Mike J Dexter,
I ask my students to jump this (2 1/2) Position and come back later when more is understood about the the fingerboard, shifting technique and fingering possibilities by first using easier keys. Typically I would suggest the following order - Ist, 1/2, 2nd, 3rd, 5th (these cover C, F, Bflat, G and D/A majors and all the notes up to F on the G string). Working back through 3 1/2, 2 1/2 and 4th increases the number of sharps/flats in keys to 5 by which time there is a fingering under almost every note to wade through. While studying 3 1/2 Position I often introduce Saint-Saens' "The Elephant" to challenge both technique and musicianship, as well as knowledge of the fingerboard.
fu22ba55,
My interpretation is that Simandl wishes the tied over notes to be shortened a little in order to control the following faster, shorter bow strokes. There needs to be a real sense of physical balance to avoid misplaced accents that disturb the even flow of rythm and phrasing of the music. It will also help proportion out the length of strokes so that you don't "run out of bow." An example of misplaced accents after tied notes that I use is the British National Anthem "God save our gray-SHUSS Queen.........
I find the placing of these two pages of obvious bow-control exercises slightly bizarre and assume that the idea is to have right hand technique catch up a little with the left while consolidating note reading ability and knowledge of the fingerboard so far.
