Transferable Mechanical Skills Between Piano and Violin Playing

Aug 01, 2023

Posted August 25, 2023 | Reviewed by Devon Frye

We often marvel at prodigies who mastered the art of both violin and piano playing at a young age (e.g., German violin soloist and concert pianist Julia Fischer). Speaking from an ordinary person’s perspective, there are several transferable skills that make learning one instrument after mastering the other easier.

In this article, a snapshot of some transferable motor skills between the two instruments is presented. The list is not meant to be exhaustive. Other transferable skills between the two instruments include sight-reading, aural skills, improvisation, and musicality. Those skills are another day’s discussion.

Finger dexterity is essential when playing fast passages on both piano and violin. It is therefore not surprising to see ample technique development books written on this topic.

Aloys Schmidt’s Preparatory Exercises and Henry Schradieck’s The School of Violin Technics are two exemplars. Both technique books exercise fingers systematically. When such a practice routine is regimentally adhered to, learners will develop the finger dexterity that is necessary for successfully executing fast passages.

In my personal experience, this skill is readily transferrable once a learner has developed finger dexterity on a primary instrument (be it piano or violin). In fact, some of the Schradieck and Schmidt exercises reflect on the same underlying principle: e.g., finger patterns involving fast alternations between various finger groupings; sustaining a single note with one of the fingers while playing alternating patterns with the remaining fingers.

Hand independence is a critical coordination skill on both violin and piano. On violin, there are passage works that require a player to exercise light fingers with the left hand but bow heavily into the strings with the right hand and arm. On piano, skilled players can readily play with different articulations, at different dynamic levels, or perform different melodic/rhythmic patterns with left and right hands. While this coordination skill isn’t developed in a single day, once developed on a first instrument, the skill is readily transferable to a second instrument.

Aligning or synchronizing the motions of the two hands is a corollary to hand independence. Once we can move both hands in contrary motions, play different rhythms, perform at different dynamic levels, accent different notes at different times, and execute different articulations (in the case of piano), or swing left arm and right/bow arm in contrary motions and bow at a different speed from the tapping motion of the left hand (in the case of violin), we can also perform pieces that require utmost alignment between the two hands.

Rotation is an essential skill to master, if learners wish to perform with fluidity and ease on either piano or violin. On violin, this fluidity is accomplished by rotating the hand, forearms, upper arms, and shoulder sockets. In tandem, these rotations create the visual effects of ocean wave-like and swinging motions. These motions minimize the chance of serious bodily injuries, add nuance to the sound produced, and create compelling visual effects on stage.

On piano, seamlessly rotating the hands and forearms helps a player navigate the keyboard with flair and ease. For instance, both crossing hands and shifting necessitate various degrees of rotation at various levels of the arms and hands. Abrupt position changes or jerky motions when transitioning between the notes that are not ideally configured on the keyboard often result from neglecting hand or forearm rotations.