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Practicing the Violin Violin Lessons for Kids

The Buddhist Art of Violin Practice

Photo: Pink Sherbet Photography

Basketball MVP Allen Iverson famously had to take it on the chin for his poor attitude and memorable soundbites about practice. Still, western culture sees practice as a means to an end. Practice is the necessary evil we must endure on the path to musical bliss.

The problem with that western concept is that will power alone can’t sustain us through that 10,000 hours of must-do time on the chin rest. And no amount of parental nagging will can create a Sarasate Tarantella like the one I heard 12 year old violinist Karen Ferry play today.

Then how and when can we achieve true mastery and harmony with our instrument?

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Getting Started on Violin Practicing the Violin

Feeling Lazy? Naughty? It Might Just Be Your Practice Room

choose your violin practice room with care

When it’s time to practice, your gorgeous home may be your very worst enemy. The luxurious carpet. The rich and inviting furnishings. The decorator paint colors on the wall. They’re all tiny signals that tell your mind: “Relax, enjoy. It’s all good.” And that may be the single worst message you can plant in your brain at practice time.

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Practical Violin Practicing the Violin

The Practice Clock is NOT Your Friend

Are you practicing on a timer? Playing 30 minutes a day, or 45 every other day? Or some other random number?

Take that clock off your wall. It shouldn’t be the master of your practice time.

How much time should you practice singing per day? Here’s a simple answer: Practice as long as it takes, no more, no less.

Why practice thirty minutes, when you can get the job done in ten? Why set random time goals into place, when they have little or no bearing on the results you need?

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Getting Started on Violin Suzuki Violin

Music Teachers: How to Push the Practice Reset Button

Viola with Reset Button

Aargh!! It’s lesson time and here comes that nasty passage. Your student’s execution sounds no better than it did last week. Or for the two weeks before. Did he even practice at all? Did she just blindly plow through those four measures thinking it sounds fine? No amount of explaining, cajoling, pleading, demonstrating, or drilling seems to make any difference. Another week rolls by, and still no improvement. As a fellow music teacher, I feel your pain.

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Practical Violin

How to Fix a Broken Violin String

Lots of players and parents continue to send me questions about broken violin strings, even though I did cover the topic in this post. Still, this short video offers additional help.

After watching the video, please re-read my original post. With any luck at all, you’ll be fine.

Remember these key points:

  1. DON’T PANIC! Broken strings are a common problem. Keep a spare set of strings in your violin case.
  2. Whether installing a new string, or simply tuning your existing strings, raise the pitch slowly as you turn the peg (or fine tuner), and don’t go past the desired pitch. Use a tuning meter.
  3. Keep your violin and pegs in good working order, and always store/transport your instrument at a moderate temperature. Maintenance and transportation problems can lead to excessive tuning, which in turn can break strings needlessly.
  4. Your violin strings may (and likely will) need to be replaced long before they break.
  5. Last but not least, never remove more than one string at a time from your violin, broken or not. Doing so can cause the bridge to collapse. That’s not good.
My thanks to Shar Music for providing this video.