Hi there,

I can't tell you how excited I am that I can post on the String forum!! I've been a piano player for years and secretly wanted to play the violin, just never had the opportunity to. I'm already 36, but my friend found a violin in her garage and she gave it to me!! Not knowing a thing about violin, I didn't know what to do with it. I tried to tune it with my piano, but maybe the violin is old, the G string is very hard to tune, no matter how hard I push into the PEG, it doesn't seem to stay...anyways, I found a violin teacher (2 in fact, I'n gonna take trial lessons from both to see which one mesh with me better) that will help me re-set up the violin.

Before my formal lesson starts, I try to play the violin (very very badly), the first time, i could hardly make a sound. I borrowed books from the library and watch youtube videos, slowly, I was able to teach myself twinkle twinkle little stars, Ode to joy, etc, but I still sound very badly. It must be how I bow, because when i bow on open spring, the sound comes out normal, but when i have to press down, sometimes it sounds muted or screechy....

Anyways... because of piano training in the past, i can read violins music (I'm a very bad sight reader). However, I found it alot easier to play by ear then figuring out which note goes on what string with what fingering position. How long does it usually take for this to become easier? Right now, i literally have to count them.

I can only tell i'm out of tune on a violin if it sounds really off. Will this change over time??

Playing violin will improve your ear and how accurately you can detect poor intonation, that is it will help you if you already have some ability to detect small changes in pitch, as a pianist you shouldn't have too much of a problem. If you have a chromatic tuner you could leave it on your music stand while you play to check that you are in the ball park.
Having the ability to play well by ear is a very useful skill, one that will compliment the ability to read music a great deal, nurture that skill.

I've also just treated myself to a violin for Christmas, as I wanted a 2nd instrument as a change to my clarinet, and I thought something to challenge my ear a bit more would be nice, and I had a fancy for strings. The infinite possibility of variation in pitch on a violin seemed to fit the bill. And yes I know you can vary the pitch on a clarinet (boy do I know it, often when I don't want it!), but all else being equal if you cover the right holes you should get the right note. The challenge of an instrument with nothing to guide you other than your own ear seemed appealing. I may change my mind later!

I couldn't get a sound at all out of my new violin at first either - so much so that I thought something was wrong with it! A bit of research taught me that I needed to put a lot more rosin on the new bow than I thought - and roughen the surface of the cake too. I can now get a sound out of the open strings, but finding a note with the fingering is going to be more challenging. I'm waiting to get back to work after the holidays so I can use the practice rooms to do some real practice, as I don't think it's fair to inflict my neophyte scratchings on the neighbours too much. I'm determined to try and learn to play it by ear, rather than putting any kind of marks on the fingerboard as that spoils the point of it really. I'll have to see how it goes - this time next year I may be playing the spoons instead!

I am really hoping the problem is me rather than the instrument because i don't want to spend $$$ on an instrument until I know for sure that I'll continue with it.

I'm somewhat convinced that it's me because how is it possible that the violin can make a nice sound on open string but not when i press on it???

Anyways, isn't it cool to learn something new? Congrat to your decision too!! I'll frequent this board with lots questions!!

Thats how I learned to play my Viola, have a tuner handy though. Stop in random places and see if your just in the ball park, also practice long tones (do you call them that on bowed strings?) or full bows on pitches to get the sound in your head. I think the problem you two are having is that your not putting enough preesure on the string with your finger tips (not pads) Then again, I just play Viola >_>

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Thats how I learned to play my Viola, have a tuner handy though. Stop in random places and see if your just in the ball park, also practice long tones (do you call them that on bowed strings?) or full bows on pitches to get the sound in your head. I think the problem you two are having is that your not putting enough preesure on the string with your finger tips (not pads) Then again, I just play Viola >_>
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I don't have a tuner yet. I use the online violin tuning thing that plays you the four strings and try to tune to it. My violin goes out of tune very easily, i cant tell if I'm trying to play a song, because I won't know whether I'm pressing on the wrong place or if it's out of tune. But I can tell when I'm playing scales (scale i should say, since I've only learned the G major now).

Viola is awesome, i love the warm sound of it, but that's another clef that i will have to learn!!

I would agree with this - the same happens on a cello if you do not press firmly enough. Also, the tone of the note is more muted anyway when the string is stopped and it takes a long time (well, it did for me on cello, anyway) before you can get a really nice tone out of a stopped note, particularly on the weaker fingers and further up the fingerboard. Also, to give better strength to your fingers you need to "open up" your hand - make the hand like a (five legged!) spider, so that the knuckles are well curved and you can stretch the whole hand in this position. You can practise this on any hard surface away from your instrument.

My problem isn't so much getting a note with my finger on a string, but getting the finger in the right place to get the correct note I'm aiming for. I'm determined to do this without looking - I want to be looking at the sheet music, not the violin. Just a matter of practice, I hope.

Wow that's great you started to learn the violin! I'm sure you'll have lots of fun. I remember when I first learnt the violin, I used to spend hours bowing on the open strings and then putting each finger down on the string i.e. D, first finger E, second finger F, third finger G, fourth finger A...then I eventually got use to the fingerings and what it should sound like. I played lots of simple songs that I know by ear but I did practice with music as well. I also played a lot of scales and arpeggios to help with my fingerings and intonation. It's all a matter of practice But the best thing to do is to have a teacher, you can get into so many bad habits with the violin.

Have fun!

alto is really easy, i wouldnt worry about that

Have you got any rosin on the bow?

If you start with Alto, its easy to learn Treble Clef.

I think that the pro's employ varying bow pressure to assure more consistent volume as they fret up and down the violin fingerboard. (If you press harder, you create more frictional force, and deflect the strings further each time they slip and snap back to vibrate. I'm not a "pro". I'm not sure I can even call myself a beginner yet, as I am rosin-less at the moment, and have only strummed "Aloha Oe" on my violin.)

The violin, I suspect, deserves its reputation as a difficult instrument to learn to play. One reason I opted to go the electric route, so I don't create unpleasant sounds that actually have volume until I have the ability to sound good enough to risk someone else hearing me practice. Besides, I can always plug the instrument into headphones and remain silent but audible if there is some environmental noise.

I have a digital tuner for my ukulele. I get the impression that whether one is playing a flute (due to breath pressure effects) or a violin (due to continuously variable "analog" rather than specific, visible "digital" fret positions), it is useful to know if one is attaining the notes that one desires. I suspect it will prove a valuable means to insure that first the violin is in tune, and second, that my playing is "in tune" relative to the notes I am seeking. They're fairly inexpensive, even with a metronome, on E-bay. Pricing for the metronome tuner and external, clamp-on pick-up was very close to the local music shop, but complexity of operation pushed me in the direction of E-bay's more varied offerings (supposedly two buttons to any mode, if it ever gets here).

Good luck!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (Have you attempted "Auld Lang Syne"?)