1 ½ Position

We study 1 ½ position after fourth position, partly because it is easy to find (the hand and thumb shift a half-step up from first position), and partly because we can consider it a “raised first position.” This is because it makes it possible to play a major third, and thus to play the major scales of D, A, and E without significantly leaving first position.

The player puts the first finger in place in first position, then goes up a half-step with the thumb and hand so that the first finger is in C on the A-string (enharmonically spelled as B-sharp). This can be referred to as raised first position or as lowered second position.

Exercises in 1 ½ Position – Closed Hand Position

Example in Raised First Position

Example in Lowered Second Position

Extensions in 1 ½ Position

This is similar to what we do in the first and fourth position. We move the first finger back by a half-step, creating an extension in 1 ½ position—which, in this case, is usually the raised first position.

Exercises in 1 ½ Position with Extensions

Example in Extended Position

Extensions in 1 ½ position make it possible to play the scales of D, A, and E major without the first finger having to change its place in first position: it just moves the thumb up a half-step, if necessary, to facilitate the extension.

[“D-dur” = “D major”] [“Position I ½, gr. Spannung” = “1 ½ position, extended”] [“Position I, kl. Spannung (Daumen rückt einen halben Ton zurück)” = “First position, closed (thumb moves back by a half-step)”] [“Position I ½, gr. Spannung” = “1 ½ position, extended”] [“A-dur” = “A major”] [“Position I ½, gr. Spannung” = “1 ½ position, extended”] [“Position I, kleine Spannung” = “First position, closed”] [Position I ½, grosse Spannung” = “1 ½ position, extended”] [“E-dur” = “E major”]