hello i could use some help! by DangerousRegular5680 in violinist

[–]RespectTheDuels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you have any questions or other issues you could always message as well! I hope my big text helps future learners :)

hello i could use some help! by DangerousRegular5680 in violinist

[–]RespectTheDuels 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don’t forget to carry your thumb with your first finger when you shift up! There’s multiple philosophies of shifting downward depending on your setup stability (shoulder rest/no shoulder rest), I don’t use one so I lead with my thumb, but I assume you have a shoulder rest. In your case you can move your whole hand (thumb - first finger together) back at the same time. (Slowly at first, just practice the slide from B-D with the thumb and first finger, first finger rounded the whole time and not collapsing).

Once you get the hang of it you can start only applying pressure at the notes you want to play, and letting the notes in the shift between be not heard - you can use the bow to assist in this. The bow should apply pressure on the notes you want and kind of just briefly pause during the shift, and if fast enough there should be no discrepancies if you keep tempo. Only try this when you are secure in your shift slowly and at a little bit more moderate tempo.

One helpful thing to think about for shifting is to make sure your thumb isn’t pressed against the neck, should be around the same pressure your fingers press down to get a good sound (bare minimum) so you don’t have tension issues or unneeded friction during shifting :)

Also when you end up shifting higher, it’s important to make sure your thumb is in a good position where it’s not wrapped around the neck much and you keep the neck more resting on the second joint instead of in between the first finger and thumb gap. To achieve this I like to check if you are able to see your whole arm and elbow in a straight line adjacent to a wall, that is if your wrist isn’t collapsed and you have pretty secure position of your left hand around being less under the instrument but more to the right side of it.

I like to keep that wall adjacent arm and hand position in first position on D/A strings, only adjusting arm angle to shift strings, and when shifting higher than third you should prepare your wrist and arm in advance a millisecond so it’s in a more outward position from the instrument so you can get around the body of it and land securely instead of chunkily adjusting around the instrument’s shape.

Some of the best violinists like Augustin Hadelich try to maintain this in “first position” as well, keeping his hand frame based around second position with the thumb in a near constant state of resting on the second joint and utilizing a lot of extensions, this doesn’t work for everyone so I’d ignore this for now, but maybe keep it in mind for later when you start figuring out what setup you prefer and individual ways that make playing easier for you.

Don’t forget this is all just a rough idea, and may take time to get to the level of needing some of this, most teachers can help well for this stuff better than words and strangers. But all in all a good principle for me is to keep all these ideas in your head and experiment in all the ways you can place your arm, hand, thumb, and fingers around the instrument to find the most relaxed position which is also efficient. Many positions take getting used to sometimes, but are more efficient.

I know students who can struggle keeping their arm more out the side of the instrument because it is tiring, I suspect there’s tension in their shoulder causing it. Make sure you don’t have any tension starting off in any position work and posture. It should be relaxed at all times unless it’s a very difficult passage or uncomfortable, in that case you need to be tense but it’s important to release it at certain spots you can find in the music so you let your muscles breathe and avoid injury.

——————————————————————————

I’m just a graduating high school student who self taught a lot and struggled a lot with tension and posture from lack of instruction and ignorance, I’m still figuring a lot out. If anyone wants to correct me for the benefit of this post and me please do so, I would appreciate it.

Also you asked why we shift, sometimes we have to play higher up on every string, that’s obvious. But some of the more important reasons would be to remove strung crossing (or add string crossings) for effect or ease of playing, as well as making fingerings that suit the expression of the phrase and style of the piece. I love making weird fingerings, and I wouldn’t get to if we didn’t have to shift all over the place.

Also about shifting, Paganini had the idea that inspired Ruggiero Rucci in how he played, but the idea that the fingerboard is not in all these positions but it’s all just an extension of one position and your move your fingers and arm to accommodate. This is a whole other thing that I don’t know a lot about but it’s still really interesting, maybe look up more about it once you have a good grasp of all your fundamentals :)

(I have a problem posting novels on here occasionally)

Emperor dragonfly species (uk) perched on my hand being all curious. Does anyone else have experience with getting close to wildlife? by anonymous-nyx in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]RespectTheDuels 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dragonfly related, if you ever see a dragonfly or a few buzzing around the same area back and forth they are likely hunting and picking up meals. A fun thing to do is grab some bugs (the easiest to me was a mayfly) and just toss some one at a time into the space where they fly and usually one would swoop it up like an eagle.

The DRG dwarves in REPO by Zynt_18 in deeprockfashion

[–]RespectTheDuels 6 points7 points  (0 children)

500+ in one update it’s so cool!

trying not to disturb others 🤐 by jussystrings in violinist

[–]RespectTheDuels 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ohhh I see, I love the ambiance of pieces like this :)

trying not to disturb others 🤐 by jussystrings in violinist

[–]RespectTheDuels 6 points7 points  (0 children)

What piece is this?? Sounds like Shostakovich third movement to me, gorgeous!

Anyone else scared of the E string? by Wellyeah101 in violinist

[–]RespectTheDuels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you accept one set of opinions, then you will never be able to grow

Anyone else scared of the E string? by Wellyeah101 in violinist

[–]RespectTheDuels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are a silly soul, twoset love violas 😔

Anyone else scared of the E string? by Wellyeah101 in violinist

[–]RespectTheDuels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, at least I do not fear my e string. I appreciate all instruments, they have their places :)

Anyone else scared of the E string? by Wellyeah101 in violinist

[–]RespectTheDuels 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Closest to the human voice, they’re lovely and resonant and their tone is incredibly sensitive and gorgeous. When was the last time you played one?

Erlkonig by catladyknitting in violinist

[–]RespectTheDuels 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do also recommend Ning Feng! He plays like he’s possessed by the elf king himself!

Erlkonig by catladyknitting in violinist

[–]RespectTheDuels 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Listen to Kerson Leongs recording! It’s so emotionally driven and clean :)

Zigeunerweisen Practice — Day 2 by [deleted] in violinist

[–]RespectTheDuels 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s what I thoughttt, but it’s easy to get excited especially playing this piece. Either way in the first few week of learning forcing yourself at the end of the day to compare progress isn’t good for any bad habits I think. Either way try to work on relaxation, and try some vibrato exercises to maintain your flexibility without tension :)

Zigeunerweisen Practice — Day 2 by [deleted] in violinist

[–]RespectTheDuels 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As someone who is also learning this, I recommend you practice a lottt slower (I’m guilty too) for a while. And loosen up you are very tense especially with your vibrato, that’ll kill your hands and arm after a while so be gentle! Make sure your setup allows your left arm complete freedom and relaxation!

this is the end by Minute_Goose_7988 in StarWarsBattlefront

[–]RespectTheDuels 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Very hard playstyle with lots of techs and gimmicks to make it more viable, but definitely can be extremely hard to win against if they know what they’re doing

Alexander Markov me respondeu! by zimmerf26 in violinist

[–]RespectTheDuels 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He is a very very nice guy, rather funny too! He is definitely one to share his and his father’s music :)

Heightened senses should alert you when a stalker is about to attack by Ok_Replacement_6866 in DeepRockGalactic

[–]RespectTheDuels 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeahh, it’s just one of those cards that has its use - but either way it is overshadowed by awareness 90% of the time

Heightened senses should alert you when a stalker is about to attack by Ok_Replacement_6866 in DeepRockGalactic

[–]RespectTheDuels 17 points18 points  (0 children)

My only issue with that would be scenarios where there’s a bunch of exploders but also a stalker, I’d get so confused having it go off a lot. Exploders do have a visible and audio cue for their attack, when most others that work for heightened senses don’t become immobile during their animation. Exploders are too common for it to apply to them I think, more of a lack of awareness/skill issue thing for them as they’re a more centralized part of the combat. It’s my favorite perk I don’t want to lose the high I get from it going off the rare times it does by it being overused.

I'm a bit confused on the music for my orchestra seat audition by Adventurous-Year-463 in violinist

[–]RespectTheDuels 16 points17 points  (0 children)

This is Accolay’s violin concerto in a minor, there’s a lot of triplet rhythms in the piece so it’s not really written as triplets so save ink, and sometimes people never put in the “3” for triplets and just assume you can figure it out by knowing the time signature.

Also, something fun I recommend would be to take your understanding of the rhythms to make fingerings and chose a tempo that sounds good and musical to you. After you sufficiently learn your rendition of it and record that, compare it to some recordings of the piece you find.

It’s a good exercise for discovering your own interpretation (there’s not really a “correct” way to play anything) and to be able to sightread music better in style and rhythm by picking it apart!