Where Should the Left Thumb Go on the Violin?

When setting up the left hand frame, people debate about the position of the left hand thumb. Some people put it across from the 2nd finger, others from the 1st; some place the thumb higher, others lower. It's important to understand that the position of the left thumb on the violin depends on the individual's hand anatomy, which includes not only the size of the hand and fingers, but also the range of motion of their joints. Besides setting up the left hand frame in 1st position to allow even weight distribution among the 4 fingers, it's also important to recognize when the thumb has to move to other places. Some examples for alternate left thumb positions include trills, double-stops, and extensions. No matter your setup, there are 3 general rules of thumb (pun intended).
1) It needs to act as counterpressure to the fingers but without squeezing the neck.
2) It needs to be mobile, relaxed, and ready to take the hand all over the fingerboard, and
3) It needs to support the hand for proper weight distribution to support whatever the fingers need to do.

BOOK MENTIONED IN VIDEO:
The Russian Violin School: Legacy of Yuri Yankelevich: https://amzn.to/3CvJK1p

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
0:34 - 3 main things left thumb accomplishes
1:06 - different photos from method books and treatises
1:48 - hand size isn't everything
2:42 - general rules of thumb
4:05 - shifting
4:43 - alternate thumb placements
5:45 - Quote by Yuri Yankelevich; translation by Masha Lankovsky


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