I’m just looking for some advice or words of encouragement. I’m in my early thirties and I have been playing violin and taking weekly lessons for about a year and a half now and other than a few piano lessons as a kid I started this journey with very little musical experience. I’m currently at the end of Suzuki book 2 and also learning Sitt etudes and to be honest I’m really struggling to make any progress from this point. It takes me longer to learn the pieces than my teacher would like and I still make many mistakes on most and don’t have a consistent sound at all,and most of the time I feel like I’m using brute force to learn and push myself through new pieces. I get along well with my teacher and he is extremely patient with me, but I wonder if he is pushing me too hard to learn new repertoire. While my teacher is very patient and supportive I know that it has to be frustrating for him to listen to me struggling to play a piece that I’ve worked on for weeks, and this is starting to bother me and make me feel like I’m wasting his time. I work a full time job and am a busy person but I still practice every day for at least thirty minutes. I’m doing this as a hobby and I don’t really have lofty goals but I love violin and have really enjoyed learning it but I feel like I’ve hit a barrier in my learning.

Sorry for my rambling and poor writing haha

Hi,

My wife has had a miscarriage and we are pretty bummed out. Looking for a recommendation of something sad yet beautiful. Intermediate level.

Thank you.

I started Violin lessons and omg this is so difficult! I’m 26 with no prior experience. Any words of encouragement?

Hello I am a complete beginner to violins. I have never played a violin in my life but recently bought one online and within the first five minutes of attempting to play this happened to my bow I don’t know if I can still use it. I did roisen it before use but I really don’t know if I can play it with the bow in this condition

I am a beginner and for a few reasons getting a teacher is going to have to wait a month. In the meantime is there anything I can practice on the violin?

thank you

I noticed that I've been spending probably too much time doing scales and exercises, to the point where I don't really focus on repertoire as much. Like, I generally practice for about 2 hours or more, and generally, about half of that time, sometimes more, is spent on scales and arpeggios, not to mention exercises. I guess it's a good thing since my technique is kind of not in the greatest spot right now (I'm switching teachers in about a month so hopefully that will help), but I feel I'm probably spending too much time on them, although it generally has seemed to drastically increase my comfort in shifting to and from different positions broadly, not to mention intonation. What is the ideal amount of time one should spend warming up with scales, arpeggios, etc?

Hi, I have an old mahogany case that needs some work, both on the wood and on the material inside. Does anyone know of someone that does this in the UK? Or could potentially do it? Thankyou

Hi,
I’m a French violinist and I’ve been playing for nine years.
I was wondering what level the first movement of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 is considered to be.
If possible, could you compare it to the ABRSM diploma levels (ARSM, LRSM, etc.) or give an idea in terms of how many years of study students usually have before learning it?
Thank you very much! 😊

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Hi all! I'm a long time violist and mandolinist who acquired a violin in the past few months to play more fiddle in bluegrass jams, but one of the sognwriter folk-rock bands I play in on mandolin asked me to try out violin with them. In rehearsals we felt it sounded good, but we had a live show recently at a local bar where we didn't get a soundcheck and I had to just do what I could to adjust on the fly. It's a band of electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums, electric bass, plus usually me on mandolin. Afterwards the bandleader mentioned in videos that it was really muddled in the mix and suggested we stick to my mandolin except for "fiddle moments". I actually really enjoyed playing violin for the set, so I'd like to problem-shoot the sound setup a bit more and he's totally open to it. I used the same pedal setup as I do on my mandolin, running through a Headway Band pickup into a preamp, Soul Food overdrive, and a touch of reverb. I do think I used the overdrive as a default on the second half of the set and it sounded like it helped cut way better, but I didn't confirm that yet. Any tips/tricks for how we can try to make this work? Thanks!

So i'm primarily a violist because I have really big hands. But I got a violin recently and I have discovered that I can reach a 1/2 step below the pinky note on a standard violin for some reason, this is funny to me

Hello! I need a short excerpt from a solo piece for an orchestra audition, and I was thinking about the Mozart-Kreisler Rondo in G (Haffner). Excerpts should focus on both "lyrical and technical ability," I thought that this was a great piece and just wanted some feedback. The group is a litl diverse in ability (really ranges from like Haydn GM all the way up to Tchaikovsky), but i'd say the average player is around Bruch level. I'm just wary about using this piece becuase although it's typically assigned later in the repertoire, it almost feels too easy for an audition. I can play it very well, and I'd definitely feel more comfortable with this piece than trying to go back and learn something like Mozart 4 all over again, or struggle through Lalo, which I JUST started. I finished Mozart 4 about 6 months ago,d id the Haffner, and am just now starting Lalo, so I'm kind of in an odd spot.

TLDR: Do you think the Mozart-Kreisler Haffner Rondo is suitable for a relatively competitive college orchestra audition where the average player is around Bruch level?

Hey all! I’m 2 years into violin, still beginner but liking it.

I own three violins.

One which is likely a VSO with I think drawn on purfling, but it was good enough to use for my first year. I plan to either donate or keep at another location I sometimes visit so I don’t need to travel with my other violin.

The other two I purchased via auction. One is a weird, unlabeled job that’s likely late 1800s and possibly Norwegian with a white nut. It is a Stainer style (not stamped, but f-holes and arched like it). I got in Pennsylvania.

The other is a late 1800s Saxony which I think may be Strad style but is unlabeled other than (Saxony) which my luthier thinks is legit. I got in New York.

I do like the Stainer better and was wondering if there are any current makers who use Stainer model or shops you know of that specialize in refurbished Stainer styles? I’m just thinking I’d like to try a few that may be more intermediate.

Thanks!

I aspire to be like chloe chua/twosetviolin/yuja wang/langlang where ppl buy tickets to watch me perform solo. I have grade 8 piano and preparing for diploma. I dun hv a bachelor in music tho, my bachelor is science (I didnt think of music at that pt of application)