People come up with lots of excuses when they try to talk themselves out of learning an instrument they have always wanted to play. If you love the violin, perhaps you've told yourself that it's too difficult. Or maybe you think you're too old. The truth is that you really can learn how to play the violin no matter what your circumstances.
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 first be taught the four main positions on the violin. Those first position is at the end of the neck and will give you the low notes. The last of the four positions is close to your face and will give you higher notes. The four strings are tuned to G, D. A, and E. Play the strings "open" (with no fingers pressing on the strings) and these are the notes you will hear. Press you fingers on the strings at different locations and you will hear different notes.
There are two ways to play these notes. Most start out by plucking them. This is called pizzicato. The other way most people are familiar with is by steadily drawing the bow across the strings in a long stroke.
In addition to learning how to play the violin, you'll also need to learn how to read music. If you don't know how to read music before you learn how to play, you can begin by studying music in a more basic fashion either by taking classes, having someone versed in music teach you, or studying on your own to a certain degree by going online and searching out various tutorials.
You should know before you start that it will take years of hard work, dedication and practice before you become an expert and that's OK. You don't have to be an expert to have fun playing this wonderful instrument. Just get started and you'll see what I mean. - 32618
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 first be taught the four main positions on the violin. Those first position is at the end of the neck and will give you the low notes. The last of the four positions is close to your face and will give you higher notes. The four strings are tuned to G, D. A, and E. Play the strings "open" (with no fingers pressing on the strings) and these are the notes you will hear. Press you fingers on the strings at different locations and you will hear different notes.
There are two ways to play these notes. Most start out by plucking them. This is called pizzicato. The other way most people are familiar with is by steadily drawing the bow across the strings in a long stroke.
In addition to learning how to play the violin, you'll also need to learn how to read music. If you don't know how to read music before you learn how to play, you can begin by studying music in a more basic fashion either by taking classes, having someone versed in music teach you, or studying on your own to a certain degree by going online and searching out various tutorials.
You should know before you start that it will take years of hard work, dedication and practice before you become an expert and that's OK. You don't have to be an expert to have fun playing this wonderful instrument. Just get started and you'll see what I mean. - 32618
About the Author:
If you want to learn how to play the violin visit www.Discount-Violins.com. We'll let you know where to look to find quality instruction on the Internet, 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.
