from the youtube channel

violin note chart

the notes in first and third position

G string D string A string E string

 third position
basic exercises

First, play the exercise normally, in first position. Do you notice that the first note of every exercise
starts with playing with your third finger?

Play that first note again (with your third finger) and remember how it sounds. Then, shift your hand
down the fingerboard until your first finger is on the note where your third finger used to be. Play it
and listen carefully to check whether you’re at the right spot. Now you’re in third position.

Now, try to play the exercise in third position. The starting note is played with your first finger now.
The next note is one note up, so that one is played with your second finger and so on. Because you
usually go one note up or down at the time, it’s not too hard to figure out how to play these songs in
third position.

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 third position
intermediate exercises

Now we learn to shift back and forth between the positions. Again, you play the exercises in first
position first, to hear what the song should sound like. Then you start playing the song again and
the small numbers above or under the notes tell you when to shift.

For example, in the first measure of exercise 6, you play the note B with your first finger. Then, in the
same bow stroke, you slide your first finger up the fingerboard until your finger is on the spot of the
note D. When in doubt, play the note D with your third finger first to listen to it and then slide until
you hear the same note being played with your first finger. At the end of the second measure, the
numbers tell you to slide back to first position.

Third position on the E and A string

Playing on the E string in third position gives you

the opportunity to reach for higher notes which
you couldn’t play in first position. In third position,
the high notes C and D can be played.

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Try to play this in third positon:

you play all notes on the A string
and then switch to the E string.

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Before, we switched positions while sliding during a long bow stroke. Now we shift
positions while playing an open string. In the following exercise, you play a D with your
third finger (first position), then while you play the next note (A), you shift to third position
so you can play the next note of D with your first finger.

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 D major scale

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Third position on the D string

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So far, we have used our third finger in first position as an anchoir point for shifting to
third position, where you use your first finger on the spot where the third finger used to
be. Now we shift with our second finger in charge. The place of the seond finger in third
position is on the note that matches the open string above it.

For example: if you want to play the note of D, you can do three things: play the open
D string, play the D note on the G string with your pinky or shift to third position and
play that same D with your second finger on the G string. The last option is very handy
when you want to play that note with vibrato. Pinky vibrato is also possible, but a lot
harder. So that’s why a violinist would shift to third position when they have to play a
long D. And obviously the same goes for playing an A or E note.

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G major scale

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Third position on the G string

Third position on the G string

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 Extra exercises, combining everything you have learned so far.
If you can play all of these exercises smoothly, you have built a solid
foundation in playing in third position. And if so: woohoo, congratulations!

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