Violin - Fingering technique

rajajisrinivasan · Post by **rajajisrinivasan** » 16 Mar 2006, 07:37

I have a question on what finger's used when playing Ri, Ga, Dha and Ni of vivadhi ragas on the violin. I understand that typically the index finger is used to play Ri, the middle finger to play Ga and the ring finger to play Ma.

Also, the middle finger's used to play Pa if played on the A string. Likewise, Dha, Ni, Sa are all played using the ring finger if played on the A string.

For example, in Naattai ragam, r3/g1 while sparingly used, I assume is played with the index finger. Is this the correct way to play or are there eminent artistes that use the middle finger instead.

Expert help appreciated.

Thanks

kiransurya · Post by **kiransurya** » 16 Mar 2006, 14:59

Rajaji
I play Violin in western style and I use the same style to play CM as well. You can play Panchamam on A string just by starting your aadhara Shadjama a on D string and slightly retuning your violin.. I use middle finger when I use R3. Having said that my fingering technique might be slightly diff from people who learnt Violin basics from CM there in India...
Check that out with someone else...

sunayanaa · Post by **sunayanaa** » 16 Mar 2006, 16:38

I think this varies from bhani to bhani.

Both Index finger and middle finger can be used for naatai.

For example, in aarhanam, R3 can be played with index finger with a gamakam that starts from Sa and goes upto G2 and settles down to R3.

In avarohanam, for the phrase G2M1R3 , R3 can be played with middle finger with gamakam starting from Sa and oscillating in R3 using middle finger.

rajajisrinivasan · Post by **rajajisrinivasan** » 16 Mar 2006, 21:07

Thanks for your responses, but I have more questions:

kiransurya: If you use the middle finger for R3, then do you also use the middle finger for G2 in ragaas where they both occur, such as in Naattai?

sunayanaa: I understand what you're saying but it seems a little bit complicated if either the middle or index finger is used under different circumstances. What if fast phrases are used where R3 and G2 occur in an alternating manner?

kiransurya · Post by **kiransurya** » 16 Mar 2006, 21:38

kiransurya: If you use the middle finger for R3, then do you also use the middle finger for G2 in ragaas where they both occur, such as in Naattai?

Yes I do use my middle finger to play both the notes. However, I use a technique called Slurring if both the notes are following each other in the context. You would know it as you go along....

sunayanaa · Post by **sunayanaa** » 17 Mar 2006, 01:33

using index finger (F1) and middle finger (F2) for R3 has its own pros & cons.

1) Dedicating F1 for R3 and F2 for G2 makes playing plain notes simple as we have 1 finger per note.

2) On the other hand, using F1 for both R3 and G2 helps in playing sliding gamakas better.

Hence both can be used depending on the situation

If fast phrases are used where R3 and G2 occur in an alternating manner (I mean next to each other like RGRGRGRG) then it is played F1F2 as in 1)

rajajisrinivasan · Post by **rajajisrinivasan** » 17 Mar 2006, 20:13

Thanks to you both. Appreciate your input...