Learning the Violin Without an Instrument 



Knobbed sticks are used to teach the fingering 



A class of violin teachers at New 

 York University learning the 

 Mitchell method of violin in- 

 stuuction. The fingerboard 

 chart on the blackboard shows 

 the exact position of the sounds 

 on a regular violin fingerboard 



In circle: The finger- 

 board on the substi- 

 tute violin. The 

 little knobs teach 



The substi- 

 tute violin 

 and bow used 

 in the Mit- 

 chell method 

 of violin in- 

 struction , 

 and on which 

 the students 

 learn to play 

 without go- 

 ing to the ex- 

 pense of pur- 

 chasing an in T 

 strument for 

 practise work 



FROM the 

 day when 

 Nero fiddled 

 to a burning 

 Rome up to the present time the only way any 

 one learned to play the violin was by getting 

 one and employing the services of an in- 

 structor. Now all that is changed. Dr. 

 Albert G. Mitchell, 

 of New York Univer- 

 sity, has devised a 

 method whereby an 

 entire class learns to 

 play the violin at 

 once. And the 

 strangest part of the 

 Mitchell method is 

 that in the beginning, 

 the class does not 

 use a violin at all. 

 The pupils are 

 taught the correct 

 position for the bow 

 and the fingering on 

 the violin by means 

 of an imitation violin 

 and an imitation 

 bow. The substitute 



the pupil just where 

 to place his fingers 

 in order to produce 

 the different notes 



Learning how to use the violin bow. The 

 two short pieces of wood nailed on the 

 substitute violin act as guides for the bow. 

 It is impossible to use the bow in the wrong 

 manner when this method is employed 



Showing how 

 t he bow 

 should be 

 held. The 

 fingers are 

 rounded and 

 unstiffened. 

 The axis of 

 the wrist 

 joint (an im- 

 aginary line 

 running 

 across the 

 wrist) should 

 be parallel 

 with the bow 



for the violin 

 is a straight 

 piece of wood 

 with little 

 knobs at the top to indicate the places 

 where the fingers should rest in order to 

 produce the various notes. The pupil learns 

 to use the bow in the proper place because 

 there are two small 

 pieces cf wood fast- 

 ened to the imitation 

 violin between which 

 the bow must pass. 

 If it is not handled 

 correctly it will 

 break. 



A large fingerboard 

 chart is drawn on a 

 blackboard so all the 

 pupils can see it. 

 Dr. Mitchell's class 

 at the university is 

 conducted for teach- 

 ers of the violin. 

 They learn the meth- 

 od and are then able 

 to instruct large 

 classes of children. 



