Any violinists out there?

I’ve played bass guitar and piano for well over 10 years now.
I know how to read tableture and notes.
I’d like to expand a little here and learn to play violin.

-Make sure your bow is well rosined (if you flick your bow, you should see a small cloud of rosin). If you don’t have enough rosin, you won’t have enough friction being created to make any sound, and if you have too much you get a scratchy sound.
-Have a shoulder rest (even really experienced players use them) so you can hold the instrument more comfortably (if you need a makeshift until you get a real one, you can use a sponge and a rubberband).

Learn to hold your violin and bow in the correct positions because once your muscles create habits, they’re hard to break, and once in a while you can hurt yourself.
-Hold the violin parallel with the floor. Don’t “bow tie” it (don’t hold the violin against your chest).
-Place the violin on your left collar bone or on the soft spot behind your collar bone
-Rest the left side of your jaw on the chin rest.
-Your left elbow should be just below the violin’s center.
-Your wrists should be gently rounded.
-Don’t rest your left wrist on the neck of your violin.
-Your left thumb should be opposite your middle finger.
-Keep a curved space between your thumb and index finger (left hand). My violin teacher called it “pancake” when it was done incorrectly. You shouldn’t let your fingers lay flat on the strings. Arch them like a side-ways “c” (or an upside down “u”).
-If you’re seated, sit on the edge of your chair, feet flat on the ground. If you play while standing, stand with your feet shoulder width apart. (sit/stand up straight)
-Don’t play with your bow directly above the fingerboard. You want to play with it placed between the bridge and the fingerboard to get the best sound.
-Your bow’s speed while playing across a string should be kinda slow, the slower the speed, the better the sound.
-Try to use a lot of bow. You should try to play from the frog to the tip of the bow (unless it specifies in your music to play otherwise. i.e. staccato, short..).

Holding the Bow:
-Your thumb should touch the “frog” point on the bow and be in the gap that separates the top from bottom of the bow.
-Fingers should curve over the top of the bow.
-The middle finger is opposite your thumb (like your left hand).

Instrument care:
-loosen your bow when you’re not playing so you don’t stretch out the hairs
-If you feel that your instrument is getting dried out, try using a dampit.
-when tuning, turn the pegs toward you first and then go to the pitch you want (if you’re flat)
-keep your instrument away from extremely damp, dry, cold, or hot areas

How To Play Bass Guitar – Lessons for Beginners – Open Strings

Comments are closed