How to Learn Positions on the Violin

Do you know what Bach, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Mendelssohn all have in common? You have to know your violin positions in order to play their pieces. In this post, discover how to learn violin positions online.

Yeah, it’s true, you can open up a Mozart concerto or Tchaikovsky violin concerto and try and play it without position knowledge and think I’ll just learn the positions on my way but I’m telling you right now that’s the most difficult path to go on.

If you want to effortlessly play advanced pieces in your violin journey, you really need to start learning your violin positions. As a violinist that’s played with multiple professional orchestras, I am here to tell you that you need to study your positions in order to play fluently and effortlessly. You don’t have the time to think what to do when you’re playing in an orchestral setting or when you’re playing advanced pieces. It disrupts the rhythm and flow of the performance. 

Typically it takes years to learn the positions on the violin, if taught in a traditional manner of one-on-one weekly private sessions. After transitioning to teaching online and working with adult violinists all over the world of all ages up to 80 years of age, I found that there’s just not that much time for adult violinists to learn positions.

Many violinists, perhaps you are included, need to catch up on their position knowledge in a short amount of time. This is why I created my violin positions online program called, Position Mastery.

Is mastering violin positions on your to do list?

How many times have you said to yourself…”if only I had proper violin position training…” Well, if not now, when?

This is why I created violin positions & shifting academy where you don’t have to lose time to think what to practice or search for more violin position exercises. Your technical practice is all laid out for you. All violin position books included for you to see massive improvements even if all you have is 15 minutes a day of concentrated mindful technique practice.

Seven Positions in Eight Weeks

Position Mastery takes you through seven positions in eight weeks. It’s all about the momentum and learning positions. If you know first position very well, you can read notes not numbers, and have some knowledge in third position, Position Mastery would work for you.

Position Mastery is for violinists that really want to learn violin positions effectively in a short amount of time, in a concentrated blended educational system, meaning you have videos, you have books and exercises 100 percent downloadable.

You can choose to print up these ebooks as hard copies to work on your stand. If you are like me, you really like to take notes on a hard copy, then you can choose to print it up and have them spiral bound.

Violinists have called Position Mastery Academy their GPS and understanding the positions on the violin difficult passages that they were unable to play before Position Mastery Academy. 

All those pieces that you’ve played in the past that you just weren’t happy with your position work or with your shifting, will be so much easier and you’ll have more confidence to be able to play the pieces that you desire to play.

If you’re not ready to really focus in on your positions and you enjoy getting free material from Youtube and grabbing on to whatever you can, it’s really going to take you a long time to learn the positions. Position Mastery Academy is definitely not for you.

However, if you’re a violinist that is really serious and really wants to fill in the holes that you have because you just weren’t trained in positions, Position Mastery is for you.

Position Mastery Academy is housed in a private membership site.  You get assignments every single day via email, video assignments and practice assignments.

Position Mastery Academy curriculum includes Position Mastery itself which is learning seven positions in eight weeks, AND Seamless Shifting which is another eight week study but this time focuses only on shifting. You have 16 weeks of training, eight weeks in positions and eight weeks in shifting.

As an enrollee of Position Mastery you also get access to individual masterclasses for each violin position, Strengthening Exercises for First Position, Mastering Second Position, Third Position and Fifth Position. These are in and of themselves an absolute thorough training on a specific position.

Module 1:

  • First, third, and fifth position.
  • Getting organized
  • Stretches
  • Relaxation
  • Foundation
  • Practice time declaration
  • Intonation
  • Hand frame
  • Setting up your hand frame properly
  • Fourth finger studies

Module two:

second, sixth, seventh position (Within each position we work on scales and training within etudes) 

Module three & four:

  • one finger challenge
  • hand frame fitness
  • single string studies
  • playing through the positions.

Seamless Shifting is an eight-week program devoted to specific shifts. Not all shifts are the same. A lot of violinists just shift around without thinking what exactly is this. So we are breaking down all the different types of shifts that there are and having you work that out in practice sessions with specific exercises that are also included in this program.

You get access to the Seamless Shifting book as well.

You need to look no further for your violin position education.

Violinists of all ages and all levels have enrolled in Position Mastery Academy and seen incredible improvements in their playing overall by studying with Position Mastery Academy. 

What are you waiting for? No more excuses…..

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