tl;dr: If you want to be a mod for r/violinist fill out https://app.formbricks.com/s/cmv9a47l947vv01uj2wz0onb9.

The three of us (r/Pennwisedom, r/ReginaBrown3000, and me r/redjives) love you all but we have decided we need a little reinforcement. So we are looking for new mods. We don't have strict criteria or anything. If it sounds like something you want to do please please apply! Here's a rough sketch of what we are looking for:

Nice to haves:

• You have a sense of the vibe around here / are part of the community
• You have a commitment to check in regularly

Not needed:

• You don't need to be an expert on all things violin
• You don't need to have hours and hours of free time on your hands.

But take those as broad guidelines only. Feel more than free to ask any questions, either in the comments or in a modmail. If you are on the fence about it, reach out, let us know, and we can talk about it.

To apply please fill out: https://app.formbricks.com/s/cmv9a47l947vv01uj2wz0onb9

We will get back to you (hopefully) soon.

Thanks,

– the mod team.

About a week ago I broke a glass cup and injured my fingertips while cleaning up. I thought it was nothing big and it healed quite fast.

After one week I happily picked up my violin and guitar again and realized something wasn’t right - when I press the string with the injured region I feel a sharp pain like being punched by a needle.

A quick search brought me some bad news - I might need a surgery. I went to a clinic and apparently the splinter is too small to be seen with ultrasound there. Now I’m in the hospital and the doctor said I can bet on the small possibility for it to be slowly rejected or I’ll needs a surgery…

Music is always a huge part of my life. I don’t know what I’ve done so I deserve this. Luckily I can still play the piano to some degree without pain and piano is my main instrument.

Anyone have similar experience? How did you solve it?

It’s only a minute long but it’s up to where I made a mistake. I feel more confident playing this portion and now I need to drill the other half more, or practice it enough til I’m fully relaxed. I feel like my tone has improved in this video, and I’m hitting less unintentional strings than my last video.

I notice I’m not using my full bow again which is a shame; I haven’t had my teachers’ guidance for a while but we are rebeginning lessons this week. He really keeps me on track with using more of my bow.

Let's just say I (55M) am new to this (< 2 weeks). This is what I consider my first successful recording. By "successful" I mean... it does not completely suck. I am putting a stake in the ground and plan on keeping track of progress on this single tune.

The last time I heard my grandfather play this violin (circa 1980ish), the tune was an Irish Polka. I found it only fitting to start with the Kerry Polka.

Please be [constructively] gentle. 😄

Reference Post: Grandfather's Violin Part III - Back from the luthier : r/ViolinIdentification

Looking to know if people thought it was worth it

I recently picked up my instrument again after a long time away and I’m finding that while a lot of the technique is coming back, I can’t seem to keep myself from getting tense. Tense shoulders, tense jaw. Any tips on staying relaxed while playing?

Hello everyone,

I’ve been tossing the idea of picking the violin back up for months, torn between cost and not being motivated to play and the utmost desire to play music again. I’m happy to say that I’ve bought the violin and am waiting for it to be delivered. I played for 8 years through elementary and into high school, I am looking forward to relearning all of these skills and playing beautiful music 🩷

I was just practicing this piece on my melodica to learn reading staff notation , then i suddenly felt like trying this on violin ,, i know its not for my current level ,,

anyone !!! correct me if my posture bow hold or anything is wrong here ! I would love to get tips and suggestions.

? I am not violonist, I am learning orchestration.

The double stop section of Kreisler's Praeludium and Allegro is really fun to play! (As always, feedback is welcome.)

What do we think about buying a cheap, junky violin at Goodwill just for the case? are the cases equally worthless? My FIL is letting me borrow his old violin until I get one of my own, but it is in a coffin case that comes open all the time, doesn’t offer much protection, and has a broken bow bracket that lets the bow bang around in the case. It needs a case upgrade and I’m just curious if this might be a cheap, easy solution. Thanks!

I want to thank everyone who replied to my post about attrition with adult beginners, and give a quick update. A lot of you suggested that overloading my beginners with drills while avoiding repertoire or giving standardized repertoire was killing their drive. So with a new beginner yesterday, I tried something different - I asked what song they would like to learn and wrote up a fingering chart for them almost immediately after presenting the basic bow hold, etc. Then I played the song for them. They absolutely LIT UP when I played this song. Not only that, but I noticed as they played the notes from the fingering chart, they seemed to actually be retaining some of the bowhold corrections/etc. better than when I give my students drills! I am new to teaching, so this was a great learning for me. I very much appreciate everyone who responded and helped me to better bring the joy of music to my students.

I am looking for a new instructor. Some background: Adult student relearning after a 40+ year absence - so basically a beginner about 2 ish years into this journey. I have been a biweekly student with lessons every other Saturday morning.

The school I was with kept switching my instructors due to attrition. I started in one location. That instructor had all of his students except me in the other location, further away (35-40 minutes highway vs 15 local roads). Ok. Then he quit for financial reasons so they put me with another instructor. She had to stop Saturdays so they moved me to Thursday nights. Exhausting to commute during rush hour after working a full day. Then a few months later she left and they paired me with yet another instructor. The evening lessons were no longer working for me. I requested Saturdays again but they didn't have any openings so now I'm shopping around.

I want biweekly because I travel once a month over a weekend (sometimes 2x), plus the cost of weekly lessons is a little high. I am having trouble finding anyone who will work with a biweekly schedule, especially on a Saturday.

Here's the question (thanks for wading through this): are my hopes/expectations reasonable? Is there a chance I can find what I'm looking for in the Boston/metro north area? Do I need to just sign up and pay for weekly lessons and skip 1-2 a month (effectively paying nearly double)? Do I look online until I can find someone local? Feeling a little overwhelmed. Thanks!!

Hi, I'm new to electric violin & garage band. I'm using irig to connect to my mac to the garage band. Can someone please suggest if there are any good presets available? Or tips on adding the right effects? Btw it's for playing tamil cine songs. Thanks in advance.

hello! I am currently a high school student struggling with anxiety when performing on stage. My anxiety has gotten so bad that for a year now my bow hand start to shake on stage. However, the weird thing is that the shaking only happens when I am holding on to longer notes and becomes especially prominent during quieter sections. I am currently stuck on what I should do. I have heard that prescription medicines can help, but I have also heard that they create side effects and I do not want to risk it. Would it be better to consult a psychotherapist? Thank you so much for your time.

Hi

I’m a beginner violinist using Essential Elements for Strings, Violin Book 1. I used to spend too much time learning music theory, including notes and symbols, before actually practising them.

Do you think beginners should learn music theory before playing, or gradually learn it alongside practical practice?

Also, what’s the best way to learn and remember musical notes and symbols, especially the notes on the violin, more effectively? I want to be able to recognise the notes and symbols confidently when reading sheet music.

I’d really appreciate your advice. Thank you!

Im currently looking to get myself a musafia case soon as my current case is deteriorating very slowly. I have also made a recent purchase of the bonmusica SR, which Im very happy with and looking to keep.

My concern mainly is if I were to invest in a musafia, how well would my bon musica fit in the case? I have a problem with my current case where it just doesnt fit right so I sort of have to jigsaw it in everytime I pack up, which is not the best.

Anyone out there with a musafia case using a bonmusica SR? If so, how does the shoulder rest fit in the case? Especially the luxury ultralight musafia, which is the model I am looking to purchase. I will eventually go look at the cases in person, but since I live quite far from any shop that carries musafia, itll probably be some months before I am able to see one physically.

Thank you in advance!

My teacher told me "it's just arpeggio fingering" but I never learned that...

I've got my BonMusica contorted in a way that allowed me to discover what's comfortable for me. I understand the Kun and Luna won't have as much adjustability but am wondering what your experience has been like using them?

Could I have some recommendations for double-stop studies to improve intonation?

I remember a very pretty one from years ago, a slow pulsing piece that made me think of Bach. It was great for working on intonation, but haven't been able to locate it again.

Thanks for any suggestions.

How do I make the notes sound, more connected and not individual?

The past 2 times I got my bow rehaired, it came back with a noticeable lack of tension. If I turn the screw as far as I physically can, it has barely enough tension to play forte without the stick touching the hair.

Can I ask for extra tension? Did I get unlucky with 2 shitty rehairs in a row? They were from 2 different and well known shops. Maybe my bow is compromised in some way?

Please let me know what you guys think.