How to play in high positions

If you aspire to play advanced violin repertoire such as standard concertos, sonatas, and show pieces, or have the goal of playing in an orchestra one day, it is paramount to be comfortable and accurate when playing in the high registers of the instrument. When playing in the high registers, many things have to change, such as the position of the elbow, thumb, and hand, as well as where you place and how fast you use the bow. In this article, you’ll learn proper positioning for high positions as well as some tips for gaining accuracy and comfortability.

The thumb

When playing in positions 1 through 4, the thumb can stay in the same general position, placed on the side of the instrument with the tip of the thumb peaking out. When shifting up to fifth position and beyond, the thumb must come around and be placed underneath the instrument as shown below.

When shifting to eighth position and higher, the thumb will most likely need to come around even more, as shown below.

If you have very small hands, you may even need to bring your thumb against the side of the instrument when playing up high.

The hand

As the thumb is coming around, the hand is coming up. In positions 1 through 4, the palm of the left hand should be facing you, and in fourth position, the palm should be resting on the side of the instrument. However, as you shift into fifth position and beyond, the palm should rotate and come up above the instrument.

The elbow

The elbow should be moving further inwards towards your body the higher up the instrument you go. When I was learning to play in the high positions, I didn’t fully understand just how much the elbow needs to come around, especially on the lower strings such as D and G. It’s a significant movement and one that shouldn’t be overlooked.

The fingers

The fingers should always be curved and placed on the tips, but this becomes even more important the higher up you go. The notes in the high register are extremely close to one another and if the fingers are not on the tips, most likely the notes will be so out of tune that they become wrong notes altogether!

The bow

The higher the position, the closer the bow should be too the bridge. If you want to play loudly, rely more on bow speed (ie use a very fast bow) rather than pressure. When my students are first learning how to play in high positions, I suggest that they pick a note and just “hang out” there (ie just play that note over and over). This helps them get used to the sound and allows them to play around with different bow speeds, weight, and contact point to find what combination of the three gives them the best sound.

The sound

One of the things I’ve found that students have to get used to when playing in the high registers is the sound. When playing up high, especially on the G string, the instrument will produce a bit of feedback or white noise. This is completely normal and just a characteristic of the instrument.

Intonation

Hearing notes in the high registers can be extremely difficult at first. When I was first learning, I heavily relied on my tuner to tell me if I was playing the right note, because I couldn’t hear it! Playing the passage an octave or two lower can also help you identify the intervals and how the passage should sound.

What do you find most difficult about playing in high positions? Leave a comment and let me know!