How to Play the Violin

Learning how to play the violin gives one a sense of class, status, and feeling of accomplishment. An instrument that has been around for hundreds of years isn't something that can be learned so easily. We will start with the basics: How to Hold a Violin Properly.

1. Attach a shoulder rest to the bottom of the violin. These will probably purchased separately from the violin as you can play a violin without one, but it is highly recommended that you attach one to the backside of your violin.

2. Cradle the left side of the bottom of the violin (where the leaf is) between your neck and your chin. The violin should be at an angle (to the left) to your body. If the violin is blocking your field of vision, then move it to the left.

3. The violin should fit comfortably between your neck and chin. You should be able to cradle the violin and have it stay in the air without having to use your hands to hold it up.

4. Stretch out your left arm, far enough that you can wrap your palm around the base of the head. This is where the wooden part of the head ends and the black "neck" of the violin with the 4 strings are. You will play most all of your music from this area.

5. Pick up your bow.

6. There should be a dot on the bottom of the bow. Place your thumb on that dot and wrap the rest of your fingers around the other end of the bow. You should be grabbing the bow a bit like a handle, except for the fact that since your thumb is on the dot, you should have an area of space between your palm and the bow (i.e. you aren't just making a fist on the bow).

7. There should be an area on the violin where the black neck ends right before the bridge (the wooden object holding the strings up in the air. Place your bow hairs on the strings in this area.

8. When you play the violin, You will simultaneously place your left hand's fingers on a combination of strings as your right hand swings back and forth to create the sound.

9. When you swing your bow, make sure that the bow is always aligned in a straight line within the area of play on the strings (between the bridge and neck). This means that when your right arm is outstretched, it should be straight, but your body should not move. Also make sure the bow hairs are fully on the strings and not sideways. This will maximize your sound potential.

Your back should always be straight, and most people prefer learning how to play the violin while standing up, although sitting down won't make a difference as long as you still produce the correct movements. Playing the violin is about long, flowing, fluid movements. If you are trying to play it and u feel like you are jerking, cramping, or tight, then reevaluate how you are playing the music. Long fluid movements produce less breaks in your sound, and the music will sound much more relaxing.

There are 3 things that define a good violin player: Rhythm, Intonation, and Feel. If any of these 3 conditions are lacking, your play on the violin will suffer considerably.

Rhythm

This is the first condition that is a must. If you can't follow beat, then how can you produce music? This is what separates noise from music. Rhythm must be something that a person develops or has an intuition or innate sense about. This is the most important condition of the 3, and it can be practiced without a violin. Anytime you listen to a song on television or the radio, try to clap to the beat. Make sure you are as accurate and on beat as possible.

Intonation

Intonation means how accurately you play each note. A violin is not like a piano; there are an infinite number of possibilities of places to put your fingers on a string to create a note, whereas a on a piano all of the keys are set with a predefined note. This is why violin is comparatively harder in this aspect: with even a millimeter's shift of a finger, a note can change completely.

Feel

Unlike the first two conditions, feel is something to be decided by the player. If the song being played is one of romance and sadness, the player should elongate the notes being played a little more and produce smoother transitions into the next note. If the song being played one of childlike playful happiness, the notes should be much more abbreviated and sharper. Make the break between each note choppy, so that the notes are much simpler (hence childlike). The song may be relaxing, the song may be scary. As a violin player, your job is to create music to fit the composer's ideas of what the song is supposed to sound like.

The whole basis behind music is to make us as humans feel a certain emotion. We have a wide range of emotions we feel, meaning it is the job of the instrumentalist to mimic or produce something that will touch our hearts. That is why the accuracy of playing violin is so necessary. The violin is an extremely free instrument. The sounds are made by a whole array of movements, not just one (such as touching a key). The sound of the note will depend on your fingers touching the string, how you move the bow across the strings, and how your whole body moves as you play the note. This is why an accurate technique will only help you later on as you try to develop as a musician. You will not be able to play amazing music overnight; it is an art and a science that starts from a good solid foundation. This is why accuracy in the beginning is so important. Once you have practiced slowly and accurately all that you need technique wise, it will become a second nature to your mind, and muscle memory will take care of the rest. You can concentrate on putting your whole heart and soul into producing emotional violin music!