Showing posts with label Violin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Violin. Show all posts

Friday, August 25, 2017

The Correct Way to Have a Good VIOLIN BOW Hold

The way the violin bow works is that the player holds it on the string and they pull it across the strings of the violin. This, in turn, creates vibrations and creates the resonating sound. It is an incredibly important part of learning how to play the violin, as it can cause bad consequences if a person develops a poor bow hold. So it should be one of the first things a violin player learns.

For many violin players, their downfall is holding the violin bow correctly. It is because it is so difficult to hold so precisely. The violin bow hold seems quite easy in principle, but holding some fingers in some unusual places may take a while to get used to.

bow into the distance
Violin Bow - Photo  by BotheredByBees 

So here is some advice on how to hold the violin bow correctly:

1. Make sure the bow isn't too tight - the fiddlestick at its thinnest part between the wood and horsehair should be thin enough just to be able to scrape through a small finger.
2. Place the index finger around the side of the bow and place the end of the finger on the side of it
3. Move the middle and ring fingers over to the other side of the bow - roughly placing the ring finger on the circle on the other side.  
4. Finally, place the little finger on its tip toward the back of the violin bow, but not on the metal screwing part.
5. Be calm, as holding or tensing the bow a lot will make it harder to pull the bow over the string and make a better quality sound. So try to loosely put the fingers in place.
6. Try various holdings - look at what happens when you place more pressure on the bow; pressing harder should create a louder noise for example. This way, you can see if your fingers stay in the same correct places when doing different things.



So if you hold the violin bow correctly, then you shall create a much better sound and a smoother action which will help improve other difficult violin playing techniques in the future.

So learning how to play the violin with the correct bow hold shall make a massive difference in the life that you have of playing the stringed instrument.




Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Everything You Need to Know About Violin From A-Z - PAGANINI

Hello, today I will be carrying on with my series everything you need to know about violin from A-Z. Today we are on P for Paganini. Paganini is one of the most celebrated violin virtuosi of all time.

During his life, e advanced violin technique by leaps and bounds and created many of the techniques that are taken for granted today.

Niccolò Paganini
Niccolò Paganini (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
He was born in Genoa Italy and was the third of six children. At the age of five, Paganini started learning mandolin from his father and moved to the violin at the age of seven. During his childhood, he displayed extraordinary musical talent and earned many musical scholarships.

He studied under many local violinists but quickly outshone his teachers who would refer him to their teachers who he would outstrip who would refer him to their teachers and so on. By the age of 18, he had become famous and wealthy from performing freelance concerts and had developed a major reputation as a gambler and womanizer.

Paganini took to the road performing throughout Europe and his fame soon spread with highly successful concerts in Vienna, London, and Paris. His technical ability and willingness to display it earned him much acclaim.

Paganini's health deteriorated due to mercury poisoning used by the medicine that was at that time used to treat syphilis. He became unable to play the violin and was forced to retire eventually dying of throat cancer. He refused the last rites believing that he had longer to live and died before a priest could perform them. Because of this, he was refused a Christian funeral and his body languished for months before it was finally laid to rest of hallowed ground.

    By Eric B Hill
    Eric B. Hill is an professional violin player and teacher with over 20 years experience.
    Article Source: EzineArticles


Sunday, August 6, 2017

Bowed musical instrument VIOLA

Many people are unfamiliar to the instrument viola and can envision a viola to be a violin. But viola is a stringed instrument that looks similar to violin and it belongs to the class of stringed instrument that is bowed like a violin. On a closer inspection of the instrument viola you can recognize the distinctions between a violin and a viola. The timbre of viola is filled with rich sound and it has a full bodied structure .The instrument is generally not played solo like violin and it does not have the repute of a violin .It is played in concerts and you can find the instrument getting played in inner musical chords and harmonies.

Playing viola.jpg
"Playing viola". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.


Violas have a bow like structure and to play the instrument it is positioned on the shoulders of the player. The instrument size does not have a regular standard size like a violin. The size of viola varies to suit musicians of different age groups. For a child the size of the viola can be 12 inches and for adults the size varies from 13 to 16.5 inches depending upon the choice of the musician. Even a small sized viola has the strong sound like the bigger ones due to its sound box. Voila has a large body and thick strings that need the musicians to have great physical stamina to play the instrument and to press the strings. A few people find it uncomfortable to hold viola on shoulders and for such instrument players a light material and short viola are made accessible.

There are many choices available to the buyers who wish to buy viola for themselves .The person’s comfort level on the instrument helps in selection of the instrument type. Viola is hand made instrument and its looks are very aesthetical .There are many a popular violas in market and one among them is called Mozart.



To purchase a viola you need not go to the local store near your house to check out for the instrument. The internet technology can help you to have your instrument at your doorstep through the window shopping faculties available on the websites. You can get the product online with a guarantee that if you are discontented with the delivered product you are free to return it back to us. You can call us through the leading website of the product called Stringworks. To get more information regarding the instrument and to give it just a try to know how to play the instrument, you can opt for a hired instrument through our website.



Friday, July 28, 2017

Everything You Need to Know About the Violin From A-Z - The MESSIAH STRADIVARIUS

The Messiah Stradivarius violin by Antonio Str...
The Messiah Stradivarius violin by Antonio Stradivari,
on display at the Ashmolean museum
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Hello, today I am continuing with my series everything you need to know about the violin from A-Z. We are now on M for the Messiah. The messiah is a violin made by the legendary Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona. The messiah remained in the Stradivarius work shop until his death. After which it was sold and went through many hands finally arriving with French luthier Jean Baptiste Vuillaume.


Where does the name messiah come from?
Vuillaume had bought the violin from a travelling Italian violin dealer named Luigi Tarisio who had constantly boasted of a beautiful violin he had discovered but never brought forth to show anyone.
Upon hearing this the French violinist Delphin Alard, who was son in law to Vuillaume exclaimed "Your violin is like the messiah one waits for him but he never appears!" Thus the violin was baptized with the name Messiah.

When Tarisio died in 1855 Vauillaume, realizing that Tarisio had a large stock of valuable Italian violins, traveled to a farm near Milan belonging to Tarisio where he found and purchased over a 140 instruments including the messiah which had apparently never been used. Even though it was nearly 150 years old it looked as if it had just came from Stradivari's hands

The Messiah was bequeathed to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England. The conditions in the will of the former owner being that the Museum can never allow the violin to be played. Because of this the instrument is in pristine conditions as it has apparently never been played, it is now one of the most valuable Stradivari violins.

    Eric B. Hill is an professional violin player and teacher with over 20 years experience.

    Article Source: EzineArticles


Saturday, July 22, 2017

Everything You Need to Know About the Violin From A-Z - LUTHIER

Hello today I am carrying on with my series everything you need to know about violin from A-Z. We are now on L for luthier. A luthier is someone who builds violins and other stringed instruments such as guitars, mandolins, lutes and cellos. The art of the luthier is divided into two categories those who make instruments that are plucked and those who make instruments that are bowed this second category also contains a further specialization known as an archetier, a person who makes bows.

Varnishing a violin by Hildegard Dodel, luthie...
Varnishing a violin by Hildegard Dodel, luthier in Cremona
(Photo credit: 
Wikipedia)

The violin as we know it today was created by Andrea Amati of Cremona Italy. Amati was originally was lute maker and gave birth to an entire family of renowned luthiers, his son also becoming a master with several noted apprentices.

The most famous of all luthiers is undoubtedly the legendary Antonio Stradivari also of Cremona Italy. Stradivari started out as a student of Amati but soon eclipsed him. To this day Stradivari is still known for his violins which are now worth millions.

Violin making is an art and science. The luthier must have many skills he must be a wood sculptor delicately carving the shapes of the instrument. He must be an engineer designing and constructing the lines and surfaces of the piece. He must be an acoustician, improving the sound and design of each instrument that he makes. Using his experience and technique to refine the subtle nuances of every instrument built.

Lastly the luthier must be a musician if he cannot actually play the instruments that he produces then his skill is less than worthless. The luthier must understand the musician's needs and wants and must be able to supply them.

    Eric B. Hill is an professional violin player and teacher with over 20 years experience.
    Article Source: EzineArticles


Monday, July 17, 2017

VIOLIN or FIDDLE? The Differences Explained by a Player

“That’s a fine lookin’ fiddle ya got there, kid.”
I gritted my teeth into a forced smile and quietly thanked the old man at the bus stop. “Fiddle!?” I thought, gritting my teeth into a polite smile. “It’s a V-I-O-L-I-N, you old goat!”
Teenagers are sensitive and easily embarrassed, but this chickie had a bit too much pride in self-labeled “superiority as a classical musician,” which meant I was annoyingly arrogant and a general pain in the butt.

Humbled by merciless teasing in jazz college opened my eyes to the music outside my sanctioned little bubble.

I learned to fiddle.
For the most part “fiddle” is a style of music, such as Celtic, Bluegrass or Old Time. Nevertheless, there are a few differences and stereotypes between fiddle and violin.

Robert Blackwelder playing the fiddle: Dundee, Florida
Robert Blackwelder playing the fiddle - Photo  by      State Library and Archives of Florida

We’ve all threatened Fluffy that she’ll be taking a trip to the string factory if she doesn’t stop scratching the couch. There’s the violin’s dark secret of winding silver around a stretched piece of animal tissue (run Fluffy, run!). This used to be the principal method of making violin strings.
Gut strings possessed a rich and full quality ideal for orchestral playing. They weren’t perfect for the bank account, however, and fiddlers resorted to the cheaper alternative: steel. Steel strings have a “bright” timbre (tone) and carry well in a solo situation.

Steel strings are very difficult to tune with the violin’s clumsy wooden pegs. Many steel strings were broken until the glorious invention of fine-tuners, the tiny little metal mechanisms on the tailpiece that makes tuning a piece of cake. Violinists adopted this technology for use on their steel “E” strings which is nearly impossible to tune with the peg.

When I was youth symphony many players removed their lower string fine tuners haughtily, like a child insisting training wheels are for babies. The use of fine tuners on all four strings unfortunately had become associated with less skilled musicians since fiddlers used them. There is also evidence that fine tuners alter the quality of harmonics (higher frequencies). This a ridiculous stereotype was invented: violinists use the pegs, fiddlers use fine tuners.

It is thought that fiddles are simply cheap violins. At one time this could have been true, as poorer or rural folks usually played home-made fiddles, not Strads. They were less likely to afford private lessons or attend the symphony, but learned traditional tunes at jams and ceilidhs (kay-lees). Since many fiddlers never had formal lessons, most couldn’t read music and played everything by ear, whereas violinists could read music usually could not improvise. Another stereotype was invented.
Holding a violin with one’s jaw makes it nearly impossible to talk and play simultaneously (similar to walking around with your pants around your ankles). Square dancing fiddlers dealt with this difficulty by holding the violin down on their arm rather than under the chin, freeing up their jaws to “call” the dance moves. This technique is a big no-no in classical playing and it created yet another rift between violin and fiddle.

Luckily it seems the violin/fiddle gap has narrowed considerably in the past few years. Most players use new hybrid strings that posses a full and rich, yet clear, tone and respond well to both classical and fiddle playing. Classical violinists aren’t so sticky about fine tuners anymore as they are seen as an advantage over using stubborn old pegs.

The resurgence of fiddle music in pop culture has created an opportunity for fiddlers to aspire to a higher level of playing ability and for violin students to branch out and try other genres of music. Hence fiddlers and violinists alike have finer instruments and a formal music education.
Fiddle technique is being abandoned by many fiddlers who have discovered the benefits, such as greater speed and fewer backaches, of the classical technique.

New programs in music education in new programs has produced fiddlers who can read music and violinists who can improvise.
As more musicians branch out musically and develop new ways of playing there will be little difference between "violin” and “fiddle.” Musicians will feel much more comfortable playing with each other and the stereotypes will fade away, both violin and fiddle will be valid.

You’ll see the old man at the bus stop whistling to “Celtic Swing Baroque Techno” on his MP3 player. 

    By Rhiannon Schmitt
    Rhiannon Schmitt (nee Nachbaur) is a professional violinist and music teacher who has enjoyed creative writing for years. She writes for two Canadian publications and Australia's "Music Teacher Magazine."
    Her business, Fiddleheads Violin School & Shop, has won several distinguished young entrepreneur business awards and offers beginner to professional level instruments, accessories and supplies for very reasonable prices: Visit http://www.fiddleheads.ca
    Article Source: EzineArticles 


Saturday, July 15, 2017

How to Play VIOLIN Artificial Harmonics

English: Nut of a violin Deutsch: Sattel einer...
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Violin artificial harmonics are an advanced technique that should be practiced primarily by violinists who are already comfortable on the instrument. If you want to learn violin artificial harmonics, just keep this in mind and be ready for a decent amount of frustration as they can be very difficult, especially if you have only just started mastering the basics! That said, here are the steps you need to take to play them.

For a violin artificial harmonic, you are going to play a note with your first and fourth finger. Your first finger will be the base and will hold the string down. Your fourth finger will be the harmonic finger and will lightly press the string in order to produce the harmonic note you desire. Combining these two will create a new harmonic on a string that didn't previously exist. Sound complex? It is challenging, but practicing it will make it easier and easier.

Harmonics happen at points of perfect intervals. So when we play a violin artificial harmonic, you are going to target the only perfect interval you can really play with the first and fourth finger: a perfect fourth. The distance between them should remain exactly 3 steps.

So start by placing your first finger in first position on D string and playing an E. Then place your fourth finger down in a harmonic position for an A, right where the A string is. You can play an open A to test the note. This creates a violin artificial harmonic where the fourth finger is. You will notice an entirely new harmonic has formed where originally the harmonic would have been at a different position.

You can shift this violin artificial harmonic position up as well to test new harmonic sounds and see what results. This creates more new harmonic sounds where previously there were only a select handful. What you are doing is simply tricking the string into thinking it is a different note by playing the first finger, then relying on the fourth finger to find the new harmonic note that has been formed from the artificial harmonic therein. It is a very tricky technique, but one that gets easier with practice.



Overall if you are truly serious about learning violin artificial harmonics or any other violin techniques, you need to get yourself a good teacher. Having a good teacher makes a tremendous difference in violin playing ability, so don't ever underestimate this!

    Eric Conklin is a violinist and a blogger who specializes in helping new musicians find lessons that help them grow quickly and efficiently.

    Article Directory: EzineArticles


Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Best VIOLIN Intonation Exercises

A girl playing violin in The Hague
A girl playing violin in The Hague
(Photo credit: 
Wikipedia)
For violin intonation exercises, there are really thousands of possibilities for exercises and etudes you could practice that will improve your intonation. Practicing anything itself properly and with good intonation is bound to cause an improvement on some level even if the exercise or piece of music isn't specifically geared towards that goal. If you need to improve your violin intonation, here are some good exercises to get you started on the right track.

The first and most important violin intonation exercise is the scale. 90 percent of the music played on any instrument is based on scales. They are everywhere and are the most important and most basic building block of playing the violin. Do not under any circumstances underestimate this! Keep your scales cleanly polished with hours in the practice room and do not allow yourself to slump this off. It will cost you a lot of good violin intonation in the end.

Next, try a sing and play exercise. Take a scale or a simple piece you are practicing and practice it slowly while humming it alongside your instrument. This simple intonation exercise will force you to mentally and physically recognize the sound produced on each note. If you are playing too high, simply drop down on octave and keep humming. This will be very annoying at first, but will definitely help your mind to understand and interact with the violin intonation you are playing and thus improve your results dramatically.

Another great exercise is the arpeggio. If 90 percent of music is built on scales, a remaining 9 percent is built on arpeggios, which means that between these two, you have the vast majority of violin intonation covered. Arpeggios can be complex to master, so when you first start, play a single octave at a time and don't allow yourself to make any mistakes. This may mean slowing down and working carefully through each arpeggio, spelling out each note clearly and with good violin intonation, but if that's what it takes to play properly, then keep at it!



Regardless of what exercises you do, nothing is as important as getting yourself a fine teacher to learn from. A talented and experienced teacher can mean the difference between success and failure when it comes to playing the violin. Don't ever forget the importance of this. To make true dramatic improvements in your intonation, get yourself a good teacher.

    By Eric Conklin

    Eric Conklin is a violinist and a blogger who specializes in helping new musicians find lessons that help them grow quickly and efficiently.

    Article Source: EzineArticles


Friday, April 21, 2017

Do You Know What the Parts of a VIOLIN Are Called? Learn Them Here

English: Violin made in about 1770. Legend add...Violin made in about 1770. (1) Chinrest (2) Tailpiece (3) Bridge (4) Strings (5) Fingerboard (6) Fine-Tuner (7) Sound hole (8) Corner (9) Purfling (10) Body (11) Rib (12) End Button 

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)



In order to correctly play the violin you will need to know what all the parts are. In this article I will teach you the names of the major ones from the top of the violin to the bottom (not in the order of the picture).

  1. Scroll - This is the decorative part located at the very top of the violin they are mostly hand carved.
  2. Tuning pegs - These are used to tune the violin, by adjusting them up or down you can tune your violin.
  3. The Nut - This supports the strings and keeps them away from the fret board.
  4. Fingerboard - This is the strip of wood on the neck of the violin where the strings are this is also the area where you play or finger the notes.
  5. The Strings - The violin has four strings tuned a fifth apart from thickest to thinnest they are G, D, A and E.
  6. The Bridge - This holds the strings in place it is essential as its placement affect the quality of the sound produced by the violin.
  7. F Holes - These are on either side of the bridge and allow the sound of the vibrating strings to resonate. They are called f holes because they are shaped like an f in italics. Altering the F hole can affect the sound of the violin.
  8. Tail piece - This is the part that anchors the strings to the violin.
  9. Chin Rest - This helps the violinist hold the instrument in place while playing the violinist can use their chin to hold the violin freeing up their hands.


    Eric B. Hill is an professional violin player and teacher with over 20 years experience.

    Article Directory: EzineArticles


Thursday, March 16, 2017

How to Correct Bad Habits in Your VIOLIN Playing

As violin players we very often fall into bad habits which hamper playing and delay our progress by years. It is very important that you correct these problems as soon as you can remember the longer you ignore them the worse they will get and longer they will take to get rid of.

English: stuffed bear on violin (exercise for ...
Stuffed bear on violin (exercise for good violin hold + correct contact point)
(Photo credit: 
Wikipedia)

To begin correcting bad habits you must first begin to identify them you must be like a detective seeking out the root causes of the issues and difficulties you face in your playing. To do this play through the passages that are giving you difficulty extremely slowly without a metronome. Pay extreme attention all the while you are doing this be very relaxed and watch what your fingers and body are doing as you play.

There will be a cause and effect relationship behind every mistake that you make. The cause will be something you are doing wrong with your fingers and body that you haven't noticed before and the effect will be mistakes. It is your job to seek out these causes and correct them. Remember the reason behind almost all bad playing and mistakes is usually because you are holding tension in your body.

Concentrate on being very relaxed and tension free while you are playing and remember to breathe deeply in and out. You would not believe the amount of people who hold their breath while playing.

This is a very bad habit which will cause you to lock up and make endless mistakes

Once you have identified the causes of your mistakes and bad habits you must correct them. You do this by playing slowly through the problems passages using a metronome. You must pay extreme attention while doing this and stay relaxed playing the problem part correctly. You will have to do this over and over until the new way of playing is conditioned.

Do not ignore problems areas and bad habits trust me I did and I can tell you from experience that they soon grow into huge monsters that can cripple your playing for years. Remember it is always best to kill the monster while it is small.

    Eric B. Hill is an professional violin player and teacher with over 20 years experience.

    Article Directory: EzineArticles


Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Learning VIOLIN Chords

Playing violin chords can be a challenge. There is no shortcut to mastering the technique. The only way to become adept at violin chords is practice, practice, practice! A double stop is the technical term for violin chord. It simply means that you're playing to notes on adjacent strings at the same time. Two strings are pushed down at the same time or stopped by the fingers, and bowed plucked.

This is me playing violin
This is me playing violin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Because of the violin is curved bridge, plucking or bowing more than two strings at the same time is extremely difficult, if not impossible. Antique bows made before the end of the 18th century, had the wood curved away from the hair. The result was that three notes could be played simultaneously by some violinists.

Even with older bows it is almost impossible to play for notes at once on the violin. If the artist is accomplished, he/ she will play the three or four note cord by sounding the lower notes briefly and allowing them to sing, and then sounding the upper notes. This technique is called a broken chord. If it is done correctly, the hearer will believe they heard a true triple or quadruple stop.

You can practice your violin chords, or double stop chords, using a 4/4 beat. Keeping time by taping your foot will help with this process. Learn to count four beats as you are drawing the bow on each chord. It should take for complete beats for you to draw the bow from one end to the other.

It is very important that you use your fingertips when playing double stops. The fingertip technique will ensures that you do not touch adjacent strings while playing violin chords. Your thumb must remain in proper position behind the neck in order to use your fingertips.

It's important to let the bow do the work when playing double stops. Loosening your bow hair will allow to touch both strings. Make sure you are not pressing too hard.

Allow the harmony of the music to come through. If you are hearing dissonance, your violin may need to be tuned.



Generally accepted music theory states that a chord is a set of three or more different notes. These notes must play of the same time and be in a specific key. Since playing three strings at once on the violin is so difficult, a dyad or two notes of the chord, is what is played. Technically speaking, "violin chords" is a misnomer, since you are only playing two notes.

Musically speaking, a dyad is a set of two notes or pitches.

It is important to reiterate at this juncture to never under estimate the power of practice. As you practice playing violin chords, you'll find them becoming easier.

Adding technique to your repertoire always increases your enjoyment of playing your instrument. Learning to play a violin chords is no exception.