My point of view on the Pitch of Violin

Pitch is the soul of violin playing. We must attach great importance to the training of the ability of hearing and distinguishing the violin pitch from the beginning. During the long-term education practice, I have summarized a set of effective training methods for pitch as follows for reference.

There are two concepts of pitch, one of which is physical pitch. That is, the pitch measured by a physical instrument (frequency tester), such as: standard pitch A, 440 Hz/s; central C, 261 Hz/s. A tone that deviates from this figure is inaccurate. It can be said that even a great violin player can't pass the test under a frequency tester. Absolute pitch is unrealistic, rigid, mechanical, not sensible and is not the pitch we need. What we need is actually another concept of pitch: tonal pitch.

Scale practice is a required course for violin playing. Mastering knowledge of musical theory will provide a lot of convenience for study. The tonic is very important. When you catch the tonic, you catch the core. We can find other tones by using the open string comparison method. There are also many other methods, which are systematically discussed in this book. Here, by the way, I will introduce some methods and suggestion which might be more helpful for the readers.

Firstly, find the tonic. Then use the finger 1 and finger 4 to find the octave tonic on two strings;use the finger 1 and finger 4 to find the perfect fourth on the same string, and use the finger 1 to find the perfect fifth with two tones. Perfect eighth, perfect fourth, perfect fifth intervals are harmonious and easy to distinguish, so the tones of scale step I, Ⅳ, V are easier to find. The tones of scale step Ⅲ, Ⅶ and Ⅵ are listed in the form of a table for reference.

The tone of scale step Ⅲ (mediant): major (major third) gets closer to scale step Ⅳ (sub - dominant);

Minor (minor third) gets closer to the scale step Ⅱ (super - tonic).

Scale step Ⅶ (leading tone): Major (major seventh) gets closer to scale step Ⅰ (octave tonic);

Minor (minor seventh) gets closer to scale step VI (submediant).

Scale step VI (submediant): major (major sixth) gets closer to minor scale step Ⅶ ;

Minor (minor sixth) gets closer to scale step V dominant.

What needs to be paid attention is how close it is, which involves the issue of temperament system. We are not using the twelve-tone equal temperament. In a strict sense, there is a difference in the finger distance between a perfect fourth on one string and a perfect octave on two strings. The distance of perfect octave on two strings is slightly larger, while the distance of perfect fourth on one string is slightly smaller. As to the F-position of , the first major second is slightly larger and the second major second is slightly smaller. The interval distance of the lower H-position is larger and the interval distance of the higher H-position is smaller. How long? How short? You have to listen with your ears. We are talking about getting started, there is no need to make the problem too complicated and make the beginners confused, not using absolute pitch but relative pitch. The pitch follows the tonality. Pay attention to the H-position first, then the F-position. When you get these two positions right, you can get the accurate pitch. On the issue of the temperament system, the opinions of the experts are not uniform and it is not necessary to spend more time talking about it here.

The first problem faced by beginners is how to tune the tone with open string. Beginners can install a fine tuning on each string of G, D, A, E to facilitate tuning. According to the principle of interval, the octave, the fourth and the fifth are consonant intervals and the piano tuner tunes according to this principle. You can first listen to a standard pitch A (it can be a tuner, a tuning fork, a "la" in one-line octave of piano or a dial tone, which is more convenient) to train your ears. You should remember the pitch of the standard pitch. The interval relationship of the open strings of G, D, A, E of the violin is consonant perfect fifth. You can use A to tune D, use D to tune G and use A to tune E.

It should be reminded that after the first tuning, you need to tune it one more time, because the tension of tuning on the tuned string has an impact on the adjacent strings, causing slight changes, so two times of tuning are needed and the new violin or new strings need more times of tuning. Every violin player is required to learn how to tune. Beginners can use fine-tuning with the help of the teacher or they can tune by themselves under the teacher's guidance. In this way, beginners can usually command tuning in a few days. This is also the first level of hearing training. It is not recommended to use a tuning instrument to tune the violin. Although it's very convenient to see where the pointer is with the eyes, it is not good for us to learn. The visual dependence on the scale of the instrument makes us miss the opportunities of training our ears to listen and distinguish. Tuning and listening require slow playing and slow listening. Learners must be patient. We must learn how to tune the tone with the open strings and this must be accurate. Will the tone be accurate if the open string is not accurate? So we should pay much attention to the training of pitch.

As long as we have learned how to tune the tone with the open strings, we will gradually become familiar with the tonality and F-positions and master the pitch of the violin in a short time. The digital education of the violin has greatly shortened the process of violin education.

The understanding of H-position, F-position, fingering and tonality:

1. H-position: The position of the finger(located) on the fingerboard of the violin. There are usually one to seven H-positions in teaching.

2. Fingering: Fingerings are usually marked on top of the notes. Except the thumb, the index finger is finger 1, the middle finger is finger 2, the ring finger is finger 3, and the little finger is finger 4.

3. F-position: The distance between the four fingers of the left hand. The semitone is set to "1" and the full tone is set to "2". There are only four basic positions of the violin, namely . The H-position are different, their tonalities are different and the F- positions change accordingly. It reveals the internal structure of the violin tonal F-position, which is worthy to study, especially for teachers who are engaged in violin education. The four basic F-positions of the violin cover all the F-positions of the left-hand technique of the violin. From the beginning, we should pay attention to the learning of the basic F-positions of the violin. This book analyzes 210 tonality F-positions in 15 majors and minors in one to seven H-positions, which are arranged into a clear chart. It combined the violin G, D, A, E strings with four basic F-positions, obtained seven tonal F-positions scientifically, and distinguished them by red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue and purple, which helps learners to memorize. When you have learned and mastered the four basic F-positions and the seven tonal F-positions and you can be able to master the variety of left-handed violin techniques, just like you have a pair of wings and can fly freely in the world of the violin kingdom.

Note: The author invented and produced a set of finger training aids for the violin, which can facilitate learners to master the left-hand skills quickly.

Patent Number: 201310209782.5