An Overview
Whether you aspire to be a professional violinist, picking up a new skill as part of school activity or trying out as a new hobby, you would discover things that you might not even have dreamed of as a beginnner. There really is no instrument quite like the violin with its uniquely crafted elegant design and sound. Violin music genre has evolved to more than simply classical music. Nowadays you can hear violin being played in pop to even techno music. Violins has also become valuable collectibles, paid in auction of over $3.5 millions and some of the most sought-after violins are those made by Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù.
The Violin
The components of the violin instrument comprises of the bow and the violin itself.
The violin, also known as the fiddle, belongs to the smallest member of the string instruments. It is much lighter to carry than the viola and the cello. The violin is built using a combination of different wood namely the spruce (top), maple (back) and ebony (fingerboard). It usually has 4 strings tuned in perfect fifths. The strings are made of solid or stranded steel, synthetic materials or sometimes sheep gut. To tune the violin, you have to turn the peg located at the pegbox. There are 4 pegs that you can do the adjustments. By turning the peg clockwise, you will get a sharper pitch and vice versa when you turn it anticlockwise.
The Bow
Fiberglass To Pernambuco Brazilwood Bow Types
The bow, about 75cm in length, consists of a stick with a horsehair ribbon strung between the opposite ends. The types of bow you use determines the sound quality and is not solely dependent on the violin itself. The price ranges anything from a $20 lower quality bow to pricy ones at $300 or more.
For beginners on a limited budget, you may want to start with a cheaper fiberglass bow with horsehair subsitute made from synthetic fiber. You should be aware that this is fine for practicing as you are just starting out. Experienced violinists can differentiate easily if you are using a good quality bow while playing. As you progress, it is recommended that you move on to better quality wooden bow made from brazilwood. There is also varying quality of brazilwood bow and the more expensive type is known as pernambuco.
Taking Up Violin Lessons
The Mindset
Like many things in life, it is whether you like it or not at all. Does that mean you have to love it at first sight? No. It should not even matter much whether it is going to be an easy or difficult instrument to learn. If you have a real passion for it, you would go all out to learn it well. Needless to say that committing a regular time schedule to practice the instrument is required. Cultivate an "I can" attitude as you enjoy the learning process. Simply put, it is all in the mind. It is how you approach the art, correcting mistakes, sharpening skills and familiarising yourself with the instrument during the process. As a beginner, you may imitate certain postures for a period of time but when you become more proficient, you will become more natural and have a style of your own. When you advance by practicing more, you will be intrigued with the music you can play at will like the masters do and have a marvelous satisfaction of achievement with this eloquent instrument.
Who Can You Learn From
Once you made up your mind to learn the violin, it is time for you to learn from a teacher.
Traditionally, beginners would hire a violin teacher to train in person. It is not easy to find an instructor who can teach well and at the same time affordable.
Well, with the advancement of internet technology, now you can have another option to learn the violin and that is via lessons conducted online. You can find online tutorials and video training lessons to help guide you through the learning process. There is no better time in the history of music education to take advantage of the internet technology to learn violin online.
The benefits of learning violin online are these:
1. A relaxed and quiet environment. If you are self-discipline and prefer to feel less stress by learning on your own at the comfort of your home, then this is a good choice without someone watching your back.
2. Let you learn at your own pace. The learning speed of every individuals differs. Whether you are a fast or slow learner, you can learn it at your own pace.
3. Flexibility of time. You don't have to schedule your time to learn with others or according to the teacher's schedule or squeezing into your already tight schedule you may be experiencing. For adhoc reasons, you don't even have to call them up to change to another timeslot.
4. Freedom of place. If you travel, you can simply bring along your computer and instrument with you, and practice at any place you like without missing lessons you planned for yourself.
5. More affordable. You don't have to pay hefty amounts for every lessons. Each traditional lesson can cost as much as 50 bucks or more an hour. Learning the violin is not just for the rich in this internet age, as more people who seriously wanting to learn the violin but having a tight budget can now take advantage of this option to learn how to play the violin online.
6. Allows you to review your lessons over and over again. You can watch the video trainings as many times as you like. You can rewind, fastforward or pause the videos anytime you wish to. You will not have to worry about teacher losing their patience.
7. You can start learning even as an adult. This is probably one of the best benefits for adults who missed the chance during their childhood for whatever reasons and continues to have the aspiration in learning the violin. Also, if you are the type that is easily embarrassed with other kids learning the violin with you, then online violin lesson is definitely a great choice to begin with.
However, online violin lessons are not without their pros and cons. If you have deeper pockets, lack of self-discipline or want to speed up the learning process, then hiring a teacher to train you in person is recommended.
Online Violin Training Resources
Learn To Play The Violin From The Master
Eric Lewis's Violin Master Pro. Learn to play the violin like a master from one of the greaters players in the world. All at the comfort of your own home on video. ViolinMasterPro is your complete, online video package to learning how to play anything on violin.
More information can be found at Violin For Beginners.
