it is not hard to understand that if the bow be drawn parallel with the
bridge, allowing for the least possible movement of hands and wrist, the
greatest economy of motion, there is no contravention of the laws of
nature and playing is natural and unconstrained.

"And this applies to every student of the instrument, whether or no he
has a long arm. While I was studying in Berlin, Sarasate played there in
public, with the most natural and unhampered grace and freedom in the
use of his bow. Yet the entire _Hochschule_ contingent unanimously
condemned his bowing as being 'stiff'--merely because it did not conform
to the Joachim tradition. Of course, there is no question but that
Joachim was the greatest quartet player of his time; and with regard to
the interpretation of the classics he was not to be excelled. His
conception of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms was wonderful. The
insistence at the _Hochschule_ on forcing the bowing which was natural
to him on all others, irrespective of physical adaptability, is a matter
of regret. Wirth was somewhat deficient in teaching left hand technic,
as compared with, let us say, Schradieck. Wirth's real strength lay in
his sincerity and his ability to make clear the musical contents of the
works of the great masters. In a Beethoven or Spohr concerto he made a
pupil give its due emphasis to every single note.

A PRE-TEACHING REQUISITE

"Before the violin student can even begin to study, there are certain
pre-teaching requisites which are necessary if the teacher is to be of
any service to him. The violin is a singing instrument, and therefore
the first thing called for is a good singing tone. That brings up an
important point--the proper adjustment of the instrument used by the
student. If his lessons are to be of real benefit to him, the component
parts of the instrument, post, bridge, bass-bar, strings, etc., must be
accurately adjusted, in order that the sound values are what they should
be.

"From the teaching standpoint it is far more important that whatever
violin the student has is one properly built and adjusted, than that it
be a fine instrument. And the bow must have the right amount of spring,
of elasticity in its stick. A poor bow will work more harm than a poor
fiddle, for if the bow is poor, if it lacks the right resilience, the
student cannot acquire the correct bow pressure. He cannot play
_spiccato_ or any of the 'bouncing' bowings, incl