Editing Violin (section)

===Left hand and pitch production===
[[File:Violin first position fingering chart.svg|right|upright=1.35|thumb|First position fingerings. Note that this diagram only shows the "first position" notes. There are notes of higher pitch beyond those indicated.]]

The left hand determines the sounding length of the string, and thus the pitch of the string, by "stopping" it (pressing it) against the fingerboard with the fingertips, producing different pitches. As the violin has no [[frets]] to stop the strings, as is usual with the [[guitar]], the player must know exactly where to place the fingers on the strings to play with good [[intonation (music)|intonation]] (tuning). Beginning violinists play open strings and the lowest position, nearest to the nut. Students often start with relatively easy keys, such as A Major and G major. Students are taught scales and simple melodies. Through practice of scales and arpeggios and [[ear training]], the violinist's left hand eventually "finds" the notes intuitively by [[proprioception|muscle memory]].

Beginners sometimes rely on [[adhesive tape|tapes]] placed on the fingerboard for proper left hand finger placement, but usually abandon the tapes quickly as they advance. Another commonly used marking technique uses dots of [[correction fluid|white-out]] on the fingerboard, which wear off in a few weeks of regular practice. This practice, unfortunately, is used sometimes in lieu of adequate ear-training, guiding the placement of fingers by eye and not by ear. Especially in the early stages of learning to play, the so-called "ringing tones" are useful. There are nine such notes in first position, where a [[stopped note]] sounds a unison or octave with another (open) string, causing it to [[acoustic resonance|resonate sympathetically]]. Students often use these ringing tones to check the intonation of the stopped note by seeing if it is harmonious with the open string. For example, when playing the stopped pitch "A" on the G string, the violinist could play the open D string at the same time, to check the intonation of the stopped "A". If the "A" is in tune, the "A" and the open D string should produce a harmonious perfect fourth.

Violins are tuned in perfect fifths, like all the orchestral strings (violin, viola, cello) except the double bass, which is tuned in perfect fourths. Each subsequent note is stopped at a pitch the player perceives as the most harmonious, "when unaccompanied, [a violinist] does not play consistently in either the tempered or the natural [just] scale, but tends on the whole to conform with the [[Pythagorean tuning|Pythagorean scale]]."<ref>Seashore, Carl (1938). ''Psychology of Music'', 224. quote in Kolinski, Mieczyslaw (Summer - Autumn, 1959). "A New Equidistant 12-Tone Temperament", p.210, ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'', Vol. 12, No. 2/3, pp. 210-214.</ref> When violinists are playing in a [[string quartet]] or a [[string orchestra]], the strings typically "sweeten" their tuning to suit the key they are playing in. When playing with an instrument tuned to [[equal temperament]], such as a [[piano]], skilled violinists adjust their tuning to match the equal temperament of the piano to avoid [[Consonance and dissonance#Dissonance|discordant]] notes.

The fingers are conventionally numbered 1 (index) through 4 (little finger) in [[music notation]], such as sheet music and etude books. Especially in instructional editions of violin music, numbers over the notes may indicate which finger to use, with ''0'' or ''O'' indicating an open string. The chart to the right shows the arrangement of notes reachable in first position. Not shown on this chart is the way the spacing between note positions becomes closer as the fingers move up (in pitch) from the nut. The bars at the sides of the chart represent the usual possibilities for beginners' tape placements, at 1st, high 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers.

====Positions====
The placement of the left hand on the fingerboard is characterized by "positions". First position, where most beginners start (although some methods start in third position), is the most commonly used position in string music. Music composed for beginning [[youth orchestra]]s is often mostly in first position. The lowest note available in this position in standard tuning is an open G3; the highest note in first position is played with the fourth finger on the E-string, sounding a B5. Moving the hand up the neck, the first finger takes the place of the second finger, bringing the player into ''second position''. Letting the first finger take the first-position place of the third finger brings the player to ''third position'', and so on. A change of positions, with its associated movement of the hand, is referred to as a ''shift,'' and effective shifting maintaining accurate intonation and a smooth legato (connected) sound is a key element of technique at all levels. Often a "guide finger" is used; the last finger to play a note in the old position continuously lightly touches the string during the course of the shift to end up on its correct place in the new position. In elementary shifting exercises the "guide finger" is often voiced while gliding up or down the string, so the player can establish correct placement by ear. Outside of these exercises it should rarely be audible (unless the performer is consciously applying a [[portamento]] effect for expressive reasons).

In the course of a shift in low positions, the thumb of the left hand moves up or down the neck of the instrument so as to remain in the same position relative to the fingers (though the movement of the thumb may occur slightly before, or slightly after, the movement of the fingers). In such positions, the thumb is often thought of as an 'anchor' whose location defines what position the player is in. In very high positions, the thumb is unable to move with the fingers as the body of the instrument gets in the way. Instead, the thumb works around the neck of the instrument to sit at the point at which the neck meets the right bout of the body, and remains there while the fingers move between the high positions.

A note played outside of the normal compass of a position, without any shift, is referred to as an ''extension''. For instance, in third position on the A string, the hand naturally sits with the first finger on D{{music|natural}} and the fourth on either G{{music|natural}} or G{{music|sharp}}. Stretching the first finger back down to a C{{music|sharp}}, or the fourth finger up to an A{{music|natural}}, forms an extension. Extensions are commonly used where one or two notes are slightly out of an otherwise solid position, and give the benefit of being less intrusive than a shift or string crossing. The lowest position on the violin is referred to as "half position". In this position the first finger is on a "low first position" note, e.g. B{{music|flat}} on the A string, and the fourth finger is in a downward extension from its regular position, e.g. D{{music|natural}} on the A string, with the other two fingers placed in between as required. As the position of the thumb is typically the same in "half position" as in first position, it is better thought of as a backwards extension of the whole hand than as a genuine position.

The upper limit of the violin's range is largely determined by the skill of the player, who may easily play more than two octaves on a single string, and four octaves on the instrument as a whole. Position names are mostly used for the lower positions and in method books and etudes; for this reason, it is uncommon to hear references to anything higher than seventh position. The highest position, practically speaking, is 13th position. Very high positions are a particular technical challenge, for two reasons. Firstly, the difference in location of different notes becomes much narrower in high positions, making the notes more challenging to locate and in some cases to distinguish by ear. Secondly, the much shorter sounding length of the string in very high positions is a challenge for the right arm and bow in sounding the instrument effectively. The finer (and more expensive) an instrument, the better able it is to sustain good tone right to the top of the fingerboard, at the highest pitches on the E string.

All notes (except those below the open D) can be played on more than one string. This is a standard design feature of stringed instruments; however, it differs from the piano, which has only one location for each of its 88 notes. For instance, the note of open A on the violin can be played as the open A, or on the D string (in first to fourth positions) or even on the G string (very high up in sixth to ninth positions). Each string has a different [[timbre|tone quality]], because of the different weights (thicknesses) of the strings and because of the resonances of other open strings. For instance, the G string is often regarded as having a very full, sonorous sound which is particularly appropriate to late Romantic music. This is often indicated in the music by the marking, for example, ''sul G'' or ''IV'' (a Roman numeral indicating to play on the fourth string; by convention, the strings are numbered from thinnest, highest pitch (I) to the lowest pitch (IV)). Even without an explicit instructions in the score, an advanced violinist will use her/his discretion and artistic sensibility to select which string to play specific notes or passages.

====Open strings====
If a string is bowed or plucked without any finger stopping it, it is said to be an ''open string''. This gives a different sound from a stopped string, since the string vibrates more freely at the nut than under a finger. Further, it is impossible to use vibrato fully on an open string (though a partial effect can be achieved by stopping a note an octave up on an adjacent string and vibrating that, which introduces an element of vibrato into the overtones). In the classical tradition, violinists will often use a string crossing or shift of position to allow them to avoid the change of timbre introduced by an open string, unless indicated by the composer. This is particularly true for the open E which is often regarded as having a harsh sound. However, there are also situations where an open string may be specifically chosen for artistic effect. This is seen in classical music which is imitating the drone of an organ (J. S. Bach, in his Partita in E for solo violin, achieved this), fiddling (e.g., ''[[Hoedown]]'') or where taking steps to avoid the open string is musically inappropriate (for instance in Baroque music where shifting position was less common). In quick passages of scales or arpeggios an open E string may simply be used for convenience if the note does not have time to ring and develop a harsh timbre. In folk music, fiddling and other [[traditional music]] genres, open strings are commonly used for their resonant timbre.

Playing an open string simultaneously with a stopped note on an adjacent string produces a [[bagpipes|bagpipe]]-like drone, often used by composers in imitation of [[folk music]]. Sometimes the two notes are identical (for instance, playing a fingered A on the D string against the open A string), giving a ringing sort of "fiddling" sound. Playing an open string simultaneously with an identical stopped note can also be called for when more volume is required, especially in orchestral playing. Some classical violin parts have notes for which the composer requests the violinist to play an open string, because of the specific sonority created by an open string.

====Double stops, triple stops, chords and drones====

[[Double stop]]ping is when two separate strings are stopped by the fingers and bowed simultaneously, producing two continuous tones (typical intervals include 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, and octaves). Double-stops can be indicated in any position, though the widest interval that can be double-stopped naturally in one position is an octave (with the index finger on the lower string and the pinky finger on the higher string). Nonetheless, intervals of tenths or even more are sometimes required to be double-stopped in advanced repertoire, resulting in a stretched left-hand position with the fingers extended. The term "double stop" is often used to encompass sounding an open string alongside a fingered note as well, even though only one finger stops the string.

Where three or four simultaneous notes are indicated, the violinist will typically "split" the chord, choosing the lower one or two notes to play first before immediately continuing onto the upper one or two notes, with the natural resonance of the instrument producing an effect similar to if all four notes had been voiced simultaneously. In some circumstances, a "triple stop" is possible, where three notes across three strings can be voiced simultaneously. The bow will not naturally strike three strings at once, but if there is sufficient bow speed and pressure when the violinist "breaks" (sounds) a three note chord, the bow hair can be bent temporarily onto three strings, allowing each to sound simultaneously. This is accomplished with a heavy stroke, typically near the frog, and produces a loud and aggressive tone. Double stops in [[orchestra]] are occasionally marked [[divisi]] and divided between the players, with some division of the musicians playing the lower note and some division playing the higher note. Double stops (and divisi) are common in orchestral repertoire when the violins play accompaniment and another instrument or section plays melodically.

In some genres of [[historically informed performance]] (usually of Baroque music and earlier), neither split-chord nor triple-stop chords are thought to be appropriate; some violinists will arpeggiate all chords (including regular double stops), playing all or most notes individually as if they had been written as a slurred figure. However, with the development of modern violins, triple-stopping has become more natural due to the [[Bridge (instrument)|bridge]] being less curved. In some musical styles, a sustained open string [[Drone (music)|drone]] can be played during a passage mainly written on an adjacent string, to provide a basic accompaniment. This is more often seen in folk traditions than in classical music.

====Vibrato====
[[File:MHVC-KyokoYonemoto-PaganiniCaprice24.ogv|thumb|Kyoko Yonemoto playing [[Niccolò Paganini|Paganini]]'s [[Caprice No. 24 (Paganini)|Caprice No. 24]] on a violin]]
[[File:Peter Bissing.png|thumb|right|[[Petrowitsch Bissing]] was an instructor of vibrato method on the violin<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9-EqAAAAYAAJ&q=PETROWITCH+BISSING&pg=RA2-PA52|publisher=Jacobs' Band Monthly, Volume 4|page=52|year=1919|access-date=November 16, 2012|title=The Violin|first=Louis|last=Eaton}}</ref> and published a book titled ''Cultivation of the Violin Vibrato Tone''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IwhLMgEACAAJ|title=Cultivation of the Violin Vibrato Tone|first=Petrowitsch|last=Bissing|publisher=Central States Music Publishing Company|access-date=November 16, 2012}}</ref>]]
[[Vibrato]] is a technique of the left hand and arm in which the pitch of a note varies subtly in a pulsating rhythm. While various parts of the hand or arm may be involved in the motion, the result is a movement of the fingertip bringing about a slight change in vibrating string length, which causes an undulation in pitch. Most violinists oscillate below the note, or lower in pitch from the actual note when using vibrato, since it is believed that perception favors the highest pitch in a varying sound.<ref>{{Cite book|title=String Builder, Book 3: Teacher's Manual |last=Applebaum |first=Samuel |year=1957 |publisher=Alfred Publishing |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7579-3056-0 |page=4 }}. "Now we will discipline the shaking of the left hand in the following manner: Shake the wrist slowly and evenly in 8th notes. Start from the original position and for the second 8th note the wrist is to move backward (toward the scroll). Do this in triplets, dotted 8ths and 16ths, and 16th notes. A week or two later, the vibrato may be started on the Violin. ... The procedure will be as follows: 1. Roll the finger tip from this upright position on the note, to slightly below the pitch of this note."</ref> Vibrato does little, if anything, to disguise an out-of-tune note; in other words, misapplied vibrato is a poor substitute for good intonation. Scales and other exercises meant to work on intonation are typically played without vibrato to make the work easier and more effective. Music students are often taught that unless otherwise marked in music, vibrato is assumed. However, this is only a trend; there is nothing on the sheet music that compels violinists to add vibrato.{{cn|date=October 2024}} This can be an obstacle to a classically trained violinist wishing to play in a style that uses little or no vibrato at all, such as baroque music played in period style and many traditional fiddling styles.

Vibrato can be produced by a proper combination of finger, wrist and arm motions. One method, called ''hand vibrato'' (or ''wrist vibrato''), involves rocking the hand back at the wrist to achieve oscillation. In contrast, another method, ''arm vibrato'', modulates the pitch by movement at the elbow. A combination of these techniques allows a player to produce a large variety of tonal effects. The "when" and "what for" and "how much" of violin [[vibrato]] are artistic matters of style and taste, with different teachers, music schools and styles of music favouring different styles of vibrato. For example, overdone vibrato may become distracting. In acoustic terms, the interest that vibrato adds to the sound has to do with the way that the overtone mix<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.schleske.de/en/our-research/handbook-violinacoustics/vibrato-of-the-musician.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100207150243/http://www.schleske.de/en/our-research/handbook-violinacoustics/vibrato-of-the-musician.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 February 2010 |title=The psychoacoustic secret of vibrato |first=Martin |last=Schleske |access-date=11 February 2010 |quote=Accordingly, the sound level of each harmonic will have a periodically fluctuating value due to the vibrato.}}</ref> (or tone color, or timbre) and the directional pattern of sound projection change with changes in pitch. By "pointing" the sound at different parts of the room<ref>{{Cite web | last=Curtin | first=Joseph | title=Weinreich and Directional Tone Colour | url=http://www.josephcurtinstudios.com/news/strad/apr00/Gabi_strad.htm | date=April 2000 | work=Strad Magazine | access-date=May 23, 2009 | quote=In the case of string instruments, however, not only are they strongly directional, but the pattern of their directionality changes very rapidly with frequency. If you think of that pattern at a given frequency as beacons of sound, like the quills of a porcupine, then even the slight changes in pitch created by vibrato can cause those quills to be continually undulating. | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090529062722/http://josephcurtinstudios.com/news/strad/apr00/Gabi_strad.htm | archive-date=May 29, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://knutsacoustics.com/files/weinreich,-g.-directional-tone-color-jasa-1997.pdf |title=Directional tone color |last=Weinreich |first=Gabriel |date=December 16, 1996 |publisher=Acoustical Society of America |quote=The effect can be visualized in terms of a number of highly directional sound beacons, all of which the vibrato causes to undulate back and forth in a coherent and highly organized fashion. It is obvious that such a phenomenon will help immensely in fusing sounds of the differently directed partials into a single auditory stream; one may even speculate that it is a reason why vibrato is used so universally by violinists—as compared to wind players, from the sound of whose instruments directional tone color is generally absent.}}</ref> in a rhythmic way, vibrato adds a "shimmer" or "liveliness" to the sound of a well-made violin. Vibrato is, in a large part, left to the discretion of the violinist. Different types of vibrato will bring different moods to the piece, and the varying degrees and styles of vibrato are often characteristics that stand out in well-known violinists.

====Vibrato trill====

A vibrato-like motion can sometimes be used to create a fast [[Trill (music)|trill]] effect. To execute this effect, the finger above the finger stopping the note is placed very slightly off the string (firmly pressed against the finger stopping the string) and a vibrato motion is implemented. The second finger will lightly touch the string above the lower finger with each oscillation, causing the pitch to oscillate in a fashion that sounds like a mix between wide vibrato and a very fast trill. This gives a less defined transition between the higher and lower note, and is usually implemented by interpretative choice. This trill technique only works well for semi-tonal trills or trills in high positions (where the distance between notes is lessened), as it requires the trilling finger and the finger below it to be touching, limiting the distance that can be trilled. In very high positions, where the trilled distance is less than the width of the finger, a vibrato trill may be the only option for trill effects.

====Harmonics====
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A major scale (arco and pizzicato)<br/>
Beginning of an A major scale with vibrato<br/>
A major scale played col legno<br/>
Natural harmonics of an A, E, and an A<br/>
Artificial (false) harmonic of A<sub>7</sub><br/>
Harmonic glissando on the A string – 566 KB.
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Lightly touching the string with a fingertip at a harmonic [[node (physics)|node]], but without fully pressing the string, and then plucking or bowing the string, creates [[harmonic]]s. Instead of the normal tone, a higher pitched note sounds. <!-- Harmonics touched above the octave are the same pitch as the stopped note at that point, but may seem to be lower-pitched than the stopped note, because the string stretches when brought down to the fingerboard. For the purposes of this article, harmonics are higher than the corresponding stopped note, full stop. --> Each node is at an integer division of the string, for example half-way or one-third along the length of the string. A responsive instrument will sound numerous possible harmonic nodes along the length of the string. Harmonics are marked in music either with a little circle above the note that determines the pitch of the harmonic, or by diamond-shaped note heads. There are two types of harmonics: ''natural harmonics'' and ''[[artificial harmonic]]s'' (also known as ''false harmonics'').

Natural harmonics are played on an open string. The pitch of the open string when it is plucked or bowed is called the fundamental frequency. Harmonics are also called ''overtones'' or ''partials''. They occur at whole-number multiples of the fundamental, which is called the first harmonic. The second harmonic is the first [[overtone]] (the octave above the open string), the third harmonic is the second overtone, and so on. The second harmonic is in the middle of the string and sounds an octave higher than the string's pitch. The third harmonic breaks the string into thirds and sounds an octave and a fifth above the fundamental, and the fourth harmonic breaks the string into quarters sounding two octaves above the first. The sound of the second harmonic is the clearest of them all, because it is a common [[Node (physics)|node]] with all the succeeding even-numbered harmonics (4th, 6th, etc.). The third and succeeding odd-numbered harmonics are harder to play because they break the string into an odd number of vibrating parts and do not share as many nodes with other harmonics.

Artificial harmonics are more difficult to produce than natural harmonics, as they involve both stopping the string and playing a harmonic on the stopped note. Using the ''octave frame'' (the normal distance between the first and fourth fingers in any given position) with the fourth finger just touching the string a [[interval (music)|fourth]] higher than the stopped note produces the fourth harmonic, two octaves above the stopped note. Finger placement and pressure, as well as bow speed, pressure, and sounding point are all essential in getting the desired harmonic to sound. And to add to the challenge, in passages with different notes played as false harmonics, the distance between stopping finger and harmonic finger must constantly change, since the spacing between notes changes along the length of the string.

The ''harmonic finger'' can also touch at a [[interval (music)|major third]] above the pressed note (the fifth harmonic), or a [[interval (music)|fifth]] higher (a third harmonic). These harmonics are less commonly used; in the case of the major third, both the stopped note and touched note must be played slightly sharp otherwise the harmonic does not speak as readily. In the case of the fifth, the stretch is greater than is comfortable for many violinists. In the general repertoire fractions smaller than a sixth are not used. However, divisions up to an eighth are sometimes used and, given a good instrument and a skilled player, divisions as small as a twelfth are possible. There are a few books dedicated solely to the study of violin harmonics. Two comprehensive works are Henryk Heller's seven-volume ''Theory of Harmonics'', published by [[N. Simrock|Simrock]] in 1928, and Michelangelo Abbado's five-volume ''Tecnica dei suoni armonici'' published by Ricordi in 1934.

Elaborate passages in artificial harmonics can be found in virtuoso violin literature, especially of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Two notable examples of this are an entire section of [[Vittorio Monti]]'s ''[[Csárdás (Monti)|Csárdás]]'' and a passage towards the middle of the third movement of [[Violin Concerto (Tchaikovsky)|Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto]]. A section of the third movement of [[Violin Concerto No. 1 (Paganini)|Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 1]] consists of [[double-stop]]ped thirds in harmonics.

When strings are worn, dirty and old, the harmonics may no longer be accurate in pitch. For this reason, violinists change their strings regularly.