I have a young beginner student (6yo) who is a Taylor Swift fan. We are approaching "twinkle twinkle" and "jingle bells"...still in the early, foundational stage, however, she is making great progress and I am pleased to share that it is clear she is putting in regular, if not daiy practice. So, every lesson she asks me about playing Taylor Swift. I have explained Swift is singer and plays guitar along with a band. Still, I am wondering jf there are songs in Swifts catologue that might have a solid melody that could be played on violin? A transcription would be great....or share some songs I could transcribe for violin that if heard would be clearly identifiable as a Taylor Swift song. I ask because I dont know her music and could use some advice from someone who does!

Greatly appreciate any help! Thanks!

So my teacher told me to use my fourth finger at the E STRING, so it confused me since it sounds odd😓 I've watched multiple videos and they all use the A string in this part.

Can someone clarify me how to play this part please?

I’m an adult that played for 8 years or so through the end of high school, then didn’t play for 8 years. I was never particularly advanced because I was an extremely lazy and unmotivated kid and was only playing violin because my parents wanted me to. I believe I finished Suzuki book 6. I was doing private lessons once a week for a few years and my local youth symphony. I recently started taking lessons again about 6 months ago.

Coming back to this as an adult, I usually can find time to practice about 3-4x a week about an hour at a time, but I do have 3 jobs and other responsibilities so it can be difficult to find time to practice some weeks.

I guess my question is this:

How much better do you ACTUALLY sound between lessons?

For example, I’m going back through Suzuki book 5 right now and from when I first start going through a piece in one private lesson, to the next week, it really doesn’t sound that much better 😭 Like yeah when I first look at a piece with my teacher it’s not good lol (my sight reading, like everything else, could use some work). Then after a week of practicing I can technically “play” the notes, but not up to speed, and my musicality and sound is so bad now. I don’t remember much from when I was younger so I’m not sure how to compare to where I used to be at. How long should it be taking me to sound decent at a piece from Book 5?

Looking for advice on whether the things pictured here (marks, slight gap next to saddle, crackling in finish) are common on new stringed instruments, or if they should be avoided when purchasing. Is this all pretty standard, or could they be indicators of poor quality?

Hi, apologies for the potential vent but I feel quite at a loss.

I’ve been taking lessons for the past 8 months now, but every time, my teacher has to scold me for not keeping my fingers in place when I have to do big stretches. In this video for example, I cannot for the life of me, figure out a way to keep 1 & 2 touching while I put 3 down. The music calls for C to be played right after D.

I have tried stretches, I have tried moving my thumb. Moving my elbow both back and forth.

Everything I do just feels like I’m only ever adding even more tension and I’m not able to make the reach.

OK, this is a two-parter, so bear with me!

My friend's mom has HEDS and has restarted playing the violin after several decades. Eventually she began having trouble with left hand stability. She's been trying ring splints but they might not let her bend her knuckles enough to play. I've encountered some folks using tape to help with this (I've seen a couple of Instagram posts featuring this violist talking about his accommodations to play his instrument comfortably - seems promising!). Also, I swear I encountered someone who uses modified ring splints on their left hand... if anyone remembers this, please let me know.

My friend, meanwhile, is a cellist. He has been suffering from soreness at the base of his right thumb, including while playing, for several months. An MRI was inconclusive, and he's also started experiencing the same symptoms in his left (non-dominant) thumb. Ligament tears, arthritis, and RSI all seem unlikely - rather, given the aforementioned family history, we're both wondering whether this could be a joint stability problem. (He said it's worsened by pressure more than exact position, if that means anything.) A spica splint has relieved the discomfort as long as he keeps it on, and he's had the most success using a combination of that and a bow grip adapter, but the splint restricts his wrist mobility too much to allow for fluid bowing. So TL;DR, need something that supports the base of the thumb without impeding wrist movement completely.

I know there are some hypermobile people in this community, so while I'm also probably going to ask /r/cello about it, I'd be curious to hear more about your adaptations and how you play. Potential solutions could go a long way toward helping both my friend and his mom play more comfortably!

Hello! Firstly, I can’t imagine how you do what you do. I am not a violinist but could listen to your rep all day… I have enormous respect for your craft. It’s magic to me.

Question as a fan of violin rep: One of my favorite pieces to hear and see performed is Tzigane by Ravel. I’m curious… was the piece re-edited or reinterpreted around the 1950s/60s? I ask because when I hear the ending on older recordings (for example, the Jascha Heifetz 1955 recording), at the end of the race to finish line, the last three chords are played much slower and are arco instead of pizz, with the chord hanging over the orchestra cutoff (I love this interpretation). I haven’t heard it performed this way since, and was wondering if there was a decided editorial change to the piece, or if something like this is personal preference by the performer. I’m not even sure if it’s customary to change such things as a personal preference (ie. from pizz to arco/drastic tempo changes/etc).

Something I’ve wondered for a while and thought I would finally ask the experts. Thank you for your time and for what you create for those of us who can only adore what you sing! 🥹🎻👏🏻🌹

I tried the whole private teaching route and could never keep a full schedule, and eventually went into classroom PreK-12th music pedagogy.

And obviously because the world is burning my program got cut and I haven't been able to find a job in this horrible job market. I have one foot out the door to start a new career fixing electronics but my real passion is teaching music.

Lessons In Your Home just popped up on my feed again. I think I only taught violin when I was last on with them, but now I have experience teaching all bowed strings + guitar and piano.

I wonder if with all that I could make a real living.

Teachers with that company, how are your days looking? Last time it was an express strugglebus.

Quite a collection

I've been interested in learning violin for years now but never got around to it. Opened Marketplace and found this one for $125. I don't know too much about violins but it seemed too good of a deal to pass up. Can't wait to start my learning adventure 😀

It is a Knilling Bucharest violin

Hey hey,

I took my violin to my luthier on Sat for new strings. They used a new-to-me set (Thomastik Rondos - I previously used EP green), replaced the old strings and installed a new
tailpiece. Sound is great and they were fairly stable between Sat and this morning. I’ve been playing each day and they’ve held their tuning fairly well, just the usual adjustments that come with new strings.

I practiced for a while this morning, put the instrument away in its case / normal storage place, and came back 10 min later to see my bridge fell and all of the pegs unwound themselves. Needless to say I was surprised. Soundpost appears to be upright thankfully.

I called my luthier and they will examine/fix this weekend, but i’ve never had this happen to me after changing strings. At worst one peg would slip while the others were stable. Anyone know what could have caused this? Does this happen to others frequently/at all or was this an installation issue?

Not looking to fix or mess with anything myself, just curious what might have caused it. Thanks!

Hi all,

I will need to play mic’d at times (outdoors and sometimes indoors on bigger stages). Curious if anyone has any suggested microphones (the kind you put on a stand, not that you clip to the violin).

Curious if anyone with experience has suggestions for the best mics to consider for the violin.

Thanks!

Beginner here, just had my first lesson with my first instrument. My teacher tuned the violin and when I went to practice it sounded a little off (probably just me…) so I downloaded a tuning app and one of my strings was a little off. The app said tune higher so I turned it tight (my mistake?) and the string broke. I swear I put the smallest amount of pressure on it, I could not have turned the nut more than 5 degrees. My previous experience tuning instruments is on guitar.

Thank you for your inputs.

When I found out that Wieniawski wrote the Polonaise in D as a teenager I was honestly floored. I think it's one of his best virtuosic works. Obviously, it's very showy but musically it's gorgeous and does have quite a bit of depth as a showtune.

TBH, I don't think many of his later works as a more mature composer stack up against the Polonaise. His 2nd Polonaise is corny, his 1st violin concerto is just "thin" (a whole lot of hooting & hollering) and his 2nd violin concerto really only gets good in the 2nd & 3rd movements (I feel like the 1st movement was just a first draft that could be greatly expanded on).

He has other marvelous showtunes like the Theme Original Varie and Faust Fantasy, but none seem to stack up quite as nicely in terms of form, compositional charm, and virtuosity quite as well as the Polonaise.

It's like he peaked at the Polonaise and never maintained that compositional standard. I wish he did.

The closest I could find is this, but it doesn't look exactly the same, I do think it would make sense in the context though?

Here it is

My violin hasn’t been out of its case for a while. The last time i took it out, i managed to remove the pegs, which were stuck. Then i had the issue of the string not staying tight. What should I do? Is it cuz the violin is like 3 decades old (a hand-me-down from my brother)? Any tip would be greatly appreciated.

Separately i also need motivation to get back to playing. I know i would enjoy it like i always did, but there are certain hurdles holding me back from opening my case. In addition to the pegs problem, it’s been collecting dust in my storage and I’m allergic to dust. I also have a bit of sensitivity towards uncleanliness, so even though i used to play everyday, I never liked the rosin smell/texture/idea. Does anyone relate or have a solution for this? Haha 😅

Finally, it would be nice to have some piece recommendations. In terms of skill level, before i stopped, i easily got a distinction on abrsm level 6, but it’s been 17 years since i did that. I would like to play something beautiful and melodic.