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well there's been a few questions on the forum in the past week or so regarding the position of the left hand and specifically the the thumb, when playing.
I found this video on the String Academy message board, posted by a fellow pro player/member and had to re-post it here. It shows a beautiful camera angle of the left hand and exactly how and why the thumb is just flat against the neck in order to play the notes in all positions and of course the infamous vibrato technique.
The name is actually a bit off. A slight correction to the title: these are pieces from Gershwin's opera *Porgy and Bess* and are not the 3 Preludes. The pieces in the order performed are: 1) Tempo di Blues 2) Summertime 3) It Ain't Necessarily So.
Enjoy
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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Good one, cdennyb!
Here's one I have studied a bit..
Milstein's thumb moves around the radius of the back of the neck a fair bit as he plays. Which is only really possible at that sort of speed if the thumb is exerting little or no pressure against the neck, and just steadying it rather than gripping it. I think that there is more than one way that the instrument can be played well. However I would agree that especially at first, keeping the thumb in a consistent place is probably best.
Another observation.. Kogan occasionally actually *looks* at the conductor!! How did they get him to do that? Did they use whips or something? LOL
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
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I love his dynamics. Anyway, Kogan is playing way up on the fiddle and therefor must prepare the thumb more than is necessary on the Bach.
We need to bring the hand around the violin to get high up on the string and the thumb has to follow to get up there.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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These guys and others, ladies too, have achieved a mythic playing ability that I strive to attain. I refer to it as being "badass!" parden the french technical term. (I had french in highschool). awesome to watch.
"Please play some wrong notes, so that we know that you are human" - said to Jascha Heifetz.
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Heres one for you, this little girl seems to have it together!
No matter where you go, there you are!
Honorary tenured advisor
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I don;t have to worry about ever being that good, or fast. 
Honorary tenured advisor
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Late bloomer said
Heres one for you, this little girl seems to have it together!
Anyone have the music for this? 
No matter where you go, there you are!
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Thanks, guess I should have looked there first.
No matter where you go, there you are!
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