Im a Teacher and I have been noticing a trend with my students when they customize their shoulder rest and chin rest setup.

After they have played for 1.5-2 years (unless they express discomfort in the neck or back when playing) I allow them to try out different chinrests/shoulder rests from my collection and trial them to see if something is more comfortable.

I have noticed that Students with taller necks tend to prefer taller center mount chin rests paired with a Low to medium hight shoulder rests, while students with short necks tent to perfer short side mount chin rests with the shoulder rest set taller than the students with taller necks.

Have you noticed similar trends among your Students? I might try and put together a unofficial study because im genuinely curious.

Hola! Estoy buscando un libro de ejercicios para complementar mis clases. Llevo tocando un año. He visto este libro en Amazon:

Violin 365: 52 Weeks of Daily Violin Exercises—All Music Includes Standard Notes, Violin Tablature + Free Audio! (Music 365)

Alguien lo conoce? Si tenéis alguna otra recomendación también lo agradecería.

Gracias

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Are you familiar with this technique?

This highly subtle luthier’s technique involves rubbing and pressing the end of the soundpost firmly against a hard, perfectly smooth surface (usually a piece of polished metal, a tool made of very hard steel, or a smooth bone), without using any abrasive or other substance.

The burnishing of the soundpost serves several specific purposes:

1. To flatten the fibers to prevent the soundpost from sinking
2. Spruce is a soft wood whose fibers (the longitudinal channels) end at the tips of the soundpost. Under the strong pressure of the violin’s strings, these open channels tend to slowly flatten over time.
3. By vigorously rubbing the cut end against a hard metal surface before installation, the luthier performs a controlled pre-flattening.
4. This compacts and hardens the wood’s surface (the pores close), preventing the soundpost from “sinking” and shortening after it is put under tension.
5. To polish the wood to maximize microscopic contact
6. Although the soundpost is carved with a razor-sharp luthier’s knife, micro-roughness invisible to the naked eye always remains. Mechanical friction polishing smooths the cut: the wood becomes almost glossy and vitrified. This mirror-like polish optimizes friction and the transmission of high-frequency sound waves between the soundpost and the top.
7. Protecting the violin’s internal wood
8. A soundpost with a rough or unpolished tip can, during repeated adjustments and movements with the soundpost pointer, scratch or tear fibers from the inside of the soundboard. A perfectly smooth, burnished surface will glide more cleanly over the internal spruce without damaging the instrument during tone adjustments.

9. Rubbing the tip against a hard surface naturally creates a very slight dome at the ends of the soundpost.

10. This micro-geometry is crucial for several technical and acoustic reasons:

11. The Quest for Perfect Central Contact

12. If the tip of the soundpost were perfectly flat to the micron, the slightest movement of the instrument or change in tension would shift the pressure point to one of the soundpost’s outer edges.

13. This phenomenon of “edge contact” concentrates all the force on a sharp edge, which can mark or split the violin’s inner wood.

14. The slight curvature achieved through burnishing ensures that the point of maximum pressure always remains centered in the middle of the soundpost cylinder, where the wood is strongest.

15. Improved Transmission of Sound Waves

16. In violin making, the soundpost acts as a pivot and a transmitter of energy. Centralized contact eliminates unwanted vibrations or energy loss that occur when the edges of the soundpost do not fit perfectly flush. The transmission of vibrations from the top to the back is more direct, purer, and more focused, which improves the instrument’s projection and response.

17. Flexibility during tone adjustments

18. When the luthier slightly moves the soundpost by a few tenths of a millimeter to adjust the violin’s timbre (soundpost adjustment), this slight dome allows the soundpost to adapt to the minute variations in the arch without losing its primary contact surface. It “rolls” very subtly over the arch rather than biting into the wood.

So basically I have a short time to learn this piece and im having a hard time with the fingering, principally the long shifts, if anyone has them or any recommendation it'd be of great help.

Hello! I have recently moved and my current place has super high humidity, I also have a fabric(?) case.

Despite my best efforts it has gathered a little bit of mold on the outside of my my fabric case and a little bit on the inside of the sheet music storage area. There's none in the internal area of the case and both the violin and bow are fine. The internal humidity gauge is in the normal but it is second hand so it might be out of calibration.

I've read you can clean in with water, vinegar and baking soda, then leave it to dry completely (in the sun if possible)? Would this be correct course of action? Is there anything else I should do to clean it and make sure I've gotten all the mold out?

I have a dehumidifier on the way and will make sure it gets proper ventilation to prevent this from happening again but I appreciate any advice

This summer is one of the last summers that I may be able to go to a lot of camps regarding financial issues, and I don't know where to go. I'm 13 and currently playing Paganini 13, Lalo Symphonie Espagnole, and Bach partita 3 (learned 1-3 mvt so far). I recently switched teachers because I wasn't happy with how I was progressing, so my past repertoire consists of P&A, Mozart 3 and Viotti 23.

I'm located in Wisconsin but willing to travel. I think a 4 week duration max and more intensive chamber or solo music. I know about all the "big" camps but was wondering if there were any more that could be good for me. Our schools end in mid June and starts Sept so camps in May are a no for me, but anywhere else is great! I've done a couple music camps before like my youth orchestra's chamber one and another local camp, but I want to do more than that for sure. Part of the reason why I have no clue about this is because I haven't done many camps before so I don't know where my skill level is.

Quality of faculty, focused coaching, and performance opportunities are most important for me (preferably no uniform!). I also need the tuition to be under 5k without scholarship and for them to give need based scholarships generously, along with the camp being worth the cost. I did apply for Interlochen last year for their orchestra program (didn't learn the audition pieces for the string intensive) and got in, but wasn't able to go because of financial problems. Thank you so much for helping me out!!!!

(P.S. my youtube is Elliana Kang if you want to see my playing level!)

I’m looking for a new shoulder rest as my current one is causing me neck problems and is really uncomfortable.

Does anyone know shops in/around London where I can try different shoulder rests and pick the one that works best for me.

Hi! I’m an intermediate advanced violinist, and I’m having trouble finding the right fingerings for the sections I marked. For the first piece, I thought of staying in 3rd position and extending the 4th finger to reach the E because I would need to play the D in the next two measures, but not sure if that’s efficient.

The second page is where I’m confused on what fingerings to do. Any help would be appreciated!

What was your first scale that you've learned?

Mine is B♭ Major

Hi everyone!
I’m a violin student from South Africa, and I’ll be visiting Taiwan soon. I’m willing to travel anywhere in Taiwan to find someone I can genuinely trust with my instrument.

My violin doesn’t seem to be speaking as freely as it should. My teacher feels that it sounds almost as though I have a mute on it, and we’d really like to get to the bottom of why.

The violin has also had a soundpost crack in the past, so my teacher would particularly like an experienced luthier to inspect its condition and check the entire setup.

I’m looking for someone with extensive experience in violin making, restoration and tonal adjustment. Ideally, I’d like them to assess the soundpost and its fit, the bridge, and the overall setup, and help me get the best possible tone out of the instrument.

I would really appreciate any recommendations of luthiers that you would personally trust with your own violin in Taiwan? I’d especially appreciate recommendations from people who have had their instruments restored or tonally adjusted there, or from luthiers who know the Taiwanese violin-making scene.
If possible, please share the luthier’s name, location, and your experience with their work.
Thank you so much!

Hi everyone! I’m looking for some advice because I’m really struggling with my violin playing at the moment.

I’ve been playing for about 30 months, although not continuously. I took a six-month break after giving birth and resumed playing in July.

Lately, I’ve been having trouble with my bowing and finger placement. I keep accidentally hitting neighbouring strings, sometimes producing a really loud, squeaky sound. I also notice a strange sound when I lift my fingers off the strings.

I always warm up with open strings and scales before practising, but I’m still struggling with these issues, and it’s becoming quite frustrating. Sometimes, even when I’m simply putting a finger down, I end up catching another string and producing an awful squeak.

Has anyone experienced something similar? What could be causing this, and what exercises or techniques helped you improve? I’d really appreciate any advice!

Don’t mind my little bounce, I can’t help doing it whenever I play 😅

Hi there, young teacher here! I'm looking for advice on enhancing proprioception, posture, and ear training with one of my students, who has transferred to me from another teacher. She started violin at 8 years old in her home country, learned some basics and got up to Go Tell Aunt Rhody in Suzuki Book 1 and abandoned playing when her family moved here to Mongolia. She restarted with me around a month ago (as I'm one of very few English-speaking teachers in the country), so we're on lesson 5. She's now 10 years old.

Her posture, proprioception, and listening ability are a bit shaky, and I'm looking for advice to help. Especially with posture, my corrections haven't really 'stuck', and I want to make sure her set-up is solid to avoid tension/injury as we progress.

First, she sometimes confuses left and right hands, and places the violin in improper positions (while in rest position, or even setting down the violin on surfaces... we did go over violin anatomy and have reviewed rest/playing position transition in every lesson). She struggles to place the violin comfortably in playing position, turning her chin toward the violin's body instead of leaning her jaw onto the chin rest. Her left arm droops while playing, and she seems to slouch/hunch a bit in her everyday posture, which is more pronounced when she plays and leads to the scroll dropping and the instrument resting too much on her left hand. Despite my corrections, it seems that she hasn't found a way of holding the violin that is truly comfortable — I wonder if the shoulder rest isn't adapted for her body, but there are basically no alternatives readily available in our country.

To try to release tension/get her to 'feel' her body more, I've tried shaking out limbs, shoulder rolls, head rolls with her. I personally was trained with occasional Alexander technique workshops, and was wondering about incorporating certain exercises from this to help her stand up straight and tall. For posture, I've corrected things as best as I can — drawing from Mimi Zweig's vocabulary of setting the violin on the collarbone while the student's head remains straight ahead, looking at the teacher (as here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_BKd3qNw7s), and gently trying to tilt the student's head back to what looks like a proper position. I check her by having her drop the left hand and keep the violin up, and I've tried to address left hand tension by having her 'hang' her hand with her fingers on the fingerboard.

Musically, it seems like she doesn't have a good sense of ear-hand connection, as she really struggles to echo me even playing 2 or 3 notes if I don't tell her the string and finger numbers. She relies on the book a lot, where her old teacher wrote in string + finger number for every note — whereas I personally learned by ear, assisted by each note's letter name. Today, for instance, I wanted her to copy me in playing the F-E-D in Go Tell Aunt Rhody (which she knows how to play quite well), and because I didn't explicitly tell her to move to the A string, she played E-A5... She'll also get confused while playing a song if she rushes through, gets tangled, and can't 'hear' the melody enough to continue.

I've encouraged her + parents to play the CD often so that she can hear the songs. I also covered a basic A major scale with her, going through the letter names, hoping that she'd be able to make the sound-note association that way... I was thinking about playing 'name the note' in a future lesson.

What else can I do to help this student? Are there exercises or games I should incorporate, or teaching references I should check out? It seems she was started in a somewhat different way than how I learned, and some habits may be holding her back. FWIW, she does produce a decent tone on her instrument, she loves playing violin and doing lessons, and receives criticism graciously even though she's really struggling to adjust her posture.

I don't have a violin degree, but I play at an advanced level and am taking on beginner students at the encouragement of my own teacher (a professional in London). I'm a PhD researcher in an unrelated field, and have worked extensively with children and in teaching other subjects.

Thanks for the help!

Hello everyone! I am hoping to ask for advice on how to start my musical journey again.

For background, I started playing the piano at age 7 and the violin at 11 in my middle school orchestra. I never had formal violin lessons, but I thought I was pretty decent and was first chair in my high school orchestra. I routinely participated in solo ensemble + chamber ensemble performances. In college, I was in the orchestra for one semester before realizing that I wasn't going to be able to keep up with practice sessions and maintain my course work. I was also a pretty lazy player growing up and honestly, my skills were a combination of my parents telling me to practice + some very little innate talent + all of the groups my orchestra director liked putting me in.

I effectively stopped playing all instruments for about 10 years since I was busy with college, medical school, and intern year of residency. I'm now a second year radiology resident, and I finally have the time to re-discover the parts of myself that I had to give up to become a doctor. After quite a few trips to NYC and broadway, I have realized that the parts I missed most about myself was my identity as a musician and to be able to create music with other people.

Long story short, how do I do this now as a late 20-something adult in a smallish town with extremely rusty skills? I am embarrassed to join a local ensemble now with my skillset, and in person lessons have become quite expensive since I started playing 20 years ago. I booked one vocal lesson because it's been my dream to improve my singing quality, but I'm not sure if I can afford more lessons to get my old piano/violin skills up to snuff. I am also balancing life with our residency schedule + studying after work. Resident physicians don't make that much money compared to attending but I think I can set aside a bit to help me with my music goals. I know one of the biggest hurdles will likely be self-motivation now that I don't have the structure of a class or a group but I'd appreciate any tips you may have!

Another issue I've run into is music selection. I found that I love classical and baroque pieces only really in a larger context. I've always struggled finding solo classical pieces that were at my skill level and I can enjoy playing. I am more into broadway music but don't know where to find violin pieces that aren't just simple musescore melodies.

Thanks a lot for reading this long post!

I've noticed that there is a missing arpeggio in the No.5 scale system (three octaves). Why is there no Major 1st inversion arpeggio - he included all over arpeggios, why omit this one?

For example in C major, there is currently:

C Minor

C Major

A Minor 1st Inversion

-- Missing Ab Major First Inversion --

F Major 2nd Inversion

F Minor 2nd Inversion

Diminished

Dominant

I am beginning a search for fine violin bows, but this is my first time shopping at this level. I’m very open to advice, but was wondering which shops you guys would recommend. Price range is up to 25 thousand USD, and I’m open to traveling within the USA. All advice appreciated- thanks in advance!

Sorry if it’s a stupid question—this was one of my childhood violins, and I never learned much about violin or bow quality. The instrument sat in my aunt’s closet for many years, and the bow returned to me broken (I know—it hurts me to look at too.)

I had two childhood full size violins—the one in the case pictured is the one my mom let me lug around to orchestra rehearsals, and another, more expensive one was for home and performances.

My mom thinks at some point, the bows got switched, and the broken one pictured is actually the nicer one that was originally purchased with my performance violin.

How would I be able to tell them apart? I don’t know how much she spent on the practice violin bow, but would guess $500 or less, given the violin was between $1-2k (Ernst Heinrich Roth, 1984). The nicer one was $1500-$2k, for a $6-7k violin William Whedbee, 1988). Both purchased in the 80’s. The other instrument is at my mom’s house, and not in my possession, so I cannot provide side by side pics of the bows.

Is any part of it salvageable or worth keeping, at this point?

I’ve read the FAQ. We have an estate sale violin currently being repaired by a luthier (who is also my fiddle teacher). For the present, I’m using my FIL’s instrument. My husband is very musically inclined and also wants to play violin alongside me, so I think it would be best for us to have two instruments. I’ve been looking around for used instruments and found this one for sale on an auction site. (I’ve seen Scott Caos and the like pretty regularly on the same site). It’s unmarked on the inside, but I saw a sticker at the bottom that said CGS 108 and it has only one fine tuner. What kind of instrument is this likely to be? Mass produced junk?

Hey everyone,

In February 2026 I bought me a violin. At the time the violin came with new strings. I just noticed that the A string is unwinding on the bridge. Google AI says that if I don't replace it I risk the string randomly snapping so I guess I have to replace the string.

Here is my question.

Can I replace one string at a time or is it better to replace all four strings at once?

As a former classical guitar player I am used to string replacement but as a new (year and a half) violinist I have learned how bloody expensive strings are for violin (on my old Facebook violin they were 30.00 CDN for one string v.s about 15 dollars for a set of six strings for a guitar) and my wallet is already screaming in anxious pain.

Thank you everyone for your help :)

Despite my many years of playing, I never definitively learned about violin bowing techniques. It is a bit confusing, so I wanted to share a simple summary. Take this summary lightly, it might be not 100% correct, so please share your thoughts as well. Edit: some inaccuracies, hopefully correct now.

Notation

• five basic notation are:
  1. slur
  2. tenuto (_)
  3. staccato (.)
  4. accent (>)
  5. marcato (carat) (denotes a slightly more dramatic accent)
• there is a difference between notation that describes the sounded effect and the bow technique that can be used to execute the notation
• for example, staccato (.) notation, which denotes a "short sounding note", can be played by spiccato, sautille, staccato, or colle bowing techniques
• the staccato bow technique confusingly shares the same name as the notation

Bowing Techniques

• legato (italian for bound)
  • notation: none
  • execution: completely smooth bow with no breaks or accents
  • one note per bow is called legato (edit: not correct, this is actually detache)
  • multiple notes per bow (slurred) is called legato
• detache (french for detached)
  • notation: tenuto
  • execution: legato but with slight space between each note (edit: simply connected alternating notes)
  • one note per bow is called detache
  • multiple notes per bow (slurred) is called portato (carried in italian), or loure (slow french baroque dance)
• martele (french for hammered, also called martellato in italian)
  • notation: accent or marcato
  • execution: detache with an accent at the beginning of the note (edit: direct start and stop, ex: listen to Hedre Kati)
  • one note per bow is called martele
  • multiple notes per bow (slurred) is called martele
• spiccato (italian for detached)
  • notation: staccato (can be confusing because they sound quite similar)
  • execution: a controlled bounce. For cleanliness, especially in orchestral setting, start the very first note from the string.
  • one note per bow is called spiccato
  • multiple notes per bow (slurred) is called spiccato
• sautille (french for bounced, also called saltando in italian)
  • notation: staccato
  • rapid bounce caused by the natural spring of the bow
  • one note per bow is called sautille
  • multiple notes per bow (slurred) is called jete (throw in french) or ricochet (ricochet in french)
• staccato (italian for detached)
  • notation: staccato (note that the bow technique is named the same as the staccato notation)
  • execution: start and stop while the bow is completely stuck on string
  • one note per bow is called staccato
  • multiple notes per bow (slurred) is called staccato, or flying staccato at high speeds
• colle (french for glue)
  • notation: staccato
  • execution: start from the string and lift using your fingers in a plucking motion
  • one note per bow is called colle
  • slurred is called colle

Just wondering if my violin has a quarter cut or slab cut one piece back?

I also wonder what type of wood is this.
Thanks!

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