Violin Tips: How to Improve Intonation in High Position (How to Play the Violin or Viola)

Violin teacher and "Strings" magazine contributor Laurel Thomsen guides you through 5 ways to address problems you may have staying in tune when playing in high positions. For more tips on violin technique, see our other "How to" videos on this channel and visit us at allthingsstrings.com/.

[@dogbiscuit1171]

OMG, finally a clear picture of where to put the thumb when I have to shift up to play the last 3 notes of Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso... I was gripping with the tip of my thumb onto the 'bump' and could never move up there in tune when I tried to increase tempo. Thank you!

[@Deedee5858]

4:38 Thanks for this little gem right here

[@2logj]

Thanks Laura.you are an amazing teacher.yes we need separate exercises for higher positions eg 3rd oct in G major (which is in 6th position).it is quiet hard.

[@mvplante2]

FANTASTIC LESSON!

[@jononeil500]

Extremely helpful. Thank you.

[@InvestingTraveler]

Wow! What an excellent and lovely lesson! Much much thanks.

[@laktonsssy6620]

Thank you so much! Playing on the edge improved my playing high on the violin.

[@prokdave]

Excellent advice. Thank you

[@jenniferhaw]

Love your teaching!

[@Judexy22]

Very helpful indeed ! Thank you.

[@fingerhorn4]

One of the best fiddle teachers on You Tube. Clear, concise and well illustrated. An object lesson to many others who ramble on but do not demonstrate clearly. Thank you!

[@laurelthomsen]

Great to hear :)

[@amateursat]

Great !! thanks a lot, i like your way of teaching !! very interesting !

[@FaiFaiTube]

Thank for improving my skills on play high position scales.

[@stere599]

Best teacher ever thanks

[@locngo]

Fantastic insights!!!

[@goodyones]

excellent ,great help,practicing Bach,you will practice or this techniques.You are a great teacher,congratulations

[@2logj]

Amazing lesson thanks

[@thesleuthinvestor2251]

Thank you!

[@laurencelance586]

There's a lot to work on there, but very good advice. Now the challenge to get my brain and fingers working together to accomplish this challenge.

[@Rudel23]

Nice job!

[@ashleythompson5038]

this really helps thank you :)

[@laurelthomsen]

Indeed! I found it especially improved the clarity on the lower strings. Not cheap, but not something you'd replace every day! Did a podcast interview with the tailpiece maker last year. See the 12/13/12 episode of the Violin Geek Podcast free on iTunes.

[@saeidyazdani]

wow thanks....I did not know some of these tricks after 20 years of playing lol!

[@robertgwatts1858]

Thanks.

[@altair3feb]

The part where you're trying to match consonants and harmonics, you can clearly hear that they're not matching. Why not adjust?

[@DEUSECONTIGOHINOSCCB]

Top

[@UNDERST0RY]

Thanks. A very helpful video on the mysteries of the higher positions. Playing up there is a skill I've been meaning to teach myself for years, though there is little call for it in the traditional Celtic music we play here in Nova Scotia, and I find it even less in the Irish traditional which I favor over the Cape Breton style, so I don't get to practice it much. In playing the high positions, I find a need to bow closer to the bridge. Is this correct?

[@laurelthomsen]

+Cliff Seruntine Yes, you do need to get incrementally close to the bridge or you'll never be able to make it sound good despite a great left hand.

[@georgelgrama5943]

Hi, don't you mind how many changes of positions the 14th violin has in total?

[@sadettinaydogan8936]

♥️🎻🌟

[@IamJimhunder]

I like your violin tailpiece... does it improve sound quality?

[@abhinavivaturi3387]

xMinimalistic it really doesnt

[@terilynnholt]

Very good explanation, except her demonstration was not good when she pulled on the strings G and D in upper positions. You need to let the fingers land directly on top of the strings without pulling the G and D toward the A string.

[@Marille7982]

My notes still sound pitchy what am I doing wrong

[@genocidist2602]

Every note sounds “pitchy”

[@user-cl7jq2jp7x]

"Your violin play on you,not you on violin" -my teacher.Starting to thinking what you play-that the key for good sound.

[@user-cl7jq2jp7x]

Look this video,you understend it kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXuykGNmlM6rqJY

[@shupesmerga4694]

This might be a silly question but.. Is 4th finger vibrato becoming more difficult or impossible the higher the position is? or at least it would cause shakes on the violin. I can't vibrato anymore on my 4th finger on very high positions like my 4th can reach 2nd D on E string BUT i can(somehow) whenever i transfer the contact point of the string to my finger on the RIGHT SIDE of the tip of my 4th finger. I doubt that the issue is on my finger angle to the string(contact point of finger and string on what part of the finger tip) Thanks.

[@laurelthomsen]

Do you generally use wrist or arm vibrato? Wrist vibrato doesn't work as well for the higher positions because the hand is bent forward. If I understand your description correctly I can imagine the fingertip placement on the right side giving you just a bit more wiggle room, literally. Check it out. Am I on the right track?

[@shupesmerga4694]

Laurel Thomsen Yes, exactly. I try to stick to the general rule LEFT SIDE OF THE TIP so i think higher positions is an exemption for this rule. i think 30% arm then 70% wrist.

[@laurelthomsen]

Nicola nilo martino Yes, you're right. Somewhere around the 6th position anatomy forces us to transition to square on the pinkie tip and then by about the 8th it's definitely needing to be on the right side. It's interesting, and only for the pinkie! You might try siding more with the arm vibrato for those positions above about the 6th. See how it goes anyway. Good luck!

[@shupesmerga4694]

Laurel Thomsen yeah, our hand is facing forward to the fingerboard, perpendicular to it, unlike in lower position when we can face the fingerboard diagonally. Thanks. I'll rebuild my vibrato now and study how it should work for high positions.

[@HannahWoolmer]

Relax, it might be that you're holding tension in your hand. We host videos by Hannah Woolmer, you can request pieces for her to play or topics for her to cover

[@martinh1277]

The lady tried a f sharp major scale. You will find the correct f# on your violin by tuning the fifth, no beats. Then you start from e and play fouths, no beats. f# is then on the d-string. Here the lady was right. Next tone was g sharp. Go the way down to the g-string and you reach c# with your 3rd finger. Now put your finger on the d-string. It has to be a right angle. This is g#. It soundet a bit sharp. Next tone was a#. Really, I know no way to define an a# on a violin. Do you know one? Luckily this tone is not in use.

[@rulix36]

violin mastur...... ok i just stop now

[@PaulHirsh]

Great tips. Shame about the intonation.

[@viniciusamaral1981]

Your intonation is too much high!!! Listen to the harmonics and open strings you play!!!

[@martinh1277]

Better high than false! :-)

[@nicolafattorini3841]

If you teach how to have a good intonation you are supposed to have a good intonation.. this isn't that case

[@laurelthomsen]

I'm guessing your ears are used to tempered tuning. Violin family instruments have the benefit of being about to use a tempered tuning system, and other types, such as Pythagorean and just intonation. They're all different, making intonation relative. Pianos and most tuners use only tempered tuning, which sounds rather flat on most fiddles. Cheers :)

[@nicolafattorini3841]

Maybe my Headphones give me strange frequencies, but when i'm hearing the sound on the higher position, i recognize a distinct loss of intonation,even when you are trying the harmonics on the Mi string . I don't think to be used to tempered tuning 'cause i've been a violin student( Conservatory, not a weekend player :p) for 13 years now :) since no one is confirming what i've said, let's look at it like a " I hear voices and i'm the only one who can hear them" D: .. ahaha.. bye ;)

[@laurelthomsen]

Nicola Fattorini Well no one's perfect all the time, but headphones as well as computer speakers can definitely be funny sometimes. I've heard my voice and violin recorded with many mics and through so many speakers over the years and they all make me sound a bit different. In one really annoying case the mic made all (and only) my open strings sound out of tune, which makes no sense unless some frequencies/overtunes/undertones are being cut out through the technology. Then there's the prevalence of auto-tuned music... Makes you wonder what's reality, lol! Good luck on your studies :)

[@mocheford]

Laurel Thomsen not a matter of speaker. maybe you are tuned way over 440 Hz. i cannot understand why you would sound so sharp otherwise. this does not sound well to me as i think 440 is already too high..

[@martinh1277]

I knew a pianoman, who accompanied violin soloists. He could hear absolutely. He told me about a soloist, who always played high tones too high. He denied that is was so. The same tone on the piano made no effect. They have problems with bringing their fingers close enough together. What comes out of the violin then, they remember as intonation. But - this is the praxis of professional intonation!@@mocheford

[@mocheford]

thanks for the video but i am sorry, you made my hears bleed. you are way too sharp, that hurts.

[@chungtzetack230]

mocheford nnn