Hi
I'm an amature and hope you get better
Can any other musians here help me?
^_^ I bow to my masters
I can't even do a vibrato well :sweatdrop:
and comment is welcomed
and you can share you experiences with us
if you have a published work
played some solos
and all that
thankie :neko:

Practice slowly, Repeat things until you get it perfect, watch the bow arm, practice your bow arm against the wall by puttin your body against the wall and moving your bow back and forth. PLay in the center and watch where your bow goes. Then youcan look at notes, do third position after you have completely mastered first. Then Master third and don't go too quickly.

try and get a private teacher. my teacher told me to start vibrato, i had to "excercise my finger joints" first. i don't know how to show you on here... but after that, try it on the violin. it's sort of like just moving your finger nail. start out slow. it'll sound like two chromatic notes at first, but that's how it's supposed to be. then slowly try and go faster.

thank you you both a lot.
I'm in a school orchestra and we are playing a very fast piece
I can't read the notes and analyze it fast enough
What should I do?

If I were you, I'd do what I call "practice stops". In other words, if it is sixteenth notes grouped in 4s, then play 4 of the notes at a time then pause for half a second or so then continue with the next 4, pause, etc. This seems to help a lot. :) Also, if it has odd bowing, practice it with practice stops without the bowing/slurring first. Then, start slowly with the bowing/slur marks once you know the notes, gradually working your tempo up by repeating the same hard passage(s) over and over. :)

Also, make sure you're using the proper bow grip! :) Something one of my friends said is that when you use the proper bow grip and bow properly, when you're playing w/ your bow down at the frog, your wrist/hand should form a "mountain" shape. When you're in the middle of the bow, it should be a "plain". And when you're at the tip of the bow, it should form a "valley". :)

As for vibrato, I'd grab a hold of some pieces that are below your level and are really slow. In other words, something like Bach's Air on the G String or Handel's Largo or some of Vivaldi's/Corelli's adagio pieces. These are great songs to work vibrato on. Just slowly start moving your wrist (if you want to learn wrist vibrato, that is) forward and back, rocking gently back and forth. Make sure it doesn't move side-to-side or it'll be doing it wrong. The finger that is held down should pivot back and forth. Do this slowly until you are able to do it un all fingers. The middle finger is usually the easiest to start on. Just relax your hand, make sure that the palm is nice and open (your forearm and wrist should be in a straight line) and do it one finger at a time. It'll develop naturally into a strong vibrato over time. :)

G'luck!

I'm not much help as I'm probably worse than you, hehe - practise using pieces you enjoy, because if you love hearing them it means you keep up your practise for longer and so you get better. Try not to press the strings too hard, as that creates string channels in your fingers, and try not to grip the neck of the violin too hard as it creates really bad pain in your thumb as it's the only thing providing the bulk of the grip. When practising vibrato it helps to balance the scroll of the violin against a wall or a chair or to get someone to hold it, then you don't have to worry about holding it and moving your wrist at the same time which can be hard. My teacher taught me to slide my finger up and down the string, gradually getting faster and reducing the sliding distance, but as people are saying go back and forth and not side to side that might be wrong ^_^ I still haven't mastered a decent vibrato - I got into the bad habit of cheating by pressing and releasing the string very fast to get the sound I wanted, but it doesn't translate beyond the second and third fingers so I don't recommend it (I'm trying to get myself out of the habit).

Also, when changing strings - your elbow should lift up a bit as you go down the strings from E-A-D-G, as this provides the extra reach to keep your fingers clear of the other strings :)

Bowing is really important - it's supposed to be a vertical figure of eight style motion on the sweet spot of the string, but if you bring your arm around too much you end up "bowing round the corner" (at too much of an angle that hits the harsh spot on the strings and it sounds ghastly). Bowing further down towards the bridge requires a greater pressure to create a decent sound and is usually used for loud, crisp notes. Bowing further up onto the fingerboard lowers the volume and a lighter pressure is needed. Hope that helps!

Hi...Well I have been playing the Violin for about 4 years now and a good technic that I used for vibrato is to set up your violin like a cello and set it up on your leg sitting down not on the floor lol......but do vibrato that way and just shake you finger a little at a time till you get used to it and then practice it playing up right and just shake your finger it works for me and now I have really good vibrato...^_^

12 years of violin and i just started liking it. geez.

Ok dude don't rush it just play your songs slow at first working on fingering and bowing style and other stuff and practices scales it seems pointless but trust me your will thank me and about the vibrato don’t stress that to much work on it nice and slow start with your 2nd finger then 3rd 4th and then 1st that’s is all I got for u good luck

i recommend getting a teacher. getting help from here is okay, but not the greatest. it's better to get someone face to face to show you good habits instead of guessing what we're trying to tell you and accidentally pick up bad habits. ask school band teacher or find a private teacher like someone said. I know finding a teacher sucks because you have to pay them and all, but you reap what you sow. if your into it, or even just doing it for fun, get someone who knows how to!

Wow.
You all are really good
Way beyond me
I've playing for 4 years
my first two years I had the worst teacher
She was nice but She like you live in wonderland
She just say keep keep trying and don't point out my mistakes
I'm with a much better teacher now
but as you can see I&#39;m trying to press my education faster because I&#39;m two or more years behind all my friends. <_<
....
Thank you for the advice
I tried the pausing technique and it&#39;s very effective thank you
I&#39;ve also tried many of the vibrato techiniques as well and I can really see improvement already in 2 days.
I&#39;m shocked it&#39;s really amazing.
....
I&#39;m really pissed at my bowing though
I keep trying to practice my vibrato and
1) I get bored and get fustrarated
2) My bowing is not straight at all&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;
i keep bowing literally 45 degrees off&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;
I get bowing the wood and messing up X_X

Yeah, vibrato is boring and frustrating (hence I can&#39;t be arsed with it, hehe) but sometimes you can get motivated by listening to some really nice pieces with vibrato in it - you can see how much it really makes a difference to the quality of a piece. It&#39;s best to practise it at the beginning of your practise time when you&#39;re motivated, and then finish off by playing pieces that you like and enjoy :)

Regarding bowing - is this due to you tilting your bow down too much, so you bow the side of the violin as well as the string? This can be avoided by raising your elbow up more, as it stops you from tilting the bow down too much. Also, do you practise sitting in a chair or standing up? It&#39;s always better to practise while standing as you have a lot more freedom for arm movement - trying to bow and avoid your knees or the chair sides really cramps your style ;)

yeah
I do stand up to play
I gusse I do tilt the bow too much but it&#39;s at the bottom of my mind when I&#39;m playing so I don&#39;t really notice it until I mess up
So yeah =_=

I know it&#39;s difficult - there&#39;s so many other things to consider :) Eventually it will become second nature for you and you&#39;ll feel a great sense of achievement&#33;

So you mean I just keep messing up till I don&#39;t mess up any more?? @_@ confusing

:/
violin really isn&#39;t one of those things you could learn by yourself -- get a teacher if you want to get anywhere at all.

Yeah I&#39;ve got one but do you think that I can improve faster by doing this?
Cause I really want to get good really really fast ^_^

[kammy-yaki] Posted on Nov 30 2004, 01:14 PM

Yeah I&#39;ve got one but do you think that I can improve faster by doing this?
Cause I really want to get good really really fast

That is impossible You can&#39;t get good really really fast. I have tried and failed many times. The world won&#39;t fail... go slow

Originally posted by kammy&#045;yaki@Nov 30 2004, 01:14 PM
Yeah I&#39;ve got one but do you think that I can improve faster by doing this?
Cause I really want to get good really really fast ^_^
practice five and half hours a day?

seems like some kinda standard.

Yeah, like the other members said, try to get a private teacher, trust me you dont want to try learning the violin by yourself... You&#39;ll just gain a lot of bad habits which will be hard to relearn later if you decide to get a teacher.

I&#39;ve been playing violin and getting lessons for 9 yrs now, and its probably the hardest instrument I&#39;ve played. I also play Piano, trumpet, and the drum set, and violins harder then all of them. (for me anyways)

But anyways, general practice tips- Dont play through the piece, practice several measures or a measure at a time. For the faster sections, try playing rythems, like long-short long-short, short-long short-long, long-short-short-short, ect. Do scales and etudes before you practice.

...But get a teacher... :heh:

Yeah
Thanks you guys
You all were a really big help
If there are any other violin advice or anything please continue sharing them here
and Any chatting related to the violin is just as welomed :)
Thanks again

And With The Whole Bowing Thing, Keep An Imaginary Wall In Your Mind Where Your Bow Should Be. Just Play Open Strings With This Technique, And You&#39;ll Get Better&#33; (I Had The Same Problem Too)

another good technique for the bow is to do something called 60 sec bowing what u do is start by the frog and on any open string try to get to the tip in exactly 60 sec. That should help. Also, try to keep your bow straight, don’t curve, keep your violin high with a good posture and remember my other advise on 1st page. But the most important thing is to practice your scales. It seems pointless, but it helps a lot.