Violin Scale Books From Late Nineteenth-Century to the Present – Focusing on Sevcik, Flesch, Galamian, and Sassmannshaus
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Violinists usually start practice sessions with scale books, and they know the importance of them as a technical grounding. However, performers and students generally have little information on how scale books have been developed and what details are different among many scale books. An understanding of such differences, gained through the identification and comparison of scale books, can help each violinist and teacher approach each scale book more intelligently. This document offers historical and practical information for some of the more widely used basic scale studies in violin playing.
Pedagogical materials for violin, responding to the technical demands and musical trends of the instrument, have increased in number. Among them, I will examine and compare the contributions to the scale book genre by three major teachers, chosen because their works are the staples in standard violin technique learning, and frequently required for international violin competitions and graduate school admission scale tests. Many other scale systems coordinate basic concepts from the scale systems by Otakar Ševčik, Carl Flesch, and Ivan Galamian. The scale books by Flesch (1873-1928) and Galamian (1903-1981), published in the twentieth-century, are currently regarded as the most prevalent and essential text books. The book by Ševčik (1852-1934), published around the turn of the century, revealing the use of tonal practices from the nineteenth-century, helped found the scale technique movement and served as the basis for other books. Along with these three, Kurt Sassmannshaus (1953- ) is worthy of being considered a future contributor to this canon with his violin scale book. Sassmannshaus’s method is the first that also includes a comprehensive multimedia web site. The scale books of the above four teachers are important for understanding the development of the scale book from the late nineteenth-century to the present.
This document will present how Ševčik, Flesch, Galamian, and Sassmannshaus influenced and modified the demand for twentieth-century techniques and how they approached the fundamental technique problems. I will begin my document with a short background of the aforementioned authors for understanding their personality and philosophy. Second, I will compare similar and different aspects among their books in terms of contents, organizing, fingering, and practical guides. Finally, I will suggest guidelines for performers and students for the effective use of the scale system for each person. I will include musical examples to support any statement made by four teachers for clarification, which will give an idea of the inner logic to each of the methods. Such a course will simplify technical problems and help violinists concentrate for the next step of interpretation.
Document number: ucin1151534933
Permalink: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1151534933
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