Position, 1

(Ger. Za’ge; Fr. Positions It. posisio’ne.) The place of the left hand on the fingerboard of the violin, etc. In the rst fos., the forefinger stops the tone or semitone above the open string; by shifting up (see Shi/1) so that the rst finger takes the place previously occupied by the 2nd, the 2nd pos. is reached; and so on for each succeeding position. There are Ir positions in all, but only 7 are commonly employed—The Aalf-position is the same as the Ist pos., except that in it the and, 3rd, and 4th fingers occupy the places taken, in the rst pos., by the Ist, 2nd, and 3rd fingers.—2. The arrangement of notes ina chord with reference to the lowest part; in the st, or fundamental, position ‘the lowest part takes the root; in the 2nd position it takes the third, etc.—3. Close and open position, see Harmony.