So bought violin yesterday...

[JLowe]

after six hours of playing, i finally manged a major scale without sounding like a screaming baby. everyone i've talked to doesn't give lessons on weekends, which is the only time i could take them because im out of town monday-friday. can anyone recommend some good beginner websites/books/dvds etc?

[Tomlinson]

suzuki method

[Eliza]

suzuki method

i second that motion. And get the cds.

you can't learn the violin properly just watching a DVD. You have to have a teacher.

[zhyla]

There's got to be someone who will teach you on the weekends.

I'm making decent progress with the cello on my own but violin is so much harder.

[SugarCoatedSour]

I've broken two bows in the 2 weeks that I've had my violin.

[zhyla]

How do you break a bow??? Mine seems indestructible.

[Eliza]

I've broken two bows in the 2 weeks that I've had my violin.

Are you loosening the hair when you put it away? There's only supposed to be at most, an inch between the hair and the stick. It's supposed to "bow" in the middle.

and it helps to stop sword-fighting...

[SugarCoatedSour]

Ya, basically the first one I tightened far too much, and it was under-rosined, and I tried to unleash the fury on my E string. It snapped from the top where the hair is glued in with that little wooden piece. The second, my friend placed it on the bed and at the end of the night I unknowingly crushed it by laying on it. But that second bow I got was pretty shoddy as I noticed it had been repaired from similar damages I caused it.

[zhyla]

I bought a cello bow on ebay and they said it is the "VERY BEST KIND CELLO BOW A+" so you know it's good.

I'm always unsure how tight the bow should be.

[Eliza]

Ya, basically the first one I tightened far too much, and it was under-rosined, and I tried to unleash the fury on my E string. It snapped from the top where the hair is glued in with that little wooden piece. The second, my friend placed it on the bed and at the end of the night I unknowingly crushed it by laying on it. But that second bow I got was pretty shoddy as I noticed it had been repaired from similar damages I caused it.

It doesnt sound like your bow was made of wood. Or not very good wood. Try a Pernambuco bow. Or actually...try a Coda Bow. Made of Graphite. Pretty indestructible and I like mine a lot. Especially when I perform outside. The tension doesn't change as much with the humidity and weather.

Yeah...and always put your violin away. Wipe it down with a soft cheesecloth so that there isn't any rosin left on the strings or the body of the instrument.

You don't have to press so hard. Relax. There is no "unleashing the fury." Your violin is an extension of your body. You have too much tension. try relaxing your shoulders back and imagining that your shoulder blades are falling down your back like a water fall.

Put your bow gently on the a string.
Close your eyes.
Tell your fingers to relax.
Tell your wrist to relax.
and slowly but CONSCIOUSLY relax every muscle in your body WHILE holding the violin in absolutely correct posture and positioning.


Take a deep breath in...and as you exhale, play a nice long even downbow (open string no fingers) until you run out of breath to exhale.


Think of it like you are letting out the air from a balloon as slowly as possible and your bow is going the same pace as your breath.

now try again and start at the frog going down and up in one exhale. EVEN sound...keep your elbow at the same height and your wrist as flat as you can letting your fingers initiate the bow change.

PS. Even the slightest change in temperature will effect your instrument. Wood is a soft substance. It can warp easily. The sound of your instrument can be effected if the varnish is damaged, if there is a crack, if the glue on the inside of the instrument melts (it is water soluable) if the purfling is damaged or out of place (the black strips of wood that outline the body of the violin), if the bridge is crooked, if the fingerboard hasn't been planed in a long time, if the soundpost is not in the right place, if the end button is off...if there is metal touching the instrument...etc etc.

i suggest reading up on violin maintainance and proper care for the instrument. Your violin is VERY sensitive. Don't leave it in the car, don't leave it by a door/window, don't leave it by a heater, don't leave it anywhere that you think might have a change of temperature. And wash your hands before you practise.

okay that's enough for this evening.

good night everyone. I'm actually going out to club Hyde in hollywood this evening. Should be interesting.
cheers,
Eliza

[Jody LeCompte]

you can't learn the violin properly just watching a DVD. You have to have a teacher.

Becuase no one has ever just gotten good at violin from practice.

[zhyla]

Becuase no one has ever just gotten good at violin from practice.

Exactly. Except for that first guy who someone learned it by himself, then taught everyone else.

[here comes the bird flu]

Becuase no one has ever just gotten good at violin from practice.

but the don't play correctly and they probably have carpal tunnel syndrome.

[SugarCoatedSour]

Yes fear the syntax error in selfteaching. Technically it's not self teaching as you would have to have preconcieved knowledge which is literate and theoretical. It is self-discovery though, and I see most people playing with theory in mind and minimal employment of their "style", I get really bored with classical posturing...but it seems like most people love it up the bum.

[Mrs Iai]

Yes you can learn by yourself, but you wont get too far. Just having lessons here and there will improve your technique leaps and bounds.

It's a very unnatural position to put your body in, so lessons help with that. As for posture, you have to be careful or you'll end up with collapsed tendons and stuff like I have :-( It well hurts.

Graphite bows feel a bit funny to me, but I think thats cus I'm too lazy to get used to new stuff haha. They are pretty indestructable though - get one and you shouldn't break it with ease. Remember - it isn't a lightsabre!

As for bow tightness - run your little finger between the hair and wood, and when it is tight enough you will be able to just about feel then both at the same time at the bottom of the curve. That was a really hard sentence, sorry lol.

If you get stuck with anything, just send me a PM/email and I'll get right back to you. I've been teaching for a few years now, pupils of all ages, so I should hopefully be able to help!

Oh, and Team Strings by Duckett and someone or other is the best violin tutor book I have seen yet.

Exactly. Except for that first guy who someone learned it by himself, then taught everyone else.

Except for that the violin evolved and the person who invented it would have had previous playing knowledge of a very similar and incredibly old instrument, which would have been taught to him. Lol.

[Jody LeCompte]

Except for that the violin evolved and the person who invented it would have had previous playing knowledge of a very similar and incredibly old instrument, which would have been taught to him. Lol.

And somewhere along the line someone made something from scratch and used those amazing things that line your face to figure it out.

The idea of not being able to learn an instrument without lessons has got to be the stupidest crock of **** I've ever heard.

[Mrs Iai]

Let me know when you get good at the violin then. I was polite, so why can't you be?

The first violin type instruments were so very simple that in fact they bear very little resemblence to modern violins. It's not really as simple are you are trying to make it sound.

Anyone can learn to play some notes on a musical instrument, but you have to apply good technique to actually be able to play music on that instrument.

xxx

[Jody LeCompte]

I just fail to see how you could honestly think that EVERY single talented, successful, violinist had to have taken lessons

What makes violin so much different than the upright bass or cello in my practice space? They both can be bowed, they're both fretless. I'm really suposed to believe that I can't just figure out good technique? I can't just observe? I have to have someone come and position my hands for me?

[here comes the bird flu]

I just fail to see how you could honestly think that EVERY single talented, successful, violinist had to have taken lessons

What makes violin so much different than the upright bass or cello in my practice space? They both can be bowed, they're both fretless. I'm really suposed to believe that I can't just figure out good technique? I can't just observe? I have to have someone come and position my hands for me?

If you want to be classically trained, yes.

[TBrown87]

suzuki method

Suzuki method is pretty good unless you really want to learn how to sight read music. I did suzuki for my first 5 years and later I realized I couldn't sight read music at all. It took me another couple of years to get good at that.

[Jody LeCompte]

If you want to be classically trained, yes.
I don't recall the style of playing threadstarter wanted to play ever coming up.

The general thought of the thread is you cannot get good at violin without lessons, and if you do, it's just a fluke along the way to injuring yourself.