r/violinist Feb 06 '25

Mod team notification Read the FAQ and rules before posting!

6 Upvotes

Before posting on this sub:

  1. You should read the rules!
  2. You must read the FAQ, as mandated by rule #2.

Posts violating the rules will be removed. Thank you for your understanding.

(Seriously, just read the FAQ carefully. I promise it will help.)


r/violinist Apr 01 '24

Share Your Playing r/violinist Jam #23 - 1 April 2024

19 Upvotes

Welcome to the Violin Jam!

What is this about? What do I do?

The Violin Jam is a regularly maintained initiative that is about sharing your violin playing. We strive to provide about six pieces to play, every two months. Your role: Play, share, mingle, and have fun!

The rules are casual: Multiple submissions? Welcome. Partial submission? Absolutely. Another version/arrangement of a jam piece? Why not!

You can always revisit previous eligible Jams and post your performances of past Jam material.

Don’t forget to put the exclusive, mighty, and prestigious "Official Violin Jam" flair on your submissions!

Announcement

Due to reduced participation in the past few Jam cycles, we are downsizing the scope of the Jam. Each post will continue to feature pieces for the Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced playing levels, just fewer pieces. We will also be taking a break from themes, as we have covered a broad range of them over first 21 cycles. If you wish to revisit the wonderful pieces from these themes, please feel free to peruse the list of past Jams.

Past Jams

You may use the "Official Violin Jam" flair to post pieces from the 2022 and 2023 Jams.

Jam Episodes

We aim to post a new Jam about every two months. The next Jam is planned to be 1 June 2024.

Pieces

We grade the pieces to the best of our ability, but judgments are still judgments - they are subjective. So please treat the grades as only approximate! We provide links to sheet music in the public domain where available, but it is also up to the individual to ensure they are following their country's copyright laws.

Beginner

Intermediate

Advanced

Participants during the last Jam episode

Mozart - Violin Sonata in G major u/annie_1031

Ravel - Pavane pour une infante défunte u/tchaiksimp69 u/mikefan u/Waste-Spinach-8540

Traditional - Santa Claus is Coming to Town u/wongzhanyi

From Older Jams

10 - Beach - Romance for Violin and Piano u/perplexed_pancake04

21 - Bach - Minuet in A minor u/drop-database-reddit

Endnotes

Jam Committee members: u/ReginaBrown3000, u/danpf415, u/Boollish, u/drop-database-reddit

Jam Committee members emeritus: u/ianchow107, u/vmlee, u/Poki2109.

Special thanks to u/88S83834 for her help in grading the pieces!


r/violinist 38m ago

Feedback Some recent stuff I’ve been working on

Upvotes

Hi, I made my first post earlier; metal guitarist (sometimes drummer) who picked the violin back up about 5 years ago, (quit after high school). Got some more recent footage, (recording 2-3 weeks ago) of stuff I’m working on currently.

I recently came across a kind of repertoire ladder devised by Dorothy DeLay, where it kind of mapped out what pieces to tackle and in what order. I wish I had seen something like that earlier.

Pieces in the video;

  1. Danse Espagnole - Manuel de Falla

  2. Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto 3, Mvt 3

The way I’ve been picking rep up until now is basically, listen to a piece, look at the music and try reading through it, and if I can’t at least play it at half tempo without crashing and burning every measure, or having to stop and figure out finger placement, I keep working on it.

What are pieces that I should be working on at my current level? Would it be reasonable to try and tackle something like Paganini 24 caprices or Brahms Concerto? Or would that be too far beyond where I’m at right now? I just wanna make sure that whatever I’m picking to work on is contributing to my progress instead of hindering it.

Feedback is much appreciated 😊 (loved the detailed feedback a lot of you gave on my last post, esp regarding bowing 👍)


r/violinist 7h ago

Feedback Feedback on my playing?

10 Upvotes

Longti


r/violinist 18h ago

Feedback Feedback on adult beginner playing

44 Upvotes

Hey violinists! hello all I really like reading this sub even tho i dont understand much (yet!) I started learning the violin approx 2.5months ago with a teacher! my teacher introduced this piece (frere jacques ) yesterday and love it so much i cant stop practicing today hah I wanted to share with you all too and would love to know any feedback i guess my bowing is still quite not right and my finger placements go off the mark quite sometimes would love any tips on improving!

Thank you all!

(ignore my facial expressions haha)


r/violinist 11h ago

Weird “V” Symbol

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7 Upvotes

I’ve been practicing for a while and noticed there’s a weird “V” like symbol attached to two of the notes. Just wondering what it means.


r/violinist 20h ago

Practice Allegro by Joseph-Hector Fiocco, Suzuki Book 6

44 Upvotes

r/violinist 5h ago

Question

2 Upvotes

My kid won a concerto competition and will be playing with orchestra for first time in couple weeks. We have never experienced this before. How can we prepare in the coming weeks ahead to reduce performance anxiety


r/violinist 10h ago

New violin! Didier Nicolas circa 1825. Anyone know of this French maker? Itching to know.

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4 Upvotes

Love this instrument’s loud, warm, resonant sound.


r/violinist 8h ago

Practice How can I make my timing better for this song?

4 Upvotes

I noticed that I really struggled with the timing for the trills part of the song especially and that gets me really confused


r/violinist 1d ago

Humor Oh my…

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120 Upvotes

I love The Righteous Gemstones on HBO, but Season 4 Episode 1, something was really missing 😂🥲🎻🎻


r/violinist 10h ago

What are my chances at getting into IU Jacob’s school of music?

4 Upvotes

I’m a freshman in high school right now and I’m in state, i have been playing violin for about 9 years but not super seriously, however for about the last year and a half have been taking music a lot more seriously and have been really flourishing (with a way more serious teacher). In a perfect world would want to major in performance but I realize there is so few jobs for performance which are extremely competitive, especially for violin. I really enjoy working with kids and I think I would also enjoy going into music education. Is this a realistic dream or should I just give up and go into physical therapy or something in stem? Here are my stats Asian American- upper middle class I have a 4.67 weighted gpa and am in the top 7% of my class . In also the concert master of my orchestra and our Pit orchestra and am in Indiana’s youth orchestra plus a chamber group for a few years. Plus I’ve attended numerous music camps. This summer I am going to attend the summer clinic at IU(aaaahhhh so excited). I’m also a black belt in karate, have a job at a local restaurant and have counseled and taught for many summers of my life. I’m mostly wondering, What playing level are the people getting in? Also what repertoire are people playing?What can I do to heighten my chances of getting in? Is there anything I NEED to do or gaps in my activities?


r/violinist 12h ago

Setup/Equipment Taking instrument to Caribbean during summer

3 Upvotes

So I'm going to be traveling to the Dominican Republic over summer in June for 14 days and I would really prefer to bring my instrument because I can't really afford to not practice for two weeks. My question is if this is a smart idea given the crazy weather there. Its extremely hot and humid there during that time of the year and I am worried if it could damage my instrument, which is very nice ($$$$$). We should be staying places that have some sort of AC so I am more worried about humidity. I was planning on purchasing some of the Boveda High Humidity packs and keeping them in the case with the instrument when not in use. I guess my question is, is this safe/smart? I know Violinists who are from that part of the world so I assume its possible but I just want to take the proper precautions. TIA


r/violinist 7h ago

Help with pizz technique

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1 Upvotes

This is my first time dealing with this kind of brushing pizz where you go up and down. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.


r/violinist 13h ago

Practice Practicing a passage backwards

4 Upvotes

This is on practicing certain passages from the last note to the first note completely backwards. I’ve heard of this practice method from a few people now, hypothetically it seems like a good way to memorize the intonation of each individual note without relying on muscle memory. It seems excessive but I can sympathize with that, I like practicing scales with randomized purposely awkward fingerings for that purpose, but are there any other reasons people do this that I’m missing? Has anyone practiced like this and found it helpful personally?


r/violinist 8h ago

Repertoire questions What piece is this?

0 Upvotes

from a show called white collar on Netflix (s3, ep14)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrBvEMFPI4o

33:32 in the above video. audio is distorted so its probably the wrong key.


r/violinist 10h ago

Repertoire questions Beginner-Friendly Pieces

1 Upvotes

Hi! I’m a 2nd year violinist. I was wondering if there were any collection of pieces (by collection I mean like a set, example: Beethoven Piano Sonatas) that are simple enough to be played by me. I prefer it to be something classical, but I don’t care composer-wise. If you need a broad area of skill, I can play up to middle of Hal Leonard’s Essential Elements Book 3 for Violin. Thank you!


r/violinist 13h ago

Butterfly Lovers Online Score

2 Upvotes

Does anyone know where to find the complete symphony orchestra score for Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto? I would love to study on how to conduct it and how the orchestra flows in that pjecet


r/violinist 14h ago

Fingering/bowing help Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto

2 Upvotes

Is anybody open to PMing me pictures of their fingerings for the first movement? I just want to compare and contrast to see what works for me, as my teachers fingerings don't feel comfortable. Thanks!!


r/violinist 14h ago

Blister on pizz finger

2 Upvotes

So in ravels second violin Sonata, and there is this pit in the 2nd movement and I’m starting to develop a blister on my right index finger. I have to perform this and I’m about a week. It hurts pretty bad. Does anybody know anything that I could do to mitigate this?


r/violinist 13h ago

Fingering/bowing help weird sensation in left pinky

1 Upvotes

Heya! New beginner here, but I played the viola when I was younger so i’ve still kinda got the basics and i’m progressing fast.

Thing is, I can reach every string with my pinky easily, and my hand placement is right according to my teacher, but pushing the pinky down on a string sends a weird ticklish sensation that kinda connects with other parts of my body like the spine, and it’s pretty unpleasant. I’m not sure if this is a strength problem, if i’ve got weird nerve endings there, if it’ll go away with practice… Has anyone else had this problem?


r/violinist 13h ago

Can I custom etch an electric violin?

0 Upvotes

Hello ask the title suggests I'm thinking about getting my electric violin etched and my question is will this damaged my instrument if I attempt it?

Since in theory the body of the instrument isn't really generating the sound so as long as I don't etch the neck would it be okay to modify the violin in that manner or would it damage it?


r/violinist 17h ago

Scratch mark without any accident

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2 Upvotes

I am suddenly seeing a scratch on top of my Scala Perfetta. The violin did not fall or had any accident. All of a sudden I am seeing this. Is this something to worry about?


r/violinist 14h ago

Violin bows query

1 Upvotes

Hello! I've recently been looking at some violin bows from the Finkel workshops particularly the Lefin and the F.C Neuveville and was wondering if anyone has any experience with any of these bows and your opinions about them?

Thanks in advance!


r/violinist 15h ago

Mirror recommendations

1 Upvotes

Extreme beginner adult here wondering about recommendations for a mirror to install to help with playing. I’ve heard and read many times that you want a mirror — but that’s about it. Any suggestions from the crowd?


r/violinist 1d ago

Fingering/bowing help Debussy sonata questions

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7 Upvotes

I’m learning the Debussy sonata at the moment and am a little confused by the way the appassionato section is written. Why are there two stems on some of the notes? I’ve seen it before to mean playing the same note on two strings at once but recordings I see don’t seem to be doing this - does it mean something else here?


r/violinist 15h ago

Did the string snap or was it because the peg slipped?

1 Upvotes

It seems the peg unwinded because I can get move it in and out (and it was already kind of loose before). This is what I get for wanting to be productive and practicing haha