question for violin players

BenPezzner · Post by **BenPezzner** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 8:28 pm

I just purchased a violin and am teaching myself how to play it. Can anyone tell me how to do vibrato? Is it all in the wrist? If the whole violin is shaking does that mean I'm doing it wrong?

Swe dmbfan · Post by **Swe dmbfan** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 8:53 pm

BenPezzner wrote:I just purchased a violin and am teaching myself how to play it. Can anyone tell me how to do vibrato? Is it all in the wrist? If the whole violin is shaking does that mean I'm doing it wrong?

sorry!

Lord Of The Flies · Post by **Lord Of The Flies** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 8:58 pm

If it's shaking pretty badly, then that's bad, yes. The motion is mostly in your wrist, however, it's also in your first knuckle joint, if that makes any sense. You need to make sure your fingers are positioned in a way so that the tips are pointing almost downwards (towards your face) and they're curved up very high so that you have room to maneuver. However, if that's difficult for you (I can't do that method with my first and second fingers, but it's fine for my third and fourth fingers), then rely on your wrist. The kind of motion you're looking for would be similar to what you'd use to shake a salt shaker up and down. Try practicing with one of those.

If you need any more help with violin, I've got 12 years of experience to pass on and I'd be more than happy to.

By the way, if you just started, you shouldn't be worrying about vibrato too much anyways. I didn't start using vibrato until I was around 7 or 8, four years after I started.

BenPezzner · Post by **BenPezzner** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 9:09 pm

Wow... that was extremely helpful. Thanks! I've actually been playing the cello for ten years, so even though I've never touched a violin until it came in the mail 2 days ago, I've nailed the basics pretty well and would like to learn vibrato as quickly as possible.

Thanks again,
Ben

Edit: where do you put your thumb?

Edit 2: I threw together a recording for the heck of it. It's the LIOG jam with two tracks (guitar and violin). My guitar is missing the high E string and the violin is a bit sketchy in some parts but that's only because this is my third day playing it. Alright, tell me what you think:
http://iacs5.ucsd.edu/~abreskin/LIOGJam1.mp3

Lord Of The Flies · Post by **Lord Of The Flies** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 9:51 pm

Your thumb should be almost directly across from the point between your index and middle fingers while in first position. If you position your fingers for the notes A, B, and C on the G string, your thumb should be close to your middle finger, but not exactly across from it. Vibrato for cello and violin is a bit different, so try the salt shaker technique of you get confused.

BenPezzner · Post by **BenPezzner** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 10:01 pm

Thanks for your help. One last thing though... is the thumb supposed to remain underneath the fingerboard or can it creep up the side?

ben

ps - check out my recording I appended to two posts up

i-am-me · Post by **i-am-me** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 10:16 pm

listening right now. it sounds good. some notes sound off, but that's fine. towards the end again, the violin gets a little....yea. haha. just being honest ben.

as for the guitar, you need to loosen up on the strumming. and change it up a bit. sometimes go hard, sometimes just hit the chord, and wait for the next one. but mainly, relax your arm, let it flow.

Lord Of The Flies · Post by **Lord Of The Flies** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 10:24 pm

You'll want to have your thumb over the side. Ideally, it should be pretty high up to aid you in vibrato, because it'll help stablize the rest of your hand so that only the finger you want vibrates.

dmb_tatertot · Post by **dmb_tatertot** » Mon Sep 13, 2004 12:39 am

in response to your musical post,

the guitar was a little iffy at times. lol

as for the violin, it wasnt bad at all for being a beginner.

Lord Of The Flies · Post by **Lord Of The Flies** » Mon Sep 13, 2004 2:02 am

This is a bit off-topic, but would you guys want to hear recordings of me playing violin? It's mainly classical music.

Carl_SWE · Post by **Carl_SWE** » Mon Sep 13, 2004 3:03 am

Lord Of The Flies wrote:This is a bit off-topic, but would you guys want to hear recordings of me playing violin? It's mainly classical music.

Mmm yes! Do you know Vivaldi's four seasons? Maybe you could to the spring thingie? That's some great music.

Not sure if the original piece had a violin but I'm fairly sure.

BenPezzner · Post by **BenPezzner** » Mon Sep 13, 2004 11:50 am

Lord Of The Flies wrote:This is a bit off-topic, but would you guys want to hear recordings of me playing violin? It's mainly classical music.

Sure... and since we're on the topic of Vivaldi, it would be awesome if you could do Summer.

Lord Of The Flies · Post by **Lord Of The Flies** » Mon Sep 13, 2004 5:12 pm

I have the music for the entire Seasons suite somewhere, but I've only played it a couple times. If I find it, I'll be sure to practice it a bit and record it.

88Fingers · Post by **88Fingers** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 7:22 am

Lord Of The Flies wrote:This is a bit off-topic, but would you guys want to hear recordings of me playing violin? It's mainly classical music.

Know any Rachmoninoff?

Lord Of The Flies · Post by **Lord Of The Flies** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 2:49 am

A little bit. Have any particulars? I'll look for that music too.

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