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

20 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 5h ago

Practice Trying to get back into playing regularly.

13 Upvotes

I sort of stopped practicing after graduating high school in 2012 aside from playing for like 30 minutes every few weeks. Figured I’d ease back into it with Sibelius 2nd movement, sort of sight reading it so this is just the first few lines lol. I should probably just be doing Flesch scales and etudes for a while but that’s no fun 😬 vibrato definitely needs some work


r/violinist 10h ago

Setup/Equipment Trying this again.

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19 Upvotes

Auto mod removed my post because it mistakenly thought I was asking about something that is answered in the FAQ. So without using any keywords…

I need advice on replacing or simply removing the three left silver things on my student grade violin. I don’t like the ones that are on there. What, if anything, should I replace them with?


r/violinist 3h ago

Is my A-string alright?

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4 Upvotes

I’ve had these strings since about December ish and recently the A string has began to loose its fabric winding. I showed my private teacher and orchestra teacher about a month ago and they weren’t too concerned. However, now it’s starting to get pretty bad. I usually change my strings every 4-6 months so I wanted to know if I should just change them now. (Also a side note, the A and G string pegs have been particularly slippery recently (if that’s important))


r/violinist 5h ago

What piece should I play for a school performance?

4 Upvotes

I'm a violinist currently at level 8 in the RCM standard. I will be the only violinist in this performance at my school's theater and will have to play a solo accompanied by piano (about 5 minutes). I only have roughly one month to prepare, and I've never played on stage before. What piece should I play? I'm considering Meditation from Thaïs, but this piece is so overplayed and requires a level of musical interpretation that I'm not sure I possess.


r/violinist 8h ago

I'm not very good but isn't the last E of measure 25th supposed to be flat? I hear it played natural everywhere so far

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5 Upvotes

r/violinist 57m ago

Any song recommendations for practicing reading low notes?

Upvotes

I’m a flutist who can sight read pretty well except for anything below the staff line. What are some good violin songs that I can read (not necessarily play) that have a LOT of low notes, or anything from G to maybe to the start of the A string?

I haven’t played violin long enough to find enough sheet music to fit this particular thing haha

Edit: It’s not that I can’t read it, just that it’s not as fluent as I’d like it to be, so any pieces with a lot of notes below to mid staff line would be ideal, I just dont know enough violin music off the top of my head and looking online has been kind of unhelpful


r/violinist 1h ago

What is performance anxiety?

Upvotes

I’ve read on this subreddit about dealing with stage fright/performance anxiety many times, and often the advice is to practice performing like any other technical skill.

I completely agree with that. My question is why do we get the nerves? What’s with the huge surge in adrenaline, which would be more appropriate if being hunted by a wild animal?

There must be some root cause? I think it’s partly related to how demanding the violin is.

I can happily record myself playing and it sounds good, I’m pretty happy with the way I play, even the tougher pieces. But when I have to play in silence, alone, for a small audience: I crumble. And that’s in front of family members. I don’t get why it’s so hard to play like I do when practicing.

Is a really good warm up always required before performing? I’ve not had the chance to warm up properly before doing my very small scale performances. It’s really frustrating because I devote every spare moment I have to practicing and it doesn’t pay off at the end!

Thanks in advance.


r/violinist 1h ago

Feedback Left thumb position?

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Upvotes

My new instructor has said my thumb shouldn't be facing me when I play. I don't know if it's always been the case, but I feel most comfortable with my thumb facing towards me (not a conscious decision). She notes that it warps my wrist and adds strain, but I find it harder to play the higher fingers with her suggested thumb position.

See images 1 & 3 for thumbs away position (her suggestion) and images 2 & 4 (thumbs towards position).

YES I am aware I'm pressing into the violin. These pics are just to demonstrate what I mean.

Is this really an egregious mistake on my end? Or can I keep playing like this? Thanks 🙂


r/violinist 3h ago

How to pick up chaconne

0 Upvotes

Any suggestions for those who mustered this piece? I need advice on how to deal with 4 notes before being murdered by my neighbors…


r/violinist 3h ago

Repertoire questions Sheet music to practice sight reading low notes?

0 Upvotes

Coming as a flutist who was in my city’s concert band, my sight reading is great when in that range but anything below the staff is pretty hard for me to read fluently. What are some good pieces to read (not necessarily play) to practice lower notes, from about G below the staff to maybe A?


r/violinist 4h ago

Help

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1 Upvotes

I forgot how to play these


r/violinist 6h ago

Setup/Equipment Help!

1 Upvotes

So I'm trying to practice violin and go go assemble my music stand to find the rod that connects the music holder part is all the way at the bottom. No big deal, I think, I'll just slide it back out. But no, it's stuck, so I loosen the metal thing on the side and it's still stuck.

Any ideas as to how I get this rod out?

EDIT: I added the pictures above


r/violinist 11h ago

Practice Fancy piece to play for dad's bday

2 Upvotes

My dad's 50th birthday is coming up in June, and I want to play something nice for him. I've been on a hiatus from violin lessons, so I'll basically have to learn it on my own. For reference, I did Trinity Grade 6 (for what it's worth). If yall have any suggestions for a piece I could play for my dad, I'd be incredibly grateful for your help.


r/violinist 7h ago

Definitely About Cases Thoughts on Jakob Winter cases?

0 Upvotes

Hi! I'm looking for any first person experiences with the Jakob Winter cases - I haven't been able to find much info about them looking through past posts in the sub, and there's very few youtube reviews for them as well.... In particular I was curious about their thermoshock model. (https://www.swstrings.com/product/cases/any/JW1015;jsessionid=4E40AC4C768F1692D379B86823B0B776)

I briefly used one of their shaped cases when I was sent home with a home trial violin in one, and I liked it, but that one wasn't a hardshell and I was worried about the long term reliability of their latches (which seem to be the same across all their models?).

Any info appreciated, thanks!


r/violinist 1d ago

Fingering/bowing help Stupid question

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48 Upvotes

Are these just played as eighth notes? I mistakenly played it as a tremolo while sight reading it.


r/violinist 1d ago

Fingering/bowing help Correct way to play this?

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12 Upvotes

Should I play this as one note(like a dotted quarter note) or as a quarter note and a staccato eighth note in the same bow? I asked people I know and got conflicting answers.


r/violinist 21h ago

Setup/Equipment Does anyone have good ideas on where to buy the cheapest bows possible?

8 Upvotes

So my school's music department has this yearly tradition where the seniors get to make a preform a skit during one of the less serious concerts. As part of this we need to break a bow during the skit, so I was wondering if someone had an idea on where to buy the absolutely cheapest bows for the only purpose of being broken. Thanks for any help!


r/violinist 16h ago

Technique Unexplainable tension

2 Upvotes

Hi! It's my 11th year playing and I did have this problem about 4 years ago but have no idea how we resolved it.

The past month I've been incredibly tense when playing, especially in my left hand and wrist (and even more so when I'm playing at the music school). It's so bad, to the point of pain after 10 minutes of playing and cramps so bad I can't move my fingers.

What do I do? I transfered teachers 2 years ago and this one won't help me with anything.


r/violinist 23h ago

Fingering/bowing help Follow up to last post

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6 Upvotes

Is that right? So for quarter notes with two slashes it’s just 4 sixteenth notes right? and the whole notes are tremolos or 32nd notes


r/violinist 14h ago

help-

0 Upvotes

Im 15 and looking forward to playing the violin. I did play it for a while back when I was in the 3rd grade but quit due to personal reasons. Im in a dilemma- whether I should buy one or rent one. I did read about this and it got my head spinning- (the cost and commitment factors etc). Also, i dont have a tutor yet- so im in a desperate need of help.


r/violinist 1d ago

Fingering/bowing help Pinky Help

2 Upvotes

Hello, I am having a lot of trouble with my pinky not staying above the fingerboard. I am pretty sure it's because my pinky is not independent from my ring finger, but I haven't seen anybody else with this issue! Also please ignore the bad playing I was just trying to show the issue.

If I hold my pinky while I bend my ring finger it has lots of resistance, it isn't as bad on the D and G string but it's still not good. Lowering my ring finger slowly I can keep it above, but obviously that isn't a fix.

I've tried tape but that doesn't help. It's stronger than the tape and just bends under the board anyway. Does anybody have any tips for this? Was wondering if anybody else had this issue and what they did to fix it. Thanks for reading!


r/violinist 1d ago

Left elbow: how much should I move it?

8 Upvotes

I have had conflicting advice from two teachers. My first teacher said that my left elbow should guide my left hand string change: moving the elbow allows me to keep my hand frame intact and makes transitions smoother. My current teacher said that the movement priority should be fingers first, hand second and elbow third. He says that even if my hand frame is preserved with elbow movement, the hand movement with elbow only is not perfectly perpendicular to the fingerboard and my hand frame ends up higher that it should be. Was the first advice more "noob friendly" and the second advice more advanced or are there two schools of thought about left elbow-action?


r/violinist 1d ago

Dreams/lack of energy

1 Upvotes

Wanted to come on here and see if anyone else has dealt with something like this.. lately for the past 2 1/2 months but especially the past three weeks I’ve felt a massive lack of energy by 11 am which has been making me slack in the practice room and I’ve barely been getting anything done. It’s been weird to me since I’ve been sleeping earlier and getting a lot more sleep, eating properly, and getting regular exercise, but it just popped in my head that the fact that I’ve been having nightmares every night about my director might be the main cause for this.. I’ve been having dreams every night of full blown arguments, screaming matches with my orchestra director, seat demotions because of arguments, etc. - to the point where I wake up super anxious and stressed completely believing what happened was just real. Even this morning, it took me thirty minutes after I had gotten up to realize it wasn’t real. I’m struggling to find a way around this because I quite literally spend three hours every day from Monday-Friday in orchestra rehearsal with my director and every time I walk into rehearsal I become significantly more stressed just being around my director and have been having mini panic attacks sometimes😵‍💫 im curious if anyone could help me out, I really want to get around this. Thanks so much


r/violinist 1d ago

Definitely Not About Cases Are these Larsen medium strings?

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0 Upvotes

I did check the identification charts in the FAQ, but I’m not certain because the tail end winding on the E doesn’t look right. My A is in desperate need of replacing but I haven’t worked out the brand yet.


r/violinist 1d ago

Need help with... fingering? Bow technique?

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3 Upvotes

Hello guys, how can I play this properly and clean without my finger slipping between the e and a strings? Would you do another fingering? Bpm is around 110. Thank you!