I have recently noticed that my intonation is some times better than others.

I do understand that this probably happens to everyone, but right now I’m noticing that the quality of my intonation is a reflection of where I’m putting my attention.

My intonation is often poor when I’m working on learning new music or focused on specific difficult passages or techniques. Sometimes it's so bad that I embarrass myself -- even when nobody else is around!

But when I let loose and leap into playing some favorite music -- without thinking -- my intonation is most often spot-on. I use lots of double-stops and drone notes so it’s easy to tell when it’s right or wrong.

I don’t know exactly how this works. Maybe it’s a left-brain vs right-brain thing. Or maybe it’s having my attention closely focused on the tune or thinking about positions, strokes, timing, etc. Or maybe it’s like riding a bike or swinging a golf club -- you do best when you don’t think about it.

I’’m not a highly skilled violinist, just a hack fiddler, and I wonder if more advanced players experience something similar.