Low fingers and high fingers
The violin has no frets, so a finger isn't tied to one spot. The same finger can land a little lower or a little higher — a half step apart — and that's two different notes. One finger, two notes. This is how the violin plays every sharp and flat: not with a different finger, with the same finger moved.
Which fingers have a choice
- 1st finger — only on the E string. F♮ is a low 1, pulled back toward the nut; F♯ is the normal 1. On the other three strings the 1st finger has one home.
- 2nd finger — on every string, and this is the one you meet constantly. Low 2 sits back against the 1st finger; high 2 sits forward against the 3rd — a full centimetre apart. F♮ / F♯ on the D string, C♮ / C♯ on the A, B♭ / B♮ on the G.
- 3rd finger — 3 and high 3 (G♯, D♯, A♯). Less common early; you meet it in the sharp keys.
The half step is the two fingers almost touching. The whole step is a finger's-width gap. Move one finger and the whole hand shape changes — back to the four finger patterns.
The 2nd finger, low and high — on the D string
The same choice on the A string
The 1st finger's low option — the E string
The usual mistake
Forgetting the E string's low 1. A tune sits on the E string, the music writes F♮ just above the open string, and the hand plays F♯ out of habit — a half step sharp, and sour. When a note is a step above an open string, ask which step: a whole step (normal finger) or a half step (finger pulled back).
Try
Open the drone on D. Play F♯ (high 2) against it, then F♮ (low 2), then F♯ again. One belongs to D major, one fights it — your ear will tell you which. Then the same on the A string, C♯ and C♮ against a drone on A.