Var10 – Var19

This variation is one of many that develop your control while playing mixed bowings. Here the mixed bowings are four notes spiccato and two notes… Read More »Variation 10

For variation 11 read Ševčík’s explanation of abbreviations markings, in particular about how the comma means to lift the bow. For the first 7 bars… Read More »Variation 11

Variation 12 is an excellent exercise for developing control of the bow in the air and increased awareness of bow division. In bars 8 and… Read More »Variation 12

Here Fintan plays bars 12-16. Notice how the bow stroke is either a whole bow or divisions of half and quarter bows. Also notice when… Read More »Variation 12 – Bow divisions and lifting

When playing martelé we look for a clear ‘click’ at the beginning of the note followed by the release of this ‘bite’, which results in… Read More »Variation 12 – Martelé whole bow

Ševčík indicates that we can play this variation either loudly at the frog or softly in the middle of the bow. When playing at the… Read More »Variation 13

This variation 13 with its many open strings is an ideal chance to practice placing the new finger while the bow is still on another… Read More »Variation 13 – Left hand ready, pizzicato

So often coordination issues are caused by the left-hand finger placing the note slightly late also making the sound unclear. If this happens, both hands… Read More »Variation 13 – Left hand ready

To play Ševčík’s Variation 13 at the heel of the bow use just the hand and fingers as you do for the collé stroke. Practise… Read More »Variation 13 – Kreutzer No.13 at heel of bow

Practice this variation at first with a slurred bowing on the string, to work on your bow division and smoothness of string crossings. Use a… Read More »Variation 14

Practice your round bow on simple chords in G minor or G major or even open strings. Start the bow arm string crossing right from… Read More »Variation 14 – Round bow, arpeggios with double stops

Playing 3 separate bows per note on your arpeggio allows for more time on each note and on each string level. This slowing down of… Read More »Variation 14 – G minor arpeggio, separate bows

This elegant variation needs musical thought and offers opportunities to take time and let the music breathe. For instance try taking some time with the… Read More »Variation 15

As with all bow strokes it is useful to practice this stroke on an open string, away from the issues of string crossing and coordination… Read More »Variation 15 – Standing spiccato on an open string

As with all technical challenges, separate out the different components and practice them one by one. After practising the standing spiccato stroke, practice the spiccato… Read More »Variation 15 – The pattern on an open string

After practicing the spiccato stroke on its own, add in the variable of string crossing. As the string crossing action here is mainly whole arm,… Read More »Variation 15 – The pattern on all open strings

Notice how the technical impulse matches the musical line. Just as the first part of the bar starts with musical emphasis then diminuendos throughout the… Read More »Variation 15 – Excerpt as written

This variation uses sautillé with four bows per note, which allows time to make sure our finger fall and finger lift are precise and that… Read More »Variation 16

In variation 17 the sautillé is more complex than in variation 16. There are only two bows per note and the string crosses are faster.… Read More »Variation 17

This variation requires the bow to be lifted after the up bow, so when the bar starts on a down bow it lifts after the… Read More »Variation 18

Ševčík in his attention to detail often marks clearly when the bow is to be lifted. For instance, he indicates that we lift the bow… Read More »Variation 19

The whole technical unit can include many things. For the left hand here it means making sure the fingers for each group of notes are… Read More »Variation 19 – Grace notes, left hand ready