Dr. Claudio Forcada

Shifting: Building a Solid Foundation in Violin Playing

Shifting is one of the most important technical skills in violin playing, yet it is often introduced too late or without a clear pedagogical progression. This session presents a practical and systematic approach to teaching position changes, beginning with the earliest stages of learning and gradually developing towards advanced levels.

The lecture explores how shifting can be introduced naturally through harmonics, helping students develop an early sense of spatial awareness, freedom of movement, and confidence along the fingerboard. From there, participants will discover how interval work on a single string can establish reliable auditory and physical references, creating a secure foundation for accurate position changes.

Special attention will be given to the introduction of third position as the first structured step into position playing. Practical exercises and teaching strategies will demonstrate how students can learn to shift naturally and accurately while maintaining ease, good posture, and beautiful tone production.

The session also explores the important role of scales in developing shifting skills. Both one-string scales and scales across multiple positions will be presented as effective tools for strengthening intonation, fingerboard geography, technical security, and musical understanding.

Throughout the lecture, practical teaching examples and progressive exercises will be presented, offering teachers a clear pathway for introducing and developing shifting in a logical and student-friendly manner.

Pedagogical Resources

The presentation draws on a range of influential pedagogical materials and approaches, including:

• Fiddler Magic by Sally O’Reilly
• Enjoying Violin Technique by Kerstin Wartberg
• the studies of Otakar Ševčík
• Carl Flesch Scale System

Teachers will leave the session with practical ideas, progressive exercises, and a clearer understanding of how to guide students confidently from their first experiences of shifting to more advanced position work.