Learn the Violin

The violin produces beautiful music that is timeless in nature.  The violin consists of a 4-string instrument and a bow, traditionally made with horse hair, that is capable, when combined with an experienced violinist, is one of the most divine-sounding instruments in existence.  When someone sets out to learn the violin, they truly are embarking on a journey that will change their lives.

When you learn the violin, you learn not only how to read music and make sounds, but you learn how to tune into yourself as a whole and listen to what is being created.  The violin allows someone endless avenues for expression in the form of various music types: fiddle music, classical music, contemporary music and even rock and roll music.

There are simple steps involved when someone wants to learn the violin.   The first most basic step is to learn about the various parts of the violin and their purpose.  This includes the bridge, the neck, the tuning nuts, the fine tuning nuts, the F-holes and even the bow.  This is not an exhaustive list, but it is a brief rundown of the basics.    

The second step is to understand how to position your hands, arms and chin.  Learning the correct placement of your body around the violin in the beginning is vital.  This is because if incorrect placement of your body is learned and used frequently, it can become a habit, which is much harder to break when it is already a reinforced habit.  Also, the more important aspect of correct placement is that if your body is out of placement, this is going to impede proper playing of the violin.  It may be harder to reach certain notes or playing speeds if your body is out of correct placement.

The next key factor when one wants to learn the violin is to learn to read sheet music.  This can be the most time intensive process when learning the violin, however, it does not need to be.  This easy-to-use course will allow you to pick up a violin and be understanding and playing the violin like a pro in the same weekend.

Once you have these main concepts in place, it is important that you begin with the basics such as scales and basic exercises.  These can be found in any standard violin music book available at any music store.  Learning and knowing scales may seem tedious at first, but the reason is so your ear and hands may calibrate to each other.  Also, knowing what scale you are playing (in terms of key) is important because every song you play will also have an associated key.  Knowing what notes will be flat or sharp based on the key of the piece will be essential to playing a piece correctly.

The final item I will provide here is to locate a mentor or teacher.  This is vital when wanting to learn the violin because only so much can be absorbed through self-teaching.  In person lessons are a good way to go, however, this can be expensive.  The best method I’ve found is to use is Eric Lewis’s Violin Master Pro which is a course that will teach all of the important information described here, and then some.  He uses an extensive video library to show and teach everything needed to learn the violin quickly.

To learn the violin is to truly learn how to listen to and then produce beautiful music for yourself and for your friends and family to enjoy for many years to come.