Mangeot on Changing Position ( Shifts )
from his " Violin Technique "
This should be undertaken quite early so as to accustom
the left hand to "slide" or "shift" from one position to
another and back again.
Before each group make the pupil sing the notes he is
going to play, and see that the left wrist remains practically at the same
angle right through and that the thumb moves up with the hand.
Mangeot's chapter ( reproduced in full, above ! ) is very
short and quite disappointing compared with more modern essays on this subject.
However, the suggestions are all very good. Note that the thumb should follow
the hand exactly, and shift together with it as one unit. The same is true
shifting down, though the St.Petersburg school adds a subtle - and hardly
noticeable to the eye - wrist movement which ensures a smoother change, and
glide. When gliding, keep close and touching the fingerboard with a flat finger,
change as smoothly and gradually as possible. The flat finger allows a fleshy
finger surface to glide along the string in a smooth fashion. A vertical finger
would produce a bumpy ride, because the vertical touch would produce friction
and unwanted finger action chopping up the slide. Do not make any of these
movements jerky, abrupt or sudden. Do not be afraid of "playing" the
shift audibly at first ( in order to judge it's accuracy and lightness ) , but
eventually, the art of shifting should consist of a very unobtrusive shift
acquired by lightness and softness in the hand and fingers. If the fingers
change position ( for example on a semitone ) but the thumb does not follow,
then that transition is not considered a change of position. It is important
that the angle of incidence of the fingers to the fingerboard does not change
throughout the shift.
Lastly, note the rhythm Mangeot gives for the position changing exercise.
This is not crotchets, and the first note is held for a shorter time, perhaps
to avoid excessive downward finger pressure which would spoil the glide.
Nowadays, the above exercise is carried out with all four fingers, in order to
exercise each one. An extreme example is the "Yost Scale System" in
which every note involves a change of position.
Mangeot was a pupil of Marsick at the Paris
Conservatoire and taught chamber music and violin playing in Oxford and
Cambridge around the 1950s.
