Violinists: I need advice!

[BeHereNow]

I played a violin for the first time a couple months ago and fell in love. So I bought an el cheapo $50 violin on eBay and, well, let's just say it's a $50 violin.

After a few weeks of intermittent practice, I have just a couple things that are really bogging me down.


1. How do you know which note you are hitting? I'm used to a bass where you have clearly indicated frets, but with violin it's so very strange - the notes are extremely close together. So is there a way to keep track of where you are, or does that come only from experience?

2. How often should I be applying this block of amber to my bow? I don't know what it's called, but it's the little thing that you rub on the strings to create friction. As it is now, I'm having to reapply this stuff every time I play or else I get no sound, and it just seems like I'm putting too much on it. Can you over-apply this stuff, and is it bad for the bow?

Other than these minor issues, I'm loving the violin. I'm amazed at how you can just play one note and it sounds so nice.

Thanks in advance for the help!

:violin:

[Stephen]

I don't play violin, but my brother did and I think I can answer a few questions.



1. How do you know which note you are hitting? I'm used to a bass where you have clearly indicated frets, but with violin it's so very strange - the notes are extremely close together. So is there a way to keep track of where you are, or does that come only from experience?

I'd say its only a matter of a trained ear. People with perfect pitch would, of course, be able to play violin perfectly, but for everyone else, it just takes listening enough to be able to determine if you are playing too flat or too sharp.


2. How often should I be applying this block of amber to my bow? I don't know what it's called, but it's the little thing that you rub on the strings to create friction. As it is now, I'm having to reapply this stuff every time I play or else I get no sound, and it just seems like I'm putting too much on it. Can you over-apply this stuff, and is it bad for the bow?

The rasen, or however you spell it? I'm pretty sure my brother applied it nearly every time he played, but I'm not sure.

[Rubia Warren]

Today @ 11:03 PM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=254198#post254198)
BeHereNow:

I played a violin for the first time a couple months ago and fell in love. So I bought an el cheapo $50 violin on eBay and, well, let's just say it's a $50 violin.

After a few weeks of intermittent practice, I have just a couple things that are really bogging me down.


1. How do you know which note you are hitting? I'm used to a bass where you have clearly indicated frets, but with violin it's so very strange - the notes are extremely close together. So is there a way to keep track of where you are, or does that come only from experience?

My dad said violins, if you are used to guitars, are tuned upside down and backwards from a guitar (the notes on the fretboard-thingie.) He said you're gonna have to get used to it, your ear has to be really good, and you just have to practice a lot on a fretless instrument.


2. How often should I be applying this block of amber to my bow? I don't know what it's called, but it's the little thing that you rub on the strings to create friction. As it is now, I'm having to reapply this stuff every time I play or else I get no sound, and it just seems like I'm putting too much on it. Can you over-apply this stuff, and is it bad for the bow?

ROSIN... and u apply it every time you play. It is not bad if you do it once a day whenever you play. It makes the strings vibrate.... that's why you get no sound without it.

Other than these minor issues, I'm loving the violin. I'm amazed at how you can just play one note and it sounds so nice.

Thanks in advance for the help!

:violin: [/QUOTE]
Good luck.
:thumb:

[Stephen]

violin is a cool instrument, but when my brother played for 2 and a half years and I still couldn't bear to listen to him, my taste for it was destroyed :eww:

Not to discourage you. If you've played another string instrument, it'll probably come more naturally.

[Wesley's son]

Today @ 12:03 AM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=254198#post254198)
BeHereNow:

I played a violin for the first time a couple months ago and fell in love. So I bought an el cheapo $50 violin on eBay and, well, let's just say it's a $50 violin.

After a few weeks of intermittent practice, I have just a couple things that are really bogging me down.


1. How do you know which note you are hitting? I'm used to a bass where you have clearly indicated frets, but with violin it's so very strange - the notes are extremely close together. So is there a way to keep track of where you are, or does that come only from experience?

2. How often should I be applying this block of amber to my bow? I don't know what it's called, but it's the little thing that you rub on the strings to create friction. As it is now, I'm having to reapply this stuff every time I play or else I get no sound, and it just seems like I'm putting too much on it. Can you over-apply this stuff, and is it bad for the bow?

Other than these minor issues, I'm loving the violin. I'm amazed at how you can just play one note and it sounds so nice.

Thanks in advance for the help!

:violin:

TWeb's resident cellist (that's a person who plays the cello, or violoncello for the ultra technical) to the rescue.

1. Get some colored adhesive tape with as thin width as possible. Use it to mark your first finger position on each string by taping across the fingerboard (under the strings) when you have found it after tuning. That way you have a visual reference during a piece. You could even mark first and third finger position with different colors.

2. There is no such thing as too much rosin on the bow itself, especially if the bow is new. After playing just wipe down the fingerboard and the face of the violin with a cotton cloth and you are golden. About every two weeks wipe down the strings at the bowing points if there is an overabundance of white rosin powder on them.

[Elf-Child]

Hey, guys, as long as we're talking about violins, can anyone give me any pointers on how to keep the bow from bouncing on the strings when I draw it? I'm thinking I'm not holding my arm or hand in the right position.