Do you want to learn how to play the violin? It truly is a beautiful sounding instrument. And if you want to learn, you certainly can. Most people will tell you that to play this difficult instrument you need to start young. That can be beneficial for sure, but the fact is that you can learn to play and play well at any age.
Taking private lessons from a qualified teacher can help, but starting out you may do just as well learning the basics from a friend or relative that plays. For instance you don't need a pro to teach you how to hold the instrument, yet this is very important. Get this wrong and you'll be very uncomfortable. You may be tempted to quit before you really get started, or worse, you could even suffer some form of stress injury. So let's do this right. Start by putting your left arm under the body of the violin. Hold the neck with your left hand and curl your fingers over the neck. Your hand and fingers will be on top of the strings and the the chin rest on the instrument will be between your chin and left shoulder. Take the bow in your right hand an you're ready to go.
Once you've learned to hold the violin properly, you can begin to learn how to finger notes on the violin. Unlike guitars, violins do not have frets. Instead, violin players literally play "by ear" until they know exactly where each note falls on the fingerboard.
You'll start by identifying four distinct positions on the instrument. Position one is at the end furthest way from your body. Naturally the low pitched notes are here. Close to your face is the fourth position where the high notes are. The strings will be tuned in lowest to highest fashion. They are G, D, A, and E, meaning that when you play them open (with no fingers on the neck) these are the notes they play. Placing your fingers at different spots on the board will make different notes.
Notes are play in one of two ways. The are played pizzicato, (by plucking them) or by running the bow across the strings slowly and steadily. Most people learn by plucking and advance from there.
You're also going to need to learn how to read music. You have several options for this. The easiest would be to get a friend or relative that already knows to teach you. You can also hire a professional, take a class, or just search the Internet for one of many instructional sites.
Understand going in that the violin is not an easy instrument to learn. It will take plenty of practice on your part before you are really good. But that's OK, it's worth it because it's a fun instrument with a beautiful sound.
Taking private lessons from a qualified teacher can help, but starting out you may do just as well learning the basics from a friend or relative that plays. For instance you don't need a pro to teach you how to hold the instrument, yet this is very important. Get this wrong and you'll be very uncomfortable. You may be tempted to quit before you really get started, or worse, you could even suffer some form of stress injury. So let's do this right. Start by putting your left arm under the body of the violin. Hold the neck with your left hand and curl your fingers over the neck. Your hand and fingers will be on top of the strings and the the chin rest on the instrument will be between your chin and left shoulder. Take the bow in your right hand an you're ready to go.
Once you've learned to hold the violin properly, you can begin to learn how to finger notes on the violin. Unlike guitars, violins do not have frets. Instead, violin players literally play "by ear" until they know exactly where each note falls on the fingerboard.
You'll start by identifying four distinct positions on the instrument. Position one is at the end furthest way from your body. Naturally the low pitched notes are here. Close to your face is the fourth position where the high notes are. The strings will be tuned in lowest to highest fashion. They are G, D, A, and E, meaning that when you play them open (with no fingers on the neck) these are the notes they play. Placing your fingers at different spots on the board will make different notes.
Notes are play in one of two ways. The are played pizzicato, (by plucking them) or by running the bow across the strings slowly and steadily. Most people learn by plucking and advance from there.
You're also going to need to learn how to read music. You have several options for this. The easiest would be to get a friend or relative that already knows to teach you. You can also hire a professional, take a class, or just search the Internet for one of many instructional sites.
Understand going in that the violin is not an easy instrument to learn. It will take plenty of practice on your part before you are really good. But that's OK, it's worth it because it's a fun instrument with a beautiful sound.
About the Author:
If you want to learn how to play the violin look to www.Discount-Violins.com. We'll show you where to look to find quality instruction online, and direct you to great prices on new and used violins. There's no need to spend more than you have to for a great sounding instrument.