augustoad said
Hey, @mischa91 !

I think you should move your hand back closer to the nut a bit, putting your thumb aproximately where the nut is, as it seems as your fingers are a bit out of place. They're pretty close, though.

I had never listened to this song before, so I can't tell if it's spot on, but it doesn't sound bad so I suppose it's not. XD Are you using any sort of sheet music? If so, could you share it with us?

For the bow and violin hold, I recommend playing while looking at a mirror. It helps getting the bow straight and holding it right, but you've got to pay attention to yourself as you play. Play a bit on the mirror, then stop looking, play a bit more and look at the mirror again to see if you're doing it right. That's how I got a bit better with the bow, anyways, hope it works for you.

Playing a bit with the side is ok, if you want a softer sound; However playing with it flat provides a much richer sound. I've seen some violinists who play a lot with the side, but I guess it's better to play with it flat. Try using the mirror technique for this as well.

Other than that, it sounds fine to me. Sorry for babbling for too long.

Hey, thanks for the reply!  

Oka, I'll try moving my hand further back Towards the nut, and watch myself play in the mirror, that does sound like a good idea.  I can't get a very good angle videoing so the mirror might help.  Funnily enough before it bought my electric & now this one I'd never played on a full size violin.  I have tiny hands so was playing on a 3/4 all through high school.  I'm not surprised my hand is slightly out of place, it's probably in the same place it would be on a 3/4.  

im playing from sheet music I found over the holiday, mines hand written out by my old teacher so I found it online to post here.

Yeah, I've seen people play with the side of the bow and I guess sometimes it's unavoidable but I think I could improve dynamics if I could play more with the flat too.  

@Risk.great idea.  I'll definitely do that with the straws, that sounds like it would help keep my bow from wandering all over the place.

Brand new strings, I just put a whole new set on maybe 30 minutes before this. They kept un tuning so it's probably not even in tune.  I have an electric tuner which is great.  Hopefully the strings will break in quicker.  I have a few earlier videos that sound better but you can't see my left hand so I put up this one which shows both hands and makes the neck resting on my palm super obvious.

@.  thanks for the tip, I'll try it out this afternoon.  Looks like a great position to practice shifting from too.

Fiddlerman said
Very cool. Great post mischa,

This is the best way to learn. Post your progress and get advice. Plus you help others that do not dare to post their playing. Takes a lot of courage.

Two things technique-wise that you would benefit from correcting before they get engraved in your playing. The first is your left wrist. The hand should not rest on the neck but instead, your wrist should be fairly straight. Takes a little time to get used to but it will free your movements for the future. Less prone to pain later too. Secondly, I would like to see you bow more using elbow movement. Right now you use too much shoulder movement which is why you are not bowing as straight as you could be. I suggest doing some bowing (on open strings if you like) in front of a mirror for about 5 minutes at the beginning of each session just to get used to the motion required to bow straighter. No one bows perfectly straight but if you bare in mind the necessary motion from the beginning of your sessions and let it carry over as much as possible, it will just get better and better without too much effort.

As far as intonation is concerned, don't worry too much, EVERYONE plays out of tune and we understand stretching strings very well. The goal is to learn to hear if a note is too low or high when practicing slowly and to correct it before going on. Then, it's great to memorize that better finger placement as much as possible until your fingers come down automatically in a better place. Doesn't have to be perfect. It is however something that we need to keep in mind always. What some people do is they try to figure out what is wrong with a particular note and then place an arrow on the note. For example, one note that was slightly low frequeently was your 3rd finger D on the A string. You could put an arrow pointing up to remind you that you are sometimes flat on that note.

It's obvious that you have talent and will be progressing fast. I enjoyed your performance and look forward to the next one.

Thanks!

sadly the left hand issues are already in my muscle memory.  I used to play like this when I was in high school and no one pointed it out, then a few years back when I bought my electric I just picked up where I left off and brought the bad habits back with me.  I should have posted as soon as I picked up a violin again and addressed the issues then but like you said I didn't dare post.  It'll take a while to correct but at least I've got some good tips and exercises to start with.  I honestly didn't even notice until I started to work on the vibrato exercises and they proved so difficult, which they would, it's hard to move a wrist thaT isn't straigh to start with.  

As for the bowing,Ihad no idea I was using my shoulder instead of my elbow,I wlll watch in the mirror try very hard to correct this.

yes, I probably shouldn't have posted with 30 minute old strings but I was excited with the new strings and bridge.  I'll play them over them next week or so to let them settle a bit and work on my position then I'll post a follow up video to make sure i'm on the right track.  I'll use that tip about marking the sheet music when I'm off key and see if it helps me to remember to adjust my fingers.

The strings have finally settled down and i've been working on both my hands.  My bow i think needs to come back more towards the bridge.  I have also changed my left hand position so mu thumb is more under the neck and the neck isn't resting on my palm.  

http://youtu.be/TXcAIoKjslM

The video is really short due to technical errors (idiot ipads are idiotic!)  but does my position (both hands) look any better?  Is there anything else i could improve/work on with reguards to my left hand position and my bowing hand/arm?

Thanks