm is mastered, we play the piece on the violin. On the eighth note, half is drawn; on the quarter note, the whole bow is drawn. This piece often requires special attention and coordination of movements from the student, as he tends to ignore the rhythmic pattern and go to the same durations. On eighth notes the bow moves along the string faster than a quarter note. You should ensure the evenness of the bow and high-quality sound production.
It is useful to play open string pieces on all four strings of the violin, regardless of which string they are written on. This will allow the student to feel the peculiarities of sound production on different strings and hear the sound character of each string of the violin. For example, playing the G string requires greater hand weight sensations than playing the E string. Its timbre is rich, similar to the buzzing of a bumblebee. The “E” string, on the contrary, is more “responsive”; it should be played with a “light” bow; its sound is cold and transparent. Such exercises contain an element of play, involve the child’s imagination, and contribute to better acquisition of gaming skills.
The most difficult thing for students to do is work on the stroke details is to achieve precisely uniform sound strength. The most natural and easiest sound is diminuendo when played with a downward bow and crescendo with an upward bow due to the peculiarities of the weight of the bow.
The force of pressure of the bow on the string depends not only on the playing in a certain part of the bow, but also on the speed of the bow. The higher the speed, the tighter the contact of the hair with the string should be and, therefore, the pressure of the bow on the string increases in order to avoid a superficial “rustling” sound. I would like to especially emphasize the need for sufficient freedom and relaxation of all joints and muscles of the right hand, since even slight tension is unnecessary and negatively affects sound production.
Legato(legato)
Legato (Italian: legato – connected, connected). “This is a technique for the coherent performance of several sounds on one bow” In sheet music it is indicated by the symbol league
"Hatch legato– one of the most widespread gaming techniques; it brings out the essence of the violin’s nature – its ability to smoothly, expressively “sing” an endless melody.”
Its main difficulty is to achieve, as L. Auer wrote, “the ideal of a soft, rounded, continuous flow of sounds.” He considered legato “the quintessence of cantilena playing”; it “is nothing more than the destruction of corners in violin playing.” Yu. Yankelevich wrote about legato: “We have largely lost the culture of this stroke. Smooth legato is paint. Cantilena, melodiousness, a long melodic line - that’s what the violin is strong about.”
Primary requirements:
Just like detail, legato is an adjoining stroke. Therefore, all the same requirements apply to legato as to detail. In addition to this, the following are added:
– precise distribution of the bow;
– rhythmic and precise work of the fingers of the left hand;
– good articulation.
It is important that the student comprehends from the very beginning the impulse of free bowing in legato he followed accurate his distribution. Just like in the detail stroke, we start working on legato with open strings.
The distribution of the bow in legato pursues the goal of uniform sound, so that there are no sound “tumors” due to pulling the end of the bow that was not used in a timely manner, or, conversely, so that the passage does not “suffocate” due to a lack of bow. Thus, when working on the detail stroke, it is necessary to achieve an even, continuous sound of the violin.
Martele(martele)
Translated from French - “forge, hammer, mint” - this is a jerky stroke, in many ways similar to a brightly accented detail, but it has its own characteristic sound, stops (pauses) between notes. It is indicated by dots (wedges) and accents above the notes.
This touch has a very bright character - energetic and at the same time graceful. As a rule, students perceive it well by ear.
Primary requirements:
- performed in the upper half of the bow;
– abrupt attack of sound;
– presence of pauses between notes.
Features of working on a stroke:
When working on a martel stroke, two points are equally important - the beginning of the sound - a bright, sharp attack, an active impulse of the hand moving along the string, which makes it possible to quickly and energetically draw the bow, and the ending - a sharp decay of the sound, imparting a percussive, abrupt character to the entire stroke.
A. Yampolsky wrote that “the usual mistake that is made when studying the martle stroke is that the bow is first pressed against the string and then moved. Meanwhile, the pressure of the bow on the string and its initial movement must necessarily occur at the same time.”
In order for the stroke to be sharp, short and at the same time time is easy, while stopping the bow, before each new note, do pauses. During pauses, it is necessary to prepare a “prick” of the next note, made by pressing the index finger with a small rotational movement forearm, simultaneously with the impulse of horizontal bow movement. A common mistake students make is a tight shoulder. A feeling of freedom of the entire hand is necessary, despite the fact that the main stroke impulse is produced from the elbow. After the accent, you should immediately release your hand, releasing the pressure of the index finger while holding it horizontally. The bow should not bounce, it should remain on the string.
At the initial stage of working on the martel stroke, it is advisable to withstand quite long periods of time. pauses between notes so that the student has time to prepare his hand, gradually shortening them as he masters the playing movement.
S. Shalman in his manual “I will be a violinist, 33 conversations with a young musician” offers preparatory exercises on open strings for mastering the martel stroke.
Conclusion
During the research, the features of studying strokes in the initial period of learning to play the violin were considered - the stage that lays the foundations of stroke technique.
Line art technique violinist is mastery of various expressive techniques sound production...
this work is built on the principle of mastering simple game movements to more complex ones and begins with mastering the skills of rational positioning of the right hand. This involves overcoming the students’ innate grasping reflexes, releasing the muscles from excessive tension, the natural position of the fingers on the cane, and developing fluency in all joints of the right hand.
At the present stage, from the context of teaching practice it is clear that the teacher’s task is to choose the most optimal teaching path from a variety of methods in order to achieve high results in the shortest possible time. In the domestic violin technique, it is considered advisable to start working on mastering three strokes - details,legato And martel.
Based on this, the third paragraph discussed the features of working on these strokes. A definition of each of them, sound characteristics, and basic requirements for performance are given. Examples of preparatory exercises for mastering these strokes are given, as well as educational plays, based on the material of which the features of performance, the main difficulties in working on a stroke and ways to overcome them are discussed in detail.
In the process of working on line art, one should, first of all, proceed from their artistic purpose, which must be clearly stated in a form accessible to the student’s age. The student needs to have an internal hearing of the sound result that should be achieved. In works of art, it is advisable to use an established, polished stroke, and work on it in the light of the specific artistic objectives of this work.
Bibliography:
Asafiev B.V. Musical form as a process Book. 2 Intonation. L.: 1971. – 230 p.
Auer L.S. My school of violin playing - M.: Muzyka, 1965. - 215 p.
Barinskaya A.I. Initial training of a violinist - M: Muzyka, 2007. - 103 p.
Berlyanchik M.M. How to teach violin at a music school, Almanac - M: Classics - XXI, 2006. - 205 p.
Bychkov V.D. Typical hand deficiencies of beginning violinists M.: Muzyka, 1970. – 152 s.
Grigoriev V.Yu. Methods of teaching the violin - M.: Classics - XXI, 2006 - 255 p.
Grigoryan A.G. Primary school of violin playing - M.: Soviet composer, 1986. - 137 p.
Kuznetsova S.V. The art of violin shifts - M.: Muzyka, 1971. - 174 p.
Küchler F. Technique of the violinist’s right hand - K.: Musical Ukraine - 1974. - 74 p.
Lesman I.A. Essays on methods of teaching the violin, M.: Muzyka – 1964. – 140 p.
Liberman M.B., Berlyanchik M.M. Culture of the sound of a violinist - M: Muzyka, 1985. - 160 p.
Mishchenko G.M. Methods of learning to play the violin. – St. Petersburg: Renome, 2009. – 272 p.
Mordkovich L. Studying the pedagogical heritage of P.S. Stolyarsky. // Questions of methods of primary music education. M.: Music - 1981. - 84s
Musical encyclopedia. Ch. ed. Yu.V. Keldysh. T.2 - M., "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1974. (Encyclopedias. Dictionaries. Directories. Publishing house "Soviet Encyclopedia", Publishing House "Soviet Composer") T.2 Gondolier - Korsov. 960 stb. from illus. Detache
Musical encyclopedia / Ch. ed. Yu.V. Keldysh. vol. 3 Corto - Octol - M., Soviet Encyclopedia, 1976. - 1104 p., ill. Legato, martel
Musical encyclopedic dictionary / Ch. ed. Stepanova S.R. – M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1990. – 671 p.
Ozhegov S.I. Dictionary of the Russian language / Ch. ed. N.Yu. Shvedova - M.: Russian language, 1987. - 796 p.
Oistrakh D.F. Memories. Articles. Interview. Letters. – M.: Muzyka, 1978. – 208 p.
Pogozheva T.A. Questions about methods of teaching the violin. – M.: Muzyka, 1966. –206 p.
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Flash K. The art of playing the violin. – M.: Muzyka, 1964, – 179 p.
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Introduction
As L. S. Auer wrote in the book “My School of Violin Playing”: “No matter how much we emphasize the importance of the first simple steps in the complex process of mastering the violin, there is no danger of exaggerating them. For better or for worse, habits developed in the early period of education directly affect the student’s entire subsequent development.”
Indeed, initial learning to play the violin is associated with a whole range of problems and limitations. The greatest achievement of a teacher is finding an individual approach to a child, the ability to interest him in music and at the same time correct (from the very first lessons) training in working with an instrument.
It was not for nothing that we mentioned our passion for music before. What about proper game. For children younger age According to their perception, it is very important not to lose the desire to learn. Here is how S. Afanasenko and L. Gabysheva write about it: “A child who comes with a more or less expressed desire to play the violin is forced at first to wait patiently until this becomes possible. And before that, he puts up with a very boring job - playing monotonously lasting sounds on open strings and playing as if on a balalaika. Even a little later, when the student is already playing with a bow and all the fingers of his left hand, he, at the request of the teacher, from time to time returns to such “music”, which bears little resemblance to real game violinists."
In this work, we will analyze the main features of teaching children starting to play the violin, working with methodological material on this issue. We will separately devote chapters to the traditional and modern school of learning to play the violin, and also dwell on the problems associated with psychological and methodological features this issue.
In conclusion, we will summarize the experience of research on this issue and try to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each school.
1. Past violin teaching techniques
M. Berlyanchik in his work “Fundamentals of Education of a Beginner Violinist” writes: “Widespread training of children in violin playing at the present time, in relation to achieved level domestic performance is in a state of crisis. Among many and various reasons Let us highlight the fact that teachers still do not have a general work on modern theory and methods of initial training for violinists. In the absence of even a textbook on methodology courses for music universities and colleges, pedagogical practice can rely only on relatively few works. Dedicated to individual aspects of violin performance - intonation, sound production, fingering, line technique, etc. (works of I. A. Lesman, K. G. Mostras, V. Yu. Grigoriev, I. M. Yampolsky, M. B. Liberman, A. A. Shirinsky and others), as well as on the first experiments of generalization creative activity outstanding domestic teachers - L. Auer, L. Tseitlin, A. Yampolsky, Yu. Eidlin, Yu. Yankelevich, B. Belenky and performing teachers D. Oistrakh, L. Kogan, M. Vaiman, B. Gutnikov, E. Grach . But in these publications, which have now become available to new generations of violinists, the issues of initial training are not highlighted.”
Indeed, we can name only three works devoted to direct initial learning to play the violin: the work of B. A. Struve “Ways initial development young violinists and cellists" (1952), teaching aid T. V. Pogozheva “Issues of methods of teaching violin playing” (1963) and the translated work of K. Flesch “The Art of Violin Playing”, the first part of which was published in Russian translation in 1964.
Struve’s work, despite many outdated provisions and statements (especially those related to ideological issues), remains, perhaps, almost the only attempt in our literature to attract the attention of the reader-teacher to independent reflection on the fundamental problems of teaching children to play the violin. Unfortunately, a number of the author’s insightful remarks (for example, work on hand placement, sound production, intonation) were not further developed.
The methodological positions of Pogozheva’s manual today seem largely outdated. In particular, due to the obvious “prescription” nature of the recommendations, the tendency to consider the formation of performing skills in line with reflex theory, the desire to regulate the process of development of a violinist, distributing the components of his skill into stages-classes, regardless of the individual characteristics of the children’s talent.
As for Flesch’s major work, in it, as in the above-mentioned works devoted to individual aspects of performance, theoretical and methodological provisions are given without taking into account age characteristics student, which does not allow one to get an idea of the existence of the largest foreign teacher a complete system of initial training for violinists.
It should be noted that in widespread practice, the methodology for the initial training of violinists in the course of historical development was formed purely empirically. By now, it has found itself cut off, on the one hand, from scientific analysis and generalizations of the best practices of domestic and foreign performing schools, and on the other hand, from the achievements of modern science: data from art history and aesthetics, psychology and physiology, theoretical and performing musicology, methodologically important for children’s violin pedagogy.
Practical observations and analysis of the available (very modest) methodological literature convince us that the most essential issues of the content and structure of the initial stages of training still remain unclear. Meanwhile, it is well known that the very beginning of violin lessons, its goals, professional level And real achievements determine the fate of the violinist at all subsequent stages of preparation.
Let us dwell in more detail on the principles of working with students of the “old” school.
In the past, the development of a violinist’s technique followed the path of using a huge number of exercises for the left and right hands (suffice it to recall the famous collections of Henkel, O. Shevchik, etc.). Their endless and mechanical repetition not only dulled the musical feeling, but also did not bring great benefit technical development, because at the same time there was a conscious attitude towards performing the exercise, there was no accurate and reliable explanation of the essence of this or that gaming technique.
The method of “separated placement of hands” (as one of the postulates of the principle of “separation of tasks”) - exercises for each hand were performed separately. It is curious that reasonable objections to this method were put forward in the thirties, for example, by V.N. Rimsky-Korsakov. Anticipating modern scientific ideas, he rightly wrote then that individual mechanical techniques “will never give the final result - musical performance- and they themselves do not even unite into the general process of the game, unless they are subordinated to a completely definite, higher, in comparison with them, psychophysiological (nervous) work.”
Was not given sufficient value the work of the forearm of the right hand, attention was paid only to the actions of the hand, isolated from the movements of the entire arm, which, being pressed to the body, was constantly in a low position. For that. To prevent the hand from moving away from the body, they placed various items: books, brushes, plates, etc.
This position of the right hand, in the absence of natural rotational movement of the forearm (so-called pronation), determined its almost vertical movement and vertical position of the hand. The result of this was a weak sound at the top of the bow.
To equalize the sound strength throughout the entire bow, the sound at the block was artificially weakened using a small amount of hair, and in the upper part of the bow the entire width of the bow was played.
violin education methodological
The main difference between modern teaching practice and the experience of past achievements in this area is an integrated approach to teaching the violin. Here we mean the simultaneous development in a student of various qualities and properties, such as artistic, literary, physical and, of course, musical development child. At the moment, it is unthinkable to simply teach a child to simply hold the instrument correctly and extract the necessary sounds from it.
Modern aesthetics and pedagogy propose to teach a child to feel music, using its connection with literature (selection and reading of poetry, composing songs, etc.), painting (drawing a melody, selecting paintings for certain music), dancing (development of the student’s plastic and artistic qualities ).
Different violin schools offer their own methods. Let's look at the most interesting, in our opinion, programs.
An important step in preparing a methodological basis for studying violin playing was made by M. M. Bernyanchik in his book “Fundamentals of Education of a Beginning Violinist”, in which he outlined in detail the problems of modern music pedagogy, assessed different teaching systems, and most importantly, proposed his own, taking into account various factors teaching: “the proposed three apologies for the system of initial learning of a violinist - thinking, technology - creativity - and should have drawn the reader’s attention to the necessary support, first of all, on the consistent development of the child’s musical and instrumental thinking and his inescapable need for creative activity. It is no coincidence that technology, which now absorbs the maximum effort of students and teachers, is placed at the center of this triad. Thus, I would like to emphasize that, on the one hand. Full mastery of it, undoubtedly, is of fundamental importance for the development of a violinist’s skill. But, on the other hand, it is sterile for it as Art if it is not controlled by thinking and is not nourished by the life-giving juices of creativity.”
Here are excerpts from the article by Turchaninova G.S. “ Current problems initial violinist training. Integrated development musical thinking and violin skills”, in which she presents her main ideas about working with children starting to learn to play the violin:
Today, children with very different levels of general and musical abilities come to violin classes. For this reason, their upbringing should pursue several goals at once. The main ones, in our opinion, are: 1) awakening interest in music and love for the chosen instrument: 2) developing the ability to mobilize attention during classes; 3) the formation of auditory ideas as the basis of musical thinking; 4) development of muscle-motor culture and gaming skills.
Musical-auditory ideas, as is known, arise and develop not spontaneously, but in the process of purposeful musical activity as one of its necessary components. Such necessary types of activities include, along with singing, selection by ear, composition, transposition, etc. It is advisable to use them not only in music theory classes, but also in violin classes, and specifically in early stage training.
From the first lesson, the child is introduced by all available means to playing the violin, to imagining at least the simplest musical images, to creative work. To do this, it is not at all necessary to wait until the child learns to hold the instrument correctly or masters musical notation - in the very first lessons, you can play songs composed by children by plucking on open strings. In this case, the violin must be placed on the table so that its head is located to the right and the neck is to the left of the student. Then the teacher shows the technique of extracting sound by plucking. The guys can do it without much difficulty.
From the very first touch of the violin, it is important to listen to its sound. Each string has its own distinct timbre, children understand this immediately. Four strings are four different characters, all that remains is to name them. This is not difficult for children: they usually give the G string to the bear, D to the dog, A to the frog, and E to the bird or mouse. Then we will try to sing these sounds, listening to the sound of the violin and our own voice.
After this, the child is asked to come up with a rhyme. “Music” is immediately added to the words - the student plays the violin (plucked) and at the same time sings a song.
If a student does not know musical notation, at the same time as composing and playing songs, he begins to study it. In this case, the child records only those sounds that he plays and sings. Along the way, it becomes clear which sound sounds higher (thinner) and which sounds lower (thicker). After this, the student tries to record his own song.
In the first lessons, you can begin to transpose, which is given great importance in the future. It's done like this. First, the teacher tells a fairy tale. For example, once upon a time there was a bunny in the world, he went for a walk, and on the way he sang a song (a song is sung, just invented by a child, to which he immediately sings along). Then the teacher improvises a descending melody on the piano or violin: “The bunny walked and walked and came... To whom?” - “To the bear!” - the baby screams. - "Right. The bear also wanted to sing the same song. Play it on the violin! Where is Mishka's string? Now sing! Difficult? Then I will sing,” the teacher sings the G of a small octave, “and you sing the same sound, only thinner, as if a little bear sang it.” If a song like “Frogs” is transposed, then it is sung in G major (the teacher plays along on the instrument).
Effective method comprehensive education For a beginning violinist, an important factor in the development of his musical and violin thinking is early familiarization with positions, which is closely intertwined with transposition. Children's creativity also provides significant assistance in this. Children willingly continue to compose songs. Using tetrachords and intervals formed when playing in positions. They either invent song lyrics or use known ones.
Previously, even before the actual playing of the violin, the concepts of semitone and tone are introduced, as the closest and wider distance between two sounds. This happens both while singing and when placing your fingers on the fretboard. Then the skill of group “scattering” (that is, simultaneous placement) of fingers is formed according to the sounds of a major tetrachord (half-half between the 2nd and 3rd fingers). The “falling” of the fingers is organized so that the student feels the leading role of the 4th finger in this action.
As soon as the child has learned to “spread” his fingers, he begins to master (without a violin) movements in the elbow joint (as when changing positions). At the same time, children must monitor the concentration of their fingers and mentally “scatter” them themselves. Then the major tetrachord in the first position (on the A and D strings) is mastered. Its development is preceded by solfege and transposition of plays and sketches composed on its basis. Thus, by the time the child starts playing the violin, he has a good idea of what he will play with his inner ear.
The next stage is sliding the left hand along the fingerboard, then mastering moving the hand to the fifth position,” - all this is proposed to be done in a language accessible to the student, with the help of songs and poems.
Having become familiar with the movement of the hand along the bar. The student moves the major tetrachord to third position. Previously mastered in the first position. At the same time, he is informed that the higher the position, the narrower he needs to throw his fingers. By this time, the child is already familiar with the concept of “interval”; he also knows specific intervals - major and minor seconds (tone, semitone), fifths, fourths. Therefore, when moving to the third position some pieces previously played in the first (for example, “Cockerel”), there is no need to tell the child about this. That the fingers must be placed separately.
At first, the student plays by plucking. At the same time, of course, work is being done on his right hand. At the first opportunity (criteria: sound quality and a certain stabilization of playing movements), you can combine the work of the hands on separate short sing-alongs...
The experience of using such methods convinces us that the early introduction of positions in combination with the activation of hearing and education creativity provides a number of advantages in the development of a young violinist. First of all, the prerequisites are developing abstract thinking- the ability to make musical playing generalizations is formed. Which activates inner hearing and mastery of the fretboard. Playing in positions and the associated transposition significantly enlivens the process of mastering the initial setting. Children often themselves suggest transposing a new piece into a different key or performing it in a different position.
The described methods significantly enrich the understanding of beginning violinists about various tonalities and their musical meaning. The ratio of fifths of the strings helps to remember the four major sharp keys (with tonics G, D, A, E). Then minor ones are added to them - children firmly know the parallel keys of major and minor from one to four signs. Then they master C major and A minor, major flat keys (in reverse order - from the 1st finger on the E string - with tonics F, B flat, E flat, A flat).
It is in the first year of study that it is necessary to carry out the most in-depth, versatile and thorough work with beginners, taking into account, on the one hand, their capabilities, and on the other, the prospect of developing basic musical performing skills. This approach ensures high-quality performance of the initial repertoire (even if not too complex), and creates better prerequisites for a more consistent and sustainable mastery of all components of violin playing in subsequent years.
Galina Turchaninova offers the following methodology for conducting the first introductory lessons: “All the students in the class come to the kids for the first lesson. They congratulate newcomers on entering the world of music. Then a small concert is held in order to interest children in the prospect of violin lessons... And in the future we try to widely use extracurricular activities in order to stimulate the child’s interest in music lessons and expand their imaginative perception. For this purpose, meetings of the whole class are regularly held (which greatly unites the children), which include performances by children, listening to music and recordings, performing own compositions, messages about anniversaries of musicians, artists and writers, musical games. Parents are also present at such meetings.”
In order to attract the child's attention to the figurative side of the sound. Homework is also used. Every time he gets something creative task: compose variants of verses for melodic singing, choose the appropriate picture or draw it yourself.
During the period of mastering musical notation and finger positioning, each string of the violin can be “painted” in its own color: G will be brown, D will be green, A will be red, E will be blue. Recording sing-alongs and short songs performed on different strings in appropriate colors helps to attract children's attention to the timbre side of the sound. Music cards serve the same purpose. With their help, a child can compose notes of a melody even without knowing how to write notes. Each card has one note drawn in one color or another. And on the back is its name and a finger. The cards thus help the beginner to independently check the correctness of memorization of notes and fingerings. And even after mastering the initial basics of musical notation, writing notes different colors and putting together melodies from cards is useful to save for some time. Because thanks to this, the child’s imaginative vision is stimulated and his orientation in the scale is activated, which contributes to the development of musical thinking.
Mastery of positions and their changes is one of the most essential components of a violinist's left-hand technique. The outstanding violin teacher Yu. I. Yankelevich pointed out that “cases of difficult development of technique encountered in pedagogical practice... are often associated precisely with defects in the techniques of changing positions.” Playing in positions is also of great importance for the artistic side of performance. Since each violin string has a characteristic timbre, position changes provide unlimited possibilities for preserving or contrasting timbres within musical phrases and sentences, thereby expanding the color palette of the sound.
In the old schools, as is known, the first position was studied for a long time. Before starting to play in other positions, the student had to go through quite difficult etudes and pieces (in different keys, using different strokes, double notes, fast tempos) in the first position. Mastering the second, third position and subsequent positions. Thus, there was an artificial break from studying the techniques of playing in the first position. Which created significant difficulties on the way to her natural and harmonious mastery of the basics of violin technique. That's why modern technique recommends starting to study positions and transitions as early as possible. The violin class program for children's music schools provides for this work from the second grade. In the opinion of G. Turchaninova, the beginning of familiarization with positions should not be determined by the duration of training, but by the presence of prerequisites that ensure the success of this work. These prerequisites include: the absence of excessive muscle tension in the adaptation of the hands to the instrument, freedom of playing movements of the left and right hands, purity of intonation (the ability to independently correct inaccurate sounds), a certain mobility of the fingers.
The first step in learning positions is for the student to be shown and explained the principle of play in the second and third positions. At the same time, he must realize the connection between moving the left hand along the fingerboard with maintaining the group arrangement of the fingers and a corresponding change in the distances between them. There are two ways to serve this purpose:
- transposing a melody played with identical fingerings,
- repeating a melody in the same key in different positions with changing fingerings.
Conclusion
Thus, at the moment there are quite a lot of successful search the most successful system for teaching children to play the violin. Let us note the basic principles of the modern education system, summarizing the above.
- The principle of relying learning on the development of expressed properties, inclinations and abilities. This principle determines that “entry” into the mastery system is appropriate by optimizing the development of specific aspects of the student’s talent.
- The principle of teaching a beginning violinist high level professional skills requirements. This principle is realized in a variety of guises - in the course of studying musical works and mastering the means of their performance, it permeates, in essence, the entire educational process - from the first steps to the final stages.
- The principle of jointly productive activity finds its implementation, first of all, in the very initial period of training, when the basis for mastering an instrument, developing musical thinking and a creative attitude to classes is holistically laid.
- The principle of variability is very important block systems theory development of the fundamentals of violin-performing skills. The directions for its implementation in the practice of a violinist’s teaching, including at the initial stage, are multiple and extremely significant. They are directly related to development analytical thinking in the field of musical interpretative creativity and technology of violin playing, with the formation of generalized (invariant) instrumental skills-models, with repetition and accumulation of material and much more. This principle should be considered as an alternative to the unambiguous normativity existing in educational practice, which does not allow deviations and variations of those frozen, but supposedly unshakable standards that have become established in ideas a certain number teachers.
- The principle of continuity in the teaching of a beginning violinist is as ambiguous as the previous principles. It requires, first of all, the identification of a basic complex (system of properties, skills), which must be laid in the foundation of the building of mastery from the very beginning. And then, with the help of various pedagogical means, this complex can serve as a factor in achieving a new level of consistent development.
Bibliography
- Auer L.S. My school of violin playing. Interpretation of classical violin works. M., 1965.
- Berlyanchik M. M. Fundamentals of educating a beginning violinist: Thinking. Technology. Creativity: Textbook. - St. Petersburg: Lan Publishing House, 2000.
- Grigoriev V. Yu. Problems of sound production on the violin: Principles and methods, M. 1991.
- How to learn to play the violin at a music school. - M.: Publishing house “Classics XXI”, 2006.
- Rimsky-Korsakov V.N. On the issue of a stable textbook at school for bowed instruments // Sov. music. 1934. No. 10.