What Violin Strings Should I Buy?
Everyone is always asking, “What violin strings should I buy?” The thing is, that varies from player to player. Below I’ll be talking about several different brands/variations of strings from total beginner to professional grade. I’ll also tell you what strings I use. I went through several years and several types of strings before finally…
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violinguy
How to Tighten Up Your Violin Practice Routine
I play a lot of golf, and in many ways, learning golf and learning violin are very similar. Both golf and violin have feel players and mechanical or technical players. I’m going to go into much more detail below, and at the end, you’ll see why you need to insert more mechanics into your practice…
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violinguy
How to Choose the Best Violin Teacher?
Choosing the right violin teacher can seem more difficult than learning the darn instrument sometimes, but I assure you it’s not. Let’s explore what sets the best violin teacher apart from a lame teacher, shall we? What Kind of Student Are You? Choosing the best violin teacher really depends on you. Teachers have different styles…
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violinguy
Can You Learn the Violin Online?
We live in a different world now. Human contact, especially in a hands-on environment, can be deadly these days. With proper precautions (wear your mask people!), small groups can interact, but larger groups like, say, an orchestra or choir are trouble. In our new world, artistic professionals (musicians, artists, etc.) have gone to teaching online…
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violinguy
5 Easy Tips for Better Violin Care
It’s one thing to learn how to play the violin. You go to lessons then go home and practice. Unfortunately, some teachers don’t teach how to care for your violin. Like any other tool you own, the violin needs regular care (I was going to name this post ‘The Care and Feeding of Your Violin’). …
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violinguy
You CAN Practice Sight-Reading – Really
Sight-reading is arguably the worst part of every audition whether as a student or a professional. For many people, sight-reading comes easily. For others (like me), not so much. Plus, there’s a common belief that you can’t learn to sight-read before you need to do it at an audition. After all, how can you practice…
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violinguy
Solo Violin at Weddings – How to Become an Expert
While string quartet is arguably the most popular ensemble to perform at weddings, not all brides have the budget to spend $600+ for four people. Sometimes the bride just wants one player, and if she can choose only one, it’s almost always violin (shouldn’t it be?). Solo violin at weddings really classes up the proceedings…
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violinguy
Electric Violin vs. Acoustic – What’s the Difference?
Every popular these days is the electric violin. Most of my students (especially the girls), come to me every day and say they want to play like Lindsay Stirling. As a pretentious classical music elitist, I immediately throw up in my mouth a little. Then I think hey, if she helps little girls (or fellas)…
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violinguy
9 of the Dumbest Violin Questions I’ve Heard
As a professional violinist, I get asked a lot of questions. Is the violin hard? Are your strings really made out of cat gut? How old were you when you started? And many more. Some of these questions are easy to answer. On the other hand, I’ve also been asked enough dumb violin questions to…
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violinguy
Famous Composers and Their Habits
Sometimes listeners have trouble identifying music they hear, and they try to at least guess the composer. Sometimes it’s easy (like Haydn vs. Bartok), but sometimes it’s very difficult (Mozart vs. Haydn). We all have our favorite composers that we can always identify, but no matter who you are, there’s bound to be a work…
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violinguy
Spring Updates – Some Big News
Greetings again, intrepid readers. It’s been entirely too long since I posted anything here, and for that I apologize. Spring is normally a very busy season for us freelance musician types, and this year was even more packed for me. I have some preliminary plans in place for some new and exciting content which will…
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violinguy
Musicians who Travel – Five Things they Need
Wouldn’t it be great if all of our gigs were in the same town we live in? Or at least within an hour of our home? Sadly, if you want to make good money as a freelance musician, you have to travel and stay overnight from time to time. This means long car rides, a…
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