In the study of the violin, teacher and student are involved in an on-going process of identifying, analyzing and overcoming technical and musical obstacles on the way to complete mastery of the instrument. Etudes often bridge the gap between exercises and "real music," and, as such, are extremely valuable as a step to mastering various playing skills in a musical setting. Nevertheless, without an encyclopedic memory, a teacher may find it difficult to locate appropriate etudes for an individual student with a specific technical problem.The charts from this study are designed to be used as an aid in locating and assigning etudes to students based upon their grade level and the technical difficulty they are having. The etudes selected were determined by their availability in three or more published editions to be those most commonly used.First, each etude was assigned a grade level. Next, each etude was catalogued by performance difficulty. Each performance category was carefully defined and limited. Finally, the writer determined whether the performance problem being studied was a "primary" difficulty of that etude, or whether the problem existed as a "secondary" component.After determining the technical difficulty to be studied, a violinist may consult the list of etudes addressing that particular difficulty. The list of etudes is organized from the simplest to the most difficult, and for each etude it is noted whether the problem is of primary (P) or secondary (S) importance. Finally, each etude is cross-referenced with other technical problems, and a teacher or student may make the decision whether to study the problem in isolation or in conjunction with other technical difficulties. / School of Music

Despite the many innovative contributions made toward the improvement of violin playing and teaching in the twentieth century, there is an abundance of pedagogy and musical literature which continues to propagate "old school" thinking. Many editions of violin music from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are still in print and do not present to student violinists the technical or aesthetic possibilities now considered by recognized artists. Consequently, these flawed versions of the repertoire hinder the development of aspiring violinists.Whether or not an edition is good, editorial notations reflect the violinistic idiosyncracies and peculiarities of individuals and should thus serve only as sources for reference and study. This is because the violinist's perception of and reaction to music would suffer compromise if he were to be unduly influenced by the editings of others. Therefore, it is for the good of his musical growth that he experiment with and discover which interpretive ideas and combinations of bowings and fingerings ultimately bring performances of compositions closest to his conception of them.Although numerous volumes have been written on performance techniques for violin, they usually do not address matters specifically related to deciding bowings and fingerings for given passages of music. Thus, by default, the major texts on editing music for violin might be said to be the books of Carl Flesch, Elizabeth. Green, and I. M. Yampolsky. None of these writings, though, presents both bowing and fingering in a complete and logical sequence of principles and supporting rationales. Conse4uantly, there has been a substantial need for a single volume which thoroughly covers such material in a style suitable for classroom use or for individual study.This presentation of principles for editing violin music is a comprehensive distillation, simplification, and clarification of the beliefs and concepts of others, combined-with those of the author. Systematically grouped and prefaced by rationales, the principles are enunciated in separate chapters on bowings and fingerings and are illustrated by excerpts selected from the violin literature.The author hopes that this approach to editing will facilitate the learning of good editorial practice in violin music and will challenge violinists to continuously seek better bowings and fingerings.The violinist must frequently make alterations in the printed bowing of notes to accommodate the mechanics of playing the instrument and to attain the desired nuance (subtle variation) involving tempo, rhythm, phrasing, dynamics, and tonal coloring. These changes are implemented by the transfer, deletion, or addition of slurs.Bowings considered conventional or "standard" are classified under (a) The Down-Bow Penchants dynamic, tonic, and agogic accents; resolutions; and dynamic gradations; (b) Uniformity of Articulations chords and successions of identical strokes; (c) Compensational Bowings: retaken, combined, and divided strokes; (d) Linked Bowings; for dynamic constancy and bow distribution; (e) Division of Prolonged Strokes: long slurs and long, sustained notes; (f) Oscillation between Strings; rapid alternation and slurred string crossings; (g) Pizzicatos use of the index and middle fingers and thumb."Optional" bowings, which are personal and not essential for efficient performance, are listed as (a) Phrase Accommodation, (b) Melodic Profiling by Slurring, Reslurring, or Separating, and (c) Pulse Dilution.Well chosen fingering reduces or eliminates unnecessary physical tensions, permits velocity of movement with greater accuracy, and promotes maximum expression. As with bowings, fingerings are distinguished by two types: "standard" for efficiency of mechanics and "optional" for personal expression.Principles of standard fingering are grouped in the following sections: (a) Positions, (b) Chromatic Passages, (c) Interval Congruity, (d) Determining Which Positions to Use, (e) Shifting: semitone, contraction, extension, open string, natural harmonic, and alternate finger shifts plus melodic fifths and reduction of shift spans or shift frequencies, (f) String Crossing, and (g) Sequential Patterns.Optional fingerings include (a) Exclusion of the Fourth Finger, (b) Regulation of Timbre, and (c) Portamento.

D.M.A. final project--Department of Music, Stanford University, 2002. / For solo violin (1st mvmt.), 12 singers with 4-channel tape (2nd mvmt.), and solo bass with live electronics (3rd mvmt.). Words also printed as texts in pref. Includes performance notes and abstract. Sound disc contains 2-channel tape accompaniment for 2nd mvmt.

D.M.A. final project--Department of Music, Stanford University, 2003. / Pref. includes abstract and performance instructions. "Weave, for string trio, is formed of three solo pieces: Weft for violin solo, Shuttle for viola solo, and Warp for cello solo, each composed using a common structural and metrical grid, so that they may be performed simultaneously"--Leaf iv.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of California, San Diego, 2008. / Accompanying disc is DVD-ROM, and includes sound files for 2nd and 3rd compositions. The 1st work for flute and violin, 2nd for 15 instruments, 3rd for tenor saxophone and piano. Title from first page of PDF file (viewed June 25, 2008). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Durations: ca. 14:00, ca. 15:00, ca. 15:00.

Treatise (D.M.A.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisors: Rebecca A. Baltzer and Eugene A. Gratovich. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available from UMI.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 104). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M. A.)--University of California, San Diego, 2010. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed July 14, 2010). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Sound files consist of recordings of North and Yet somehow comes emptiness in single-channel and stereo. configurations.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Like numerous other Baroque pieces, the Ciaccona attributed to Tomaso Antonio Vitali (1663-1745) was transformed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The German violinist and composer Ferdinand David (1810-1873) was the first to edit and publish the piece. The composition became popular after being included in the second volume of his Die Hohe Schule des Violinspiels [The Advanced Method of Violin Playing] (c.1867). Since then, Vitali Ciaccona became an essential work in the violin repertoire and is often heard in concert halls. However, what many audiences hear in concerts is essentially an arrangement of the Ciaccona. Acknowledging the "double life" of the piece as both Baroque and Romantic, this dissertation examines the advantages and disadvantages of playing the Ciaccona attributed to Vitali on both the Baroque and modern violins.