violin pedagogy

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A COMPARISON OF THE VIOLIN PEDAGOGY OF AUER, FLESCH, AND

GALAMIAN: IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY AND USE THROUGH

CHARACTERIZATION AND INDEXING

By

KELLEY M. ARNEY

Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of

The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

MASTER OF MUSIC IN MUSIC EDUCATION

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON

May 2006

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Copyright by Kelley M. Arney 2006

All Rights Reserved

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Dr. Scott Conklin for providing the initiative and guidanceto form this study and Dr. Jeffrey Howard for seeing the project through by guiding the

writing and content of this paper. I would also like to recognize the formatting and

editing support from Dr. Graham Hunt and Dr. Diane Lange who also serve as members

of the committee. It has been a pleasure to work with four of the most selfless, talented,

and knowledgeable professors during the past year.

I would like to thank the University of Texas at Arlington library system, Dr.

Jeffrey Howard, and family members for provided the research materials for this

project. I would like to thank Paul Kelly for his interest and support as well as the great

community of musician friends around the world who have contributed in many ways.

In addition, I would like to express thanks to my husband Nolan and my sister

Rose specifically and my family generally for their support. I humbly appreciate the

never failing love and support of my Father in Heaven and His great son Jesus Christ,

and for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Dallas Stake who

have been my family in Texas.

This thesis is dedicated to all my wonderful students who not only pursue

excellence in performance but are also caring leaders among their peers.

April 13, 2006

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ABSTRACT

A COMPARISON OF THE VIOLIN PEDAGOGY OF AUER, FLESCH, AND

GALAMIAN: IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY AND USE THROUGH

CHARACTERIZATION AND INDEXING

Publication No. ______

Kelley M. Arney, MM

The University of Texas at Arlington, 2006

Supervising Professor: Dr. Jeffrey Howard

The development of the index and characterization tools allows pedagogical

texts to be used as resource texts. The common index allows any researcher to access

applicable and significant information of a text quickly without destroying the

continuity of the original text. The characterization charts aid the researcher in using

the information in historical and philosophical ways. Thus, the index and

characterizations of the Auer, Flesch, and Galamian texts gives string educators of

advanced students (especially conservatory and university violin teachers) and

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performers access to three important pedagogical texts by an accessible, applicable, and

scholarly approach.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................... iii

ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iv

Chapter

1. GENERAL OVERVIEW AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS........................ 1

1.1 Topic ....................................................................................................... 1

1.2 History of Violin Treatises ...................................................................... 2

1.3 Resources................................................................................................. 6

1.4 Current Research...................................................................................... 7

1.5 Distinctive Factors................................................................................... 9

1.6 Purpose and Problems.............................................................................. 11

2. LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................. 12

2.1 Auer: Violin Playing as I Teach It ........................................................... 12

2.2 Flesch: The Art of Violin Playing, Book One ......................................... 16

2.3 Flesch: The Art of Violin PlayingBook Two: Artistic Realization and Instruction................................ 20

2.4 Galamian: Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching ............................ 23

3. METHODOLOGY........................................................................................ 29

3.1 Index Methodology.................................................................................. 29

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3.1.1 Short History of Indexing ......................................................... 29

3.1.2 Types of Indexes....................................................................... 303.1.3 Reasons for Index Use .............................................................. 31

3.1.4 Indexing Process....................................................................... 32

3.2 Characterization Methodology................................................................. 33

3.2.1 Content of Characterization Charts .......................................... 34

3.2.2 Characterization Instructions.................................................... 35

4. RESULTS...................................................................................................... 37

4.1 Philosophy: General Approach to Teaching............................................ 37

4.2 History: Kreisler ...................................................................................... 41

4.3 Holding the Instrument: Body Posture .................................................... 42

4.4 Practice: Too Much Practice.................................................................... 43

4.5 Tone Production: Portamento or Slide .................................................... 45

4.6 Teaching: Incompetent Instruction .......................................................... 47

4.7 Bowing: Legato........................................................................................ 49

4.8 Left Hand: Intonation............................................................................... 51

4.9 Ornaments: Trills ..................................................................................... 54

4.10 Nuance: Need for Nuance...................................................................... 58

4.11 Style: Individual Magnetism.................................................................. 61

4.12 Psychological: Stage Fright ................................................................... 62

4.13 Repertoire: Developing an Appropriate Repertory................................ 64

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4.14 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 67

5. IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS........................................ 69

5.1 Implications ............................................................................................. 69

5.2 Applications............................................................................................. 69

5.2.1 Personal Applications (Playing and Teaching)......................... 70

5.2.2 Educational Applications (Studio or Classroom) ..................... 71

5.2.3 Professional Research............................................................... 715.3 Further Study ........................................................................................... 71

Appendix

A. COMMON INDEX TO THE AUER, FLESCH,AND GALAMIAN TEXTS ............................................................. 74

B. AUER CHARACTERIZATION CHART ................................................. 84

C. FLESCH CHARACTERIZATION CHART ............................................. 86

D. GALAMIAN CHARACTERIZATION CHART ..................................... 88

REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 90

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION......................................................................... 95

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CHAPTER 1

GENERAL OVERVIEW AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Private violin pedagogy has generally been an oral tradition throughout four

centuries; the knowledge that is passed from teacher to student is mostly verbal in a

one-on-one setting. Each teacher has developed his or her own style and approach but

few teachers have written down these ideas. In general, performers and teachers of

advanced violin students in the United States use the violin treatises by Auer, Flesch,

and Galamian. The focus of this thesis is to create tools that would enable teachers and

performers the ability to use these texts faster. A common index coordinates the

contents of the texts so that the teacher or performer is able to access several approaches

to the same concept. Because the texts were written in different eras, characterization

charts are needed to preserve the histor