What is a Balanced Left Hand for Violinists and Why is it Important
Do you struggle playing in tune consistently? Do you find you have a very weak fourth finger? It is practically impossible for you to play octaves in tune and you have a difficult time playing in tune after a low one? These are all signs that you have not developed a proper left hand for violin playing.
This post is for all levels of violinists from newbie to pro. How is that possible? Because what I’m going to be talking about is the foundation of a good left hand on all levels and for all violin technique.
What exactly is a proper left hand for violin playing?
When you set up your left hand to play the violin, you want your left hand to be balanced in the center of the hand . What I mean by that is that you feel the weight of the hand in the middle two fingers, our second and third finger. We don’t want to feel the weight of our hand specifically on the first finger and then all other fingers land based on the index finger.
When our left hand is balanced, it allows our fourth finger to be supported and frees the first finger to be able to do what he needs to do as a regular one and as a low one.
In this post, I’m not going to be talking about how to set up your left hand, so if you just have questions on exactly how to set up your left hand, do check out my post How to Get Rid of Tension While Playing the Violin.
If our left hand is dominant and weighted on the index finger, that sets up the fourth finger to be almost kind of like it’s feeling it has to stretch all the time. We want our fourth finger to feel supported.
Why is a balanced left hand so important?
A balanced left hand is the foundation that you need to play and tune consistently. It doesn’t matter what string you play on, your left-hand stays centered and silent. It doesn’t matter what finger you play on, you’re always consistent and silent here.
We don’t want to have a rocking back and forth where we are putting the weight on the first finger when we play the first finger and then we put the weight on the fourth finger when we play the fourth finger.
We want the hand to be balanced in the middle so it doesn’t matter what finger we play on, what string we play on, or where the finger lands, we’re centered in the middle. That’s what creates consistent intonation. If we have to move our hand around for different fingers, that’s where the intonation can go really out of whack because the fingers don’t have a solid foundation.
The other very important thing to watch out for in order to create a balanced left hand is that your thumb stays in its home. We want our thumb to stay in the same home no matter if we are playing our first finger, our second finger, our third finger, or our fourth finger, the thumb should not move around. If the thumb moves around that creates a different foundation and the fingers have to kind of figure out, okay how does it relate to the thumb if it’s moving. If you think of it as a mathematical variable, moving around the thumb will cause the fingers to have to know more than one place to land in relation to the thumb. We always want to keep our thumb silent in its own home.
The thumb has a home in each specific position but once it’s in that home position, it does not move around. We want that thumb to stay consistent and solid so that the fingers know exactly where to land.
The actual placement of your thumb can be higher or lower on the neck. It just depends on the anatomy of your hand and how you play. What is super important is that no matter where your thumb calls home, it’s solidly in its home at all times and does not move around based on what finger you play. You want that thumb to be in the same place no matter what finger you play.
How does a balanced left hand help with playing octaves?
When it comes to playing octaves in tune if we are first finger heavy, the fourth finger doesn’t really have an idea of exactly where to land and it does not have its support. When we’re balanced, we feel balanced and equally weighted on both the first finger and the fourth finger for the octave and we feel that we’re balanced here in the center. This is very important to set up your hand frame and a hand frame is basically what it sounds like, it’s the frame of your hand.
The hand frame consists of where your first finger lives and where your fourth finger lives. That’s the frame in that specific position and then your other fingers know where to fall within that distance of the one and four. Our first and fourth fingers set up our octave.You always want to know what exactly is that distance between the one and four.
Right now we’re just only talking about first position but you can easily take your hand frame up into other positions to understand what exactly is your hand frame in each position because as you go up higher on the instrument the distances get smaller.
I’m going to give you a very simple exercise for you to make sure that your left hand is balanced no matter what finger you are playing and on what string.
If you are a returning violinist perhaps you took some time off due to family, work, career, you were unable for a period of time to continue with a violin and you would like to have a checklist of what exactly would be really good for you to do to get back into shape?
Exercise Time
Exercise 1
Start on the A string, set up your fourth finger first, so your fourth finger feels comfortable. Play 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 with the second and third finger touching. Your notes are E, D, C#, B, A, B, C#, D, E.
The entire time, focus on your left hand being balanced in the center, that your wrist is not kicking out, that your thumb is not wiggling around and that your fingers are hovering above their homes at all times without flipping out, without straightening out, without doing anything weird.
Plus we’re not changing the weight of our hand from the fourth finger to the first finger as we play. This creates a beautiful stable foundation, for every single violin technique for your left hand.
Continue the same exercise on every string in first position. If you need to, bring your elbow under the violin a little bit more to help you play on the G string. Remember, no matter the string you are playing on, do not change the wrist. Make sure your thumb is staying it’s in its home and you are staying centered and balanced on the middle and ring finger.
Exercise 2
Same as above but with different finger patterns. I would suggest going through a various system of different finger patterns to check out that your left hand is staying solid and balanced especially a finger pattern which includes a low one.
For example, playing in the key of B flat on the A String.
4, 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
E Flat, D, C, B Flat, A, B Flat, C, D, E Flat
With this specific finger pattern and as all finger patterns to keep that wonderful balanced left hand, you want to make sure that your hand is set up in its normal position. A great finger to check that out with is your third finger. That you’re balanced solidly on your third finger without changing how you normally play.
Let me know in the comments below how you get along with these exercises.
Happy practicing.
In Violin Love,
Really eye-opening. I know exactly what you mean when you talk about that “rocking” distribution of weight between first and fourth finger! I think adjusting the balance will also help lighten my index finger’s heavy contact with the neck of the violin. Great topic!