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You just got started, very enthusiastic and ready to practice. Then you can't because you are too bad. That's like it is right now. Even my cat don't like the awful sound. She hides. (LOL.) I'm trying to practice when they are out of home, but one of them is at home all the time. Trying to do most silent exercises, but it's restricted how much you can improve with just that. I don't want to disturb them, but I want to become a good fiddler.
I'm picking up a mute tomorrow at the local store, maybe that will help to make it bearable. Maybe I just should move into the doll's house or the garage.
How did you survive the start? Have long will the tunes stay that bad? Is there any exercises for making a cleaner sound?
'Armed with theory, practice becomes meaningful. Through practice, theory becomes fulfilled.' - Egon von Neindorff.

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I started with playing electric, so it was very quiet at first.
I most often play the acoustic in a hallway/stairwell that closes off from the rest of the house by doors. That way it isn't quite so loud for the other people in my household. Before the autumn chill got into the air, I used to play outdoors in the backyard, and still do occasionally when it is a warm evening. I make it a point to restrict my playing time on the acoustic to when people aren't trying to sleep.
I have never tried mutes, but from what I understand they make quite a difference in the volume.
I think pretty much everyone's playing sounds a bit rough and awful at first. I know mine did! LOL I can still make the cats wince if I happen to hit a very sour or shrill note.
Not having heard what it is sounding like when you play, it will be hard for anyone here to give you much advice. Does it sound ok when you just bow the open strings?
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman

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DanielB said
Not having heard what it is sounding like when you play, it will be hard for anyone here to give you much advice. Does it sound ok when you just bow the open strings?
No, it does not. Or, I think it's not that bad, but they other thinks it's awful as hell, even with open strings.
'Armed with theory, practice becomes meaningful. Through practice, theory becomes fulfilled.' - Egon von Neindorff.

Honorary advisor
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I know how you feel! After a month and a half, I still mess up a lot of the time. The best advice I can give you for now is to really work on drawing the bow straight across the strings. It's when it goes all over the place that the really horrible screeching occurs... Start painfully slow and make sure the bow stays over the middle of the "bowing area". It will get better really soon, as long as you persevere!
By the way, I didn't welcome you here in your introduction post. So velkommen from a fellow Scandinavian! I've been to Trondheim once ages ago on a lovely car trip across the Norwegian fjell.
~ Once you've ruled out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be true. ~

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Almandin said
I know how you feel! After a month and a half, I still mess up a lot of the time.The best advice I can give you for now is to really work on drawing the bow straight across the strings. It's when it goes all over the place that the really horrible screeching occurs... Start painfully slow and make sure the bow stays over the middle of the "bowing area". It will get better really soon, as long as you persevere!
By the way, I didn't welcome you here in your introduction post. So velkommen from a fellow Scandinavian! I've been to Trondheim once ages ago on a lovely car trip across the Norwegian fjell.
I working on that for like an hour today. Slow and painful. Hopefully it will get better soon.
So fun to see some other from Scandinavia. I have been in Stockholm some times. Not in the past two-three years. Lovely city and country.
'Armed with theory, practice becomes meaningful. Through practice, theory becomes fulfilled.' - Egon von Neindorff.

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Are the others musicians as well? If they are, it is sad to think that other musicians or artists would be so discouraging to one who is starting.
If they are not, then they may not understand that music, like any art, usually starts out pretty rough.
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman

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Members

Well, then they can't know much about it. How would someone who does not listen to much violin at all know what a beginner violinist should sound like?
Perhaps you should consider.. Playing louder.
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman

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Members

HatefulPain, it is also mean for someone to speak badly of a beginner because they do not yet sound like an expert.
Besides, if they don't usually listen to violin, they might not like it even when you play very well someday.
Actually, though, if you are trying to play very lightly with the bow and very quiet, I find that harder to get a good sound with than when I play a bit louder. You can get more squeeks and hisses in your sound if you try to play too lightly. With my first acoustic, I didn't actually know it could sound good until I heard someone else play it quite a bit louder and enthusiastically than I had been trying to play it. So there is at least some chance that you might get clearer sounds if you play a bit louder, by drawing the bow faster and pressing down a little harder with it.
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman

Regulars

Actually, I think the speed of the bow drawn across the string's is the deciding factor on whether you get squeek's or not. The faster your bow speed the less annoying squeeking you'll get. It also has to do with how firm you press down on the string's. Of course there's alway's the rosin factor.

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Thank you guys for the advice's.
I have no idea what kind of rosin it is. It's from the maker, so it's probably something he have made (It's a light one.). I also have a Alice rosin, but I have heard that's not a good rosin.
'Armed with theory, practice becomes meaningful. Through practice, theory becomes fulfilled.' - Egon von Neindorff.
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