Help with violin?

Question:i'm a sorta slowly-moving violinist, specifically a suzuki-trained one. ive been in an orchestra for 2 years, while taking suzuki training for 3. my teacher was a perfectionist so i was never taught the cool techniques... like vibrato. and since im a suzuki, i was never realy taught the names of the notes. suzukis are people who play music strictly by ear [and dont learn how to play the notes for several years], which i am extremely good at because i have a talent for music... i can play almost anything i hear... like my chemical romance songs, and the monday night football theme, the scottish national anthem... it goes on forever. but i need technique helps. like vibrato especially.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: i'm a sorta slowly-moving violinist, specifically a suzuki-trained one. ive been in an orchestra for 2 years, while taking suzuki training for 3. my teacher was a perfectionist so i was never taught the cool techniques... like vibrato. and since im a suzuki, i was never realy taught the names of the notes. suzukis are people who play music strictly by ear [and dont learn how to play the notes for several years], which i am extremely good at because i have a talent for music... i can play almost anything i hear... like my chemical romance songs, and the monday night football theme, the scottish national anthem... it goes on forever. but i need technique helps. like vibrato especially.

Vibrato is a process that you learn over several months, sometimes years. You start by approaching the violin with a good solid left hand. Make sure that your thumb is planted correctly, more or less perpendicular to the neck. Make sure also, that your fingers have a nice curve and that if you sight down the neck, you can see a good clear tunnel through the opening between your fingers and the neck.

Next, try the following exercise. One at a time, with each finger, play a note on the same string (you may use the standard 2/3 hand position for this exercise, in other words one finger on each tape) Play a note for a count of four full beats. Then, lay your finger back against the fingerboard. Roll it all the way back until the side of your finger is actually touching the fingerboard, and hold it for a count of four more whole beats. Do this at least four times and then halve the time to two beats for at least four repetitions. Next, halve the time again and again until you can no longer precisely measure the time. At this point, you are not quite touching the fingerboard and your had should be moving back and center (never forward) more or less on it's own. Then do the second, third and fourth finger the same way.

It is dreadfully important to establish the exact pitch first. Vibrato should never be a mask for poor intonation. Remember that you are learning this over the space of several months. Don't beat yourself up and don't try to hurry the process. All of a sudden, it will feel more or less natural to you, and then you can refine your technique over time. You need several distinct types of vibrato, depending on the speed and time period of the song. This simple exercise should get you started, as long as your are patient with yourself.

As far as reading music, starting from the bottom line, Empty Garbage Before Dad Freaks, the spaces are plain as the nose on my F - A - C - E and you should learn the fingering one note at a time, preferably at least one note per week. Make a flashcard, collect the notes you have the most trouble with and quiz yourself when you are bored and doing nothing else.

Remember that notation is just a graphical representation of something you already know by instinct. If you can read a graph in mathematics, you can read notation. think of the bar-lines as squares in a sidewalk, and the beats as footsteps you take to get across that square. Giants walk as slow Whole Notes. Dads and Moms walk as half notes, Kids walk as quarter notes, Toddlers walk quickly as eighth notes, but they can't step very far. Dogs and cats walk as sixteenths. Remember the dollar bill theory of notation. There are four quarters in a dollar, four quarter notes in a bar of four four time. Two half notes, etc. Most of learning to read music is doing it. After awhile, just like vibrato, it becomes natural and as soon as you stop thinking about it consciously, it will become genuinely useful to you! Hope this helps.

Why not just go on a site on the Internet that teaches what you want to know.... there are books, videos, DVDs, Cd's and on line lessons.. or you can go on google and type for instance....playing vibrato on the violin, I'm sure that there are pay and free sties...it wouldn't hurt to check...good luck ...bye.

http://beststudentviolins.com/PedagogyTe...

(5) Can you give me some advice about how to play the "wiggly thing," i.e., vibrato?
This is a large and important subject which is best managed under the supervision of a teacher, or at least with videotapes. Having said that, it is common that students will see teacher and other players vibrato and, usually around the second, third or even forth Suzuki books, will want to acquire this technique themselves. My introductory remarks on the subject usually are something like:

There are primarily three sorts of vibrato: finger vibrato, hand vibrato, arm vibrato. Vibrato is very personal, and also dependent on the style of the work in question. Zukerman suggests a "continuous vibrato," but performance practice requires that one recognize that in early music, vibrato was considered to be an ornament and used sparingly. Students normally exhibit a desire to learn this technique, struggle for some time to acquire it, and then wake up one day with a vibrato. Vibrato should be used knowingly and deliberatly, rather than continuously and nervously.

Resources on Vibrato
Violin Masterclass
"Vibrato to your Heart's Content", John Krakenberger
The Violin case
The Violin Site Folk of the Wood
Violin Tips
Experts About.com