Just a quick question for the violinists around here...

One of the pieces that my orchestra is playing is the Six Sanday Tunes by Peter Maxwell Davis. In one of them we have to play a note that is written as a D above the stave but with a harmonic sign over it. How should it be played?

W

If the note is a normal oval shaped one then it shows the pitch at which the note should sound. So as it is a D you could play a natural harmonic on the D string using the third finger in first position (if you get the finger position just right then the note will sound at 2 octaves above the open D string)

Thanks - that's exactly what I thought and have been doing. Unfortunately the rest of the section don't believe me - their various versions are either 'not harmonics' or 'not D'... Oh well...

W

It's a lovely piece and I hope you enjoy playing. I was lucky enough to be at its premier performance when the Sanday fiddle club played alongside the SNO.

Yes, I think it's great! The tunes are really good fun to play.

W