Learn How To Play The Violin
Violin is one of the most pleasing and lovely instruments to play. If you are attracted to the sound of the violin, then you may consider learning how to play this classical music instrument. The road to learning violin is long, but with commitment, focus and enthusiasm, you can ace it. If you practice daily and work hard and you have good ear for sound, within two years you can become a good violinist. To learn how to play the violin, you can either join a music academy and follow the correct and relatively easy route to learning violin or learn it on your own to save some money. However, before you start learning, you need a good instrument; for example, like Cremona violin.
Purchasing a Violin
The main characteristics you must look for in a violin are:
- It is structurally built with high-quality material
- Even tones on all 4 strings
- The neck and instrument size must suit youÂ
Professional violins are the best these days but are quite expensive. It’s good to go for low price equipment, but don’t compromise too much on the quality and buy a decent instrument. Unless you are buying just the violin, the standard violin outfit consists of a violin with four strings, bow, and a carrying case. It may also include a shoulder rest to avoid clenching your neck or lifting your shoulder and a rosin for the bow. Violin strings come in three varieties; gut, steel and synthetic. Each type represents the core material, around which the metal wire is wrapped to create a string. Buy your violin from a trusted company only.
Learning Basics
After you have bought a good instrument for yourself, you need to get familiarized with it. There are thousands of free and paid online classes as well as tutorials, books and videos that can assist you in learning the basics. I will give you just a small overview to get started.
- Know Your Instrument
Learn all the parts of your instrument by heart. The pegs are used to tune the string on the right notes. You can also use a shoulder rest for comfortably putting the violin on the shoulder. The chin rest is for the chin. Shoulder rest has to be adjusted as per your ease. Avoid positioning the violin in the downward direction. The bow is made of horse hair. The screw on the bow adjusts the position of the string with respect to the hair.
- Tuning the instrument
You can tune the instrument with the help of a tuning device. Search the right notes for the strings G, D, A, E, and put them in order – from lowest tone to highest. Start with the A string, pluck it, and then listen to the sound. Then listen to the tone A of tuning device. If they are not the same, you have to tune your string with the help of pegs. If the difference between the two sounds is not much, you can use fine tuners for tuning. Same goes for all the other strings. You have to tune your violin every time you play.
Holding The Bow
The above image shows the proper way to hold the bow. Hold it loose, and don’t let your hand rest on the bow for better control.
Playing The Instrument
Place the bow halfway between the bridge and fingerboard. Keep the bow parallel to the bridge, but slightly inclined toward it. Apply a little pressure to produce sound. More pressure means louder sound. Don’t play too close to the bridge for good results.
Start by playing with open strings. This means you will not put fingertips on the strings. Try short and half strokes. Practice till you can play one string without touching the others.
After you have played with open strings. Practice more by placing your strongest finger (pointer) on the highest string E to produce the higher note. When you have produced a clear note, put your middle finger ahead of the pointer to produce another note and after that proceed with the ring finger and pinky finger. Try 4 notes on each string by placing 4 fingers and pay attention to the pressure you need to apply for a clear note.
After you have learned the basics, you can practice and refine your skills. If you have any further queries regarding how to play the violin, you can always join violinist groups and forums for help.