Violin playing as I teach it - Tapa blanda

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 edition. Excerpt: ...a series would be played by a perfected artist. v Fingered Octaves Fingered octaves are, so far as I am able to discover, a product of the last quarter of the past century. There is a bare possibility, of course, that they were taught or used before that time, but so far as I am concerned, I never, or at least only very vaguely ever heard them mentioned during my youth, and none of my teachers--neither Hellmesberger, Jacques Dont, nor Joachim (then in Hanover--during the reign of the blind King George, 1863-1865)--ever made me practise "fingered octaves." It was not until later--when Wilhelmj played Paganini's D major Concerto, in which he introduced a scale of double "fingered" octaves in a cadenza of his own composing--that I heard them for the first time. Because of their novelty, and on account of the perfection and boldness with which Wilhelmj executed them those double "fingered" octaves produced a great effect. But to play them as he played them one would need his giant hand and his long, slender fingers. But in the violin literature of the period there is no trace of double "fingered" octaves. Neither Paganini, Vieuxtemps nor Ernst (excepting his transcription of Schubert's Erl-King), Wieniawski, nor Bazzini employed them in their works, which represent the flower of the virtuoso compositions of the time. VI Tenths In order to practise tenths successfully one need only follow the rules laid down for the first and fourth fingers in playing octaves. Short fingers will find the first position somewhat difficult because of the great stretch between the two fingers; yet if the left arm be well advanced toward the E-string, this difficulty may, nevertheless, be surmounted. VII The Trill I have no hesitation in saying that a perfect trill is one...