LESSON EIGHTEEN
Slurs
A slur is a curved line above or below two or more notes of different pitch. It indicates that the notes must be played smoothly (legato). On the violin, slurs are produced by using one continuous bow stroke while changing the positions of the left hand fingers. Learn these three examples of slurs on the A string first, and then practice them on the other strings as well.
This example demonstrates slurs between two notes. Each note of the pair is given half of the bow stroke.
Here is the same example again, but with the bow directions reversed. It is important to practice this way, as you need to be comfortable slurring notes regardless of the direction your bow is moving.
In this example four notes are played with each bow stroke. Learn all three of these examples of slurs on the A string and then practice them on the other strings as well.
