# Any violin players with hints to share?



## FeralDragon (May 6, 2010)

More or less what the title asks, I've started to learn to play the violin and am wondering if there is anyone here who plays the violin and can help me, Simply telling me hints will do, especially with regards to tuning and bow hold etc. Anything I might find useful.


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## ruthbrons (May 6, 2010)

Hi!
Working with a teacher to get your playing position set up would be a really good idea. 
In my studio, students learn the bow hold very easily and quickly with the Bow Hold Buddies[tm] bow accessory.  
The bow is the voice of the string player, so achieving a relaxed and effective bow hold is really important.
Best Wishes!


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## Aden (May 6, 2010)

Aghghghhg I really want to learn the violin.
Damn financial barriers.

Would someone with more insight than I care to tell me if it's better to grab a super cheap violin and start learning or wait until I can afford something more refined?


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## Cloudy (May 7, 2010)

When I was first learning I actually had little stickers put on the side of my fingerboard so I knew where my fingers needed to go for the most common notes. It makes it a lot easier while you're learning, because your fingers will then learn where they need to go almost automatically. 
Of course, it's never really as easy as that, because there are always minor notes and such that require you to improvise on that. So ear-training is highly recommended--by that I mean, if you know someone else that plays, have them play short segments for you, and then try to repeat it without having watched their fingers or knowing what they played. Or try to copy general sounds, like maybe the background to a song you know. It takes some time, but having learned that way it's a lot easier for me to play without my initial sticker guides, and I can also pick out some of my favorite songs randomly off  my iPod and try to figure them out^^
Also. Try to make your arm not floppy while also not straining your muscles. My instructor always yelled at me for that >_< But it's good to start out that way. I do it by only trying to move the upper part of my arm as much as I can. At least, it makes it easier for me personally to keep my bow straight. And don't press yourself to play if it's making your muscles sore. Because you can get permanently messed up from that.
Wow, so that's a lot of info... And I'm not even sure that it was helpful^^; Sorry. Hope at least something I said can be of use to you... Because the violin is loads of fun! : 3

@ Aden: My personal opinion is to just start with a cheap one. Then, you didn't invest loads of money if you decide it's really not your thing. Because I got mine for only $10, and I've been in shops that sell brand new cheap ones in vibrant arrays for around $30. I mean, they aren't perfect, then, of course. My instructor told me though that my $10 was just as good as most top-brand student violins, and that my next step would be $500+ to make any real difference.
If you can find reliable sellers on eBay you can get some pretty sweet deals. That's where I got mine, and it's served me well.


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## Aden (May 7, 2010)

Cloudy said:


> @ Aden: My personal opinion is to just start with a cheap one. Then, you didn't invest loads of money if you decide it's really not your thing. Because I got mine for only $10, and I've been in shops that sell brand new cheap ones in vibrant arrays for around $30. I mean, they aren't perfect, then, of course. My instructor told me though that my $10 was just as good as most top-brand student violins, and that my next step would be $500+ to make any real difference.
> If you can find reliable sellers on eBay you can get some pretty sweet deals. That's where I got mine, and it's served me well.



Is there anything I should be looking for in the description or features when I'm buying? I know I want a bow, rosin, case. Are there any "red flags" like there are when buying other instruments? And if I'm going to buy cheap, how easy is it for a violin to be a pain in the ass? What I mean by that last one is, for example, a cheap guitar will go out of tune easily and be a real irritation.


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## Cloudy (May 7, 2010)

Aden said:


> Is there anything I should be looking for in the description or features when I'm buying? I know I want a bow, rosin, case. Are there any "red flags" like there are when buying other instruments? And if I'm going to buy cheap, how easy is it for a violin to be a pain in the ass? What I mean by that last one is, for example, a cheap guitar will go out of tune easily and be a real irritation.



Um, just make sure you get a 4/4 size. Because I'm assuming you're older than 12 XP 
Personally, I would first see if there are any music stores that have good deals. Like, music stores on eBay. I know the buyer that I got mine from (unfortunately I cannot recall the name, other than it came from California) had an actual eBay shop and it appeared that they had an actual shop in California as well. And that way it came with the bow, rosin, and case also. 
Cuz if you're not buying from a shop, you need to be careful that everything is included, and that there isn't damage to the violin. If you would look at used ones, you would want to make sure that there was no damage, that the things you want are included, and that fine-tuners are included. They're included on most new student violins. They just help sometimes by allowing you to tune without adjusting the pegs.
And as for the out-of-tune thing. I've been told that some cheap violins do go out of tune badly. Mine went out of tune easily for about a week or two and then was basically perfect. As in, I'd adjust it if I was playing with others and needed to be spot on, but it would pretty much not need my attention unless it got jostled badly in my case or it had been a while since I'd played. (Because in general things will become untuned with time, but violins and other wooden instruments of course can also be victims of temperature). 
I'd hate to be recommending you get a cheap violin and then you do and it has problems. I can only say that the one I got has served me well and it was quite cheap. I guess I could just be lucky. But you have to think, too, if you're buying from a music shop they probably want you to be satisfied so that if you plan on upgrading or need more gear you'll come back to them XP

Also: I recommend a Kun neckrest. Makes it loads more comfortable to play, at least for me. 
AND NEVER FORGET TO LOOSEN YOUR BOW WHEN YOU'RE DONE PLAYING.
It'll warp it.
Also if you break a strand of the horsehair, don't pluck it off. Clip it.
Could be obvious but I was just thinking how those were things that I didn't know right away XP


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## GatodeCafe (May 8, 2010)

I got my first violin from Ebay for like eighty bucks. Just tune it to GDAE and work on your scales.  There are some other tunings some folks experiment (For example: GDAD, "modal tuning"), but as a general rule you ought to stick to standard for the vast majority of playing.

I'm lucky because I had prior experience with the mandolin to base my playing on (they're tuned the same). Practice your bowing drills and if you have any trouble fingering, I'd check out this site:

http://jazzmando.com/exercises_and_technique.shtml

A STRONG PINKY IS A MUST for fluid violin.


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## xiath (May 11, 2010)

While I don't play classical I do play the instrument. (Note: since I don't know if you have a teacher or not I will make the assumption you just picked the instrument up and will talk about the very basics)

Being relaxed is a huge part to a good tone.  That doesn't mean let your bow flop around, but if you tense up at all you will both hinder your speed and start to make that creaky door sound.  Also learn how little pressure you need to press your fingers down to get a nice sound.  You want to use as little pressure as possible so you don't strain your hand and cause an injury.  A shoulder rest is also a great tool to keep you from tensing your neck up during play, see if you can try a few out to feel what one is best.  Lots of people like Kun shoulder rests, i personally use a cheap one that I currently can't recall the name of.

Tuning the instrument is something you just need to practice at.  Also, be very careful not to over tighten the string.  When you turn the peg, make sure you press it in at eh same time or else your peg will slip.  You need to develop a good ear.  What you do to tune it is get a pitch fork tuned to A 440 and try to get your A string to sound exactly like the pitch fork.  Next you play the D and A strings at the same time to tune the D to the A string.  If you listen really carefully you can hear a thumping sound of the notes clashing.  Your goal is to make that thumping sound stop.  The closer the strings are to being in tune, the slower the thumping sound will be.  

To figure out if you are playing in tune during practice, you can normally match your fingered note to an open string to see if they make a nice chord.  Generally, you will match the first finger notes (in first position) and the third finger notes to the string to the left and second finger and fourth finger notes to the string on the right.  

At the beginning stages you will want to place your bow directly between the bridge and the beginning of the finger board.  Focus on keeping your bow at a right angle through your stroke to get a consistent sound.  This is MUCH easier said than done, but learning bow control is vital to a strong, clean sound.  Later you may learn how to utilize placing your bow at different places to get specific sounds, but that is beyond the scope of a beginner (I feel). 

I concur GatodeCafe, strengthen that pinky!  Though it may seem impossible to get it to do what you want at first, but it will make playing easier later on.

Make sure you get two cotton cloths.  One for cleaning rosin off the strings, and one for cleaning rosin dust off the instrument.  Excess rosin on the strings will make it sound creaky and rosin dust can eat the varnish on the wood.

If you don't already have one, GET A TEACHER!  You will learn much more from a hands on teacher than anywhere else.

And then there is the obvious one, practice.  Practice often.  Slowly work up how long you can play at a time.  Make sure you can practice at least 30 minutes a day.  It doesn't have to be all at once.  It may be easier to break up your practicing time throughout the day.

I would have to say my favorite, and least favorite part about playing violins is shopping for new instruments.  After you get used to violins you will notice no two violins sound alike.  It's amazing how versatile the sound ranges from violin to violin, along with how they play.  That, and the price...  The worst part is violins can be REALLY expensive (mine alone is worth around $3,500, and that is just an intermediate quality one!  Plus an $800 bow...).

Over all, have fun!



> Is there anything I should be looking for in the description or features when I'm buying? I know I want a bow, rosin, case. Are there any "red flags" like there are when buying other instruments? And if I'm going to buy cheap, how easy is it for a violin to be a pain in the ass? What I mean by that last one is, for example, a cheap guitar will go out of tune easily and be a real irritation.



Violins, no matter the price, can be pain's in the ass at times.  Cheap violins will go out of tune more often, and are normally harder to play since they aren't set up to the correct dimensions normally.  The best course of action is to find somewhere where you can rent an instrument.  It is much cheaper to rent than to buy.  It's hard to pick an instrument for yourself when you are inexperienced.  A violin teacher can hopefully point you in the right direction as to where you can rent an instrument.  Fine tuners are definably a help, though they diminish the sound very slightly, but for a beginner it is worth it.  As for red flags, there can be tons of them.  It would be best to see if your teacher can go with you to check them out.  But the biggest red flags are cracks, they usually appear around the F holes.

@cloudy.  Where did you find a violin for $10!?  I don't even know if a violin made of ply wood would even be that cheap.  What blows me away is your instructor says it's just as good as a top end student violin.  I think you are the luckiest person in the world to snag one of that quality for the price of a cake of rosin.


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## Cloudy (May 11, 2010)

xiath said:


> While I don't play classical I do play the instrument. (Note: since I don't know if you have a teacher or not I will make the assumption you just picked the instrument up and will talk about the very basics)
> 
> Being relaxed is a huge part to a good tone.  That doesn't mean let your bow flop around, but if you tense up at all you will both hinder your speed and start to make that creaky door sound.  Also learn how little pressure you need to press your fingers down to get a nice sound.  You want to use as little pressure as possible so you don't strain your hand and cause an injury.  A shoulder rest is also a great tool to keep you from tensing your neck up during play, see if you can try a few out to feel what one is best.  Lots of people like Kun shoulder rests, i personally use a cheap one that I currently can't recall the name of.
> 
> ...


I do feel pretty lucky X3 Considering even with shipping, I got the violin, bow, rosin cake, and all the rest needed to play for only like $50^^ I got it off eBay, new, from some store in California. And it sounds pretty much the same as every other violin in my troupe^^  (other than some of the advanced players. Oh man, my instructor had this GOLDEN, seriously GOLDEN-wooded violin once that was... oh man, just like HONEY. She let me play it once and it was just divine... Sorry. A bit of a nerd, I had to mention the win violin XD ) 
Inspected, I was told that my violin was made out of maple. It's not perfect but it is quite nice and durable too. Goes to show it never hurts to try looking for a deal, at least unless you're looking for top, topnotch.


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## Eleziek (May 11, 2010)

As a Viola player since the age of 5 I suggest this

Go take lessons

Classical strings are going to be some of your most complex instruments to learn because it's based so strongly on technique. Take private lessons, best, and really only, way to become a solid instrumentalist.


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## Lyxen (May 13, 2010)

I want a vilon player to put strings to mah teracks... collab anyone?


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## Teco (May 27, 2010)

I cant find sheet music or tabs or whatever it is for violins anywhere. I tried for Coheed and Cambria's "Keeping the Blade" 

Youtubed, googled. "HOW TO PLAY WELCOME HOME ON GUITAR!!" NO

I said Keeping the Blade. Violin. 

What the shit is this fuck.


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## Aden (May 27, 2010)

Just figure it out by ear. It's a really simple melody.


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