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Violin Blogs

Violinist.com members may keep personal journals on the website. Violinist.com's editor selects the best entries for the column below. Links to all other recent blog posts may be found in the column on the right.

Top Blogs

To Pinch, or Not to Pinch

By Clayton Haslop
November 19, 2009 10:13

I received a couple of interesting notes in my inbox in response to my most recent blog. One, coming from Kenton, down Florida way, was the ‘violin’ entry in an old Webster’s Dictionary. And though the accompanying illustrational was quite odd indeed, the text was right-on in its characterization of the violin hold I thought. It said, ‘…held nearly horizontal with the player’s arm with the lower part supported against the collarbone or shoulder.’ It did not say, ‘held between the chin and shoulder’, as many might believe. In another response Stephen asked ‘whether one pinches the neck between the thumb and base of the index finger horizontally, or whether the thumb should be under the neck so that you can squeeze into the notes and roll the vibrato like a cellist’. Now it is certainly easy to dismiss the former, I’ll have no pinching of violin necks in any coaching or master class of mine. Pinching of violins or violinists is strictly verbotten.... Read more...
4 replies

The Death of Stage Fright

By Mendy Smith
November 18, 2009 21:27

It's amazing how it actually happened. For years I was in the "flight" mode. Internal chatter took the stage front and center... what if I played a wrong note, missed a beat, come in late, and most of all - what will others think of me? My bow arm would shake like a leaf, I made horrible intonation mistakes. All my musical ability (such as it was) flew out the window the moment I stood on stage. Then a turning point came in my life - overcome the flight instinct or lose a scholarship. That day, fight won over flight. At first I thought it was a temporary thing, but the more I played the less fright had a role to play in my music. Fast forward to this evening. It was just a rehearsal, with an audience of two. Last time I rehearsed in front of two people (back in March preparing for the audition), I got the shakes. But not tonight. .. Read more...
2 replies

The Rest of My Life

By Sydney Menees
November 18, 2009 14:13

I’ve reached the final stretch of the first semester of sophomore year in college. Here at Bard, this is a critical time because we are supposed to moderate into our major. When I was stressing about what to major in last year, people I spoke with who didn’t go to Bard didn’t understand why it was such a big deal. “I changed my major seven times!” They would say. Not so here. When one declares a major as a freshman, it is simply an “intended” major. When one moderates, it becomes her official major. Moderating entails writing a paper responding to a prompt pertaining to one’s intended major and presenting it to a board of three professors. Now you understand my dilemma.

When I first came to Bard, I had only ruled out one major: music. This wasn’t because I was jaded or bitter, but simply because I view music as a hobby of mine, not something I want to pursue as a career. Now, just to decide what I wanted to major in… Read more...
10 replies

First Tunes

By Laurie Niles
November 18, 2009 12:14

Does anyone ever forget the first tune he or she learned to play?

Mine is seared in my head and hands, and I continue to teach it to beginners, before Twinkle, unorthodox as it is in its pedagogy (double stops, all down-bow, Shinichi Suzuki would shudder!). My teacher called in the "Irish Jig," but I think it's not a Jig, and it might not even be Irish. It's all open strings and is a duet.

Here are some of the "first songs" listed by V.com members who entered the contest to win Mark O'Connor's new method books. (By the way, the contest is still going, if you want to enter!) "Twinkle" is certainly in the lead! The tune that Mark O'Connor has first in his book is "Boil 'em Cabbage Down," and it looks like at least one person learned that song first, other than Mark!

Twinkle Twinkle (26)
Mary Had a Little Lamb (7)
Lightly Row (3)
Hot Cross Buns (3)
Irish Jig
Dulce Dame Jolie
Jolly Old St. Nicholas
"The Snowman" from the Sam Applebaum series, aka "French Folk Song"
Hoe Down
Tunes from "Tune a Day"
Hobby-Horse by Tchaikovsky
The theme from the movie "Superman"
Tennessee Waltz
The E String Concerto
O Susanna
Merrily We Roll Along
Open String Waltz
Smoke on the Water
Bile em Cabbage Down
Autumn Moods
The Monkey Song

Avoid THIS Playing Pain

By Clayton Haslop
November 18, 2009 09:21

Just returned from a quick weekend jaunt over to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I cavorted in the back-country with a friend. On Sunday we ran through snow showers, arriving well above the 10,000 foot level before making the turn for home. Got a great, old-fashioned ‘Rocky Mountain High’ on THAT one let me tell you. Today, however, I’m sitting at my desk facing the red-rock buttes of Sedona. And I just spent a good hour or so reviewing some wonderful videos on YouTube. Amongst them was one featuring Zukerman in an interview on violin playing and the importance of learning to play properly. The interesting, or perhaps a little confusing thing about this particular video, however, was that Maestro Zukerman begins his remarks by saying how much physical pain he suffers while playing. And it is within this seemingly ironic context of pain that he expresses the need to learn to play ‘correctly’. Now, Zukerman is an extra-ordinary violinist, and my comments here should in no way be taken as a criticism of his playing or musicianship. I also don’t want to give you the impression that I don’t experience any discomfort whatsoever when I play. As Zukerman himself points out, the very positions we take when raising the violin are undeniably unnatural to the human body. Yet there are things we can do to keep the discomfort to a minimum; to where it does not overwhelm or detract from the pleasure of playing the instrument. Read more...
3 replies

VIOLIN TECHNIQUE/VIOLA TECHNIQUE: Left Hand / No Bow

By Drew Lecher
November 17, 2009 22:13

Question: “Dear mr. Lecher I hope you are fine. I have a new question for you...in the library i ran into Gaylord Yost's "Principles of violin playing", where I strongly advocates practicing "percussion" with left hand's finger to acquire more and more strength. I was wandering if it makes sense for you to practice Repetition Hits just with the left hand, hitting the strings enough to clearly hear tone and resonance (which means intonation also), and if this could be a good mean to practice accuracy and strength (which I sometime miss on the double bass) at the same time. Thank you as always for your commitment. Best regards, M. P. Hello M, Yes, that is valid to a large extent, but do not use extraordinary force. Also, do some work with weights for strength and flexibility. Stretches are most important along with strength training. Work every part of your body, not just hands, wrists and arms. You can also use a slow-motion squeeze of the note, concentrating on the shape, form, balance and energy flow into and through the finger. Pay particular attention to any pulling or pushing of the string—an indication of tension and poor balance. The string should go straight toward the fingerboard, allowing for the arch of the board... Read more...
2 replies

Elgar violinconcerto

By Bram Heemskerk
November 17, 2009 15:40

Some years ago I heard the violin concerto of Sir Edward William Elgar (1857-1934) by Hilary Hahn. This year agian by Vineta Sareika from Letland during 1th finalevening of the Elisabethviolincompetition..

Rethinking Genius

By Danielle Gomez
November 17, 2009 13:51

Last week I posed a blog questioning why it is that we classify Bach as a musical genius. The subsequent discussion began to touch on what the word Read more...
5 replies

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Music Giveaway

Mark O'Connor's method books -- released this week -- teach students using many styles of American music. Enter to win a set of the books this week, on Violinist.com. Photo: Deanna Rose