slide from one tone to the next, a break--a rosary of lurches! How can
there be a round, harmonious tone when the fingers progress by jerks?
Shifting position must not be a continuous movement of effort, but a
continuous movement in which effort and relaxation--that of dead
weight--alternate. As an illustration, when we walk we do not
consciously set down one foot, and then swing forward the other foot and
leg with a jerk. The forward movement is smooth, unconscious,
coordinated: in putting the foot forward it carries the weight of the
entire body, the movement becomes a matter of instinct. And the same
applies to the progression of the fingers in shifting the position of
the hand. Now, playing the scale as I now do--only two fingers should be
used--

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

I prepare every shift. Absolute accuracy of intonation and a singing
legato is the result. These guiding notes indicated are merely a test to
prove the scientific spacing of the violin; they are not sounded once
control of the hand has been obtained. _They serve only to accustom the
fingers to keep moving in the direction in which they are going_.

"The tone is produced by the left hand, by the weight of the fingers
plus an undercurrent of sustained effort. Now, you see, _if in the
moment of sliding you prepare the bow for the next string, the slide
itself is lost in the crossing of the bow_. To carry out consistently
this idea of effort and relaxation in the downward progression of the
scale, you will find that when you are in the third position, the
position of the hand is practically the same as in the first position.
Hence, in order to go down from third to first position with the hand in
what might be called a 'block' position, another movement is called for
to bridge over this space (between third and first position), and this
movement is the function of the thumb. The thumb, preceding the hand,
relaxes the wrist and helps draw the hand back to first position. But
great care must be taken that the thumb is not moved until the first
finger will have been played; otherwise there will be a tendency to
flatten. In the illustration the indication for the thumb is placed
after the note played by the first finger.

"The inviolable law of beautiful playing is that there must be no
angles. As I have shown you, right and left hand cooerdinate. The fiddle
hand is preparing the change of position, while the change of stri