This is a good etude for legato (slued notes) as well as intonation.
Most Demanding Section for Intonation
Usually my students have difficulty playing mm.25-27 in tune.
STEP 1: I recommend to practice by just focusing on the first notes of each group. They are played with the first finger as you can see below as A.
It is always good idea to check the pitch with open strings, at this section it will be for D and E. One can do so at STEP 2 and 3 as well.
STEP 2: Then, you can practice as seen in B, the last notes of the groups are added, so that you will get the feel of frame with the 1st and the 4th fingers.
STEP 3: In order to improve and secure the intonation of the octave, you can practice as double-stopped octaves as in C section.
(Step 2 and Step 3 can be applied on mm. 15-16, 57-58 as well.)
STEP 4: Now, you can go back to the original and work on the music as printed. You can practice without slurs as well.
By paying attention to the finger placement, you can improve the intonation and feel secure in your left hand.
The markings are the relationships of your fingers.
I’m using half step marking when the fingers are right next each other.
For example, at m.25 first beat C sharp 2nd finger and A 3rd finger are placed on different strings, but basically right next each other.
Sometimes, according to the measurement of violins for young violinists or how thick one’s fingers are, those indications may not be perfectly “right next to each other.” If that is the case, one need to follow the ear.
Count and Feel the Rests Correctly at m. 45 and mm.67-72:
Some students are too lazy to count the rests :), but rests are important part of music !
This etude is 3/2, so half note takes one beat and there are 3 beats in a measure as you can see above. You can subdivide the last beat of m.45 and come in correctly with E.
For mm.67 to the end, the beats are indicated below:
Double Stops mm.67 to the end:
I highly recommend to work as “broken” meaning playing individual notes from the bottom to top, then play as chords, especially if one is not comfortable playing chords or playing out of tune. By working “broken” you will be able to listen each pitch more carefully.
Don’t forget last two chords are pizz.
“How do you sustain 4 beats with pizz?” That is very interesting good question!
If you would like to know my answer, please write a comment. 🙂
Other Things to Think About
* m.29: use the 4th finger to play A sharp and D sharp instead of 1st finger in order to strengthen the 4th finger as well as learning chordal approach.
* m.40: G double sharp = A natural, so check the pitch with the open A string.
* You can apply the idea of 1st finger + 4th finger frame for the left hand on mm. 15-16, 57-58 as well.
* We must practice slowly until we feel comfortable with playing all the notes, however, it would be wonderful if we can eventually aim to work on the character, Allegro con fuoco = lively with fire ! With these key words, how would you perform this etude ? 🙂
Happy Practicing !