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By: Ken Wilson
A violin can be an intimidating musical instrument - it's
beautiful to look at and listen to but a violin requires an
extraordinary amount of education and discipline to be played
properly. If you're thinking of taking violin lessons but feel
anxious about it, familiarize yourself with the instrument.
Here's an introduction to the art of playing the violin. As you probably know, a violinist rests his or her chin and left
shoulder on the conveniently named "shoulder rest" of the violin
and sounds the instrument by plucking the strings and/or drawing
a bow across them. One reason a violin is so much more difficult
to play than a guitar or other stringed instrument, is there are
no frets. A violinist must finger a string ever so precisely. A violin player uses his or her left hand to pluck the strings;
beginners might want to put pieces of tape on the instrument to
show where notes are located, so they can place their fingers in
the correct spots. Moreover, for purposes of learning proper
hand placement, a person's index finger is labeled "1," and his
or her pinky finger is as expected, "4" - in most instructional
booklets, the notes to be played are accompanied by numbers for
suggested fingering. There are then various positions of your
left hand that you will learn; you will most likely start at
first position. But what do you use your right hand for? And what about the bow?
Basically, your left hand creates the pitches, while your right
hand or bow is responsible for the tone, rhythm, dynamics, and
articulation of the music. Once you understand how to read violin music, you can then learn
all sorts of ways to pluck the strings, as well as multiple
bowing techniques. Soon enough you'll be ready to experiment
with the different styles of music, like classical, jazz, and
folk (or fiddling). Learning to play the violin is a rewarding hobby. Lots of people
can play the piano, and even more can play the guitar. But how
many people can say they are a violinist? About the author:
Ken Wilson for http://www.violin-resource.com
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