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It's been a long time since I posted here...my name is Sara and I've been playing violin for six months. I played in 4th-8th grade and then I quit and hadn't seriously picked it up since.
To start with, I bought a violin off eBay. I wouldn't quite call it a VSO, but it is not beginner-friendly. It has a strong, loud sound that easily turns screechy. Because I live in an apartment and I don't hate my neighbors, I decided not to subject them to my introductory playing and bought a mute. It made the violin sound much more palatable, and I knew no one outside my apartment could hear me.
I finally decided to invest in a decent beginner violin, which is coming this Tuesday. I'm really looking forward to it. But I'm wondering if I should practice with the mute with the new one. I still don't hate my neighbors, and I still sound like a beginner. But I know that it's negatively affected my bowing technique. But I've grown to like the muted sound. My teacher really prefers that I practice without the mute. She says it covers for your mistakes too much- which is exactly why I like it! LOL. Any thoughts on muted practice?
~Sara
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This question is asked a lot. Personally, I think that it should be asked by each person needing to know because their circumstances and thoughts are different, and deserve their own topic.
This is really dependent upon a lot of things. You said that you still do not hate your neighbors, so that says a lot about your particular situation, as far as what you CAN do. That is as important as what is best for your playing. You have to live there, with your neighbors. I do not know the situation, I am assuming it is an apartment. That means, most likely a person on each side, possibly above and/or below, also, and maybe across a hall directly or diagonally. You may be able to speak to all those whom you think will be concerned and maybe come up with a time that works for ALL concerned. If you are asked to not practice for a few days because someone is ill, that will decide, too.o
Then, if you can come up with a time that suits all, you can decide if you want to follow the teacher's feelings, or your own.
This is a rather hot topic, in the end, if you can work it out with the neighbors, you will have to decide if you want to hide the mistakes or follow your teacher.
There can be an issue with ringing ears because the ears are so close to the instrument, so maybe an ear plug, I just use a foam one, in the ear closest to the violin. For me, because I am right handed, I place it in my left ear, closest to the fingerboard. Again, this is debatable, too. It is up to you.
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The Bumblebee Flies!
Please ignore any typos. My typing ability on a real typewriter did not transfer to these device key pads.
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maybe practice with a mute alternating days or mqybe play with a mute for an hour and without for an hour. i think its wrong for everyone else to expect you to play with a mute in your apt building all the time. you should be able to practice some without it.. and i dont think you should ask permission either. you pay rent too.. just maybe not after 10pm or before 10am. maybe watch how long..keep it to an hour or less.
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I did hate my neighbours, so I bought an electric violin and played at full volume at 3 every morning;)
Only joking.
As a bit rusty said, I agree with him. Everyone on this forum can tell you the problems I had. I bought mute as well, but the truth s it hurt my intonation, I definitely wouldn't use it all the time, eventually you will learn how to play softly, which I can do now, even though my nightmare neighbour has gone.
Have you ever thought of taking the fiddle to practice in a park, if you get any nice weather, this would have double benefit, play as loud as you want and also get used to playing in front of people, because people will stop to listen.
When and if money allows an electric violin using earphones is a great practice option, the fiddle still makes a noise but you wouldn't hear it in the next room. You would have to change the battery now and again, unless you had an amp of course.
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@nykteria -
Exciting to hear you are getting new fiddle!
If you have a hard time playing softly on your new fiddle, let me know what strings you are using - sometimes changing to a 'warmer' set can make a huge difference.
Discussion of reducing the sharp tone of an overly bright violin in the "Overly BRIGHT Violin?" Thread - so, maybe try a smaller 'tourte' mute to help transition.
Think it's important to spend at least a portion of your practice without a mute, so if you have bare wood floors - get a rug or put blankets down on the floor & hang one in front of a wall you play near. Soft material in a room will absorb sound & help. Use some cheap sale fabric, or old curtains, pillows, or maybe a foam bed topper - get creative in a small area & you won't have trouble with neighbors.
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good point elcbk...blankets and throw rugs are good for wood floor rooms absorbing some of the sound
This next idea is extreme but if you have room for it could provide a sort of sound dampening alternative.
not sure where you are..lowes..home depot.. any home improvement type store. you can get some pvc pipe and use as a skeleton to build a frame to drape and secure blankets on. On amazon they sell heavy duty plastic clips for green screens that can be uaed to keep the blankets secure.. it becomes sort of a small practice closet. the good thing is it can be broken down and put back up. DONT use pvc glue.
the bad thing is you have a contraption in your living room. but depending on your space may not be a big deal.
did i say extreme 🙂 but it works. an idea if its doable then great. it does have a muting type effect though. one of the things that makes a violin sound better is a nice open space like a living room with wood floors...so this is kind of taking that away..but it will block alot of the sound. even more extreme is using furniture moving blankets on it instead of blankets.. but now youre spending some money. And youll need to have a good way to get you some air moving into it. 😉🙂
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Thanks, everyone, for the ideas! I do have neighbors on both sides and on top of me. Fortunately, my neighbor on the one side that I can talk says he can't hear it very often when I play. I tend to practice on a break from work (I work from home), so it's about 10 or 11 in the morning, and I usually don't practice more than a half-hour. Most likely my neighbors on the other side are gone, and when they're home, they are usually playing their own music super loud. So I'm probably being overcautious. I just can't talk to my neighbors with the loud music (they speak no English, and my Spanish is very, very limited), and I don't want a noise complaint to show up out of the blue.
The new violin comes with a rubber mute- I'm using a metal one. So that might be a good transitional mute. Unfortunately, space is limited and adding any sort of soundproofing isn't really practical, but the walls in my apartment are concrete and the carpet is thick, and it's rare that I hear others unless they're being extremely loud. I'm just sensitive to loud noise.
I know my teacher is right- I'm sure my intonation is a little sloppy because I can't hear it as well, and I know it messes with my bowing. I tend to pull the bow towards me because, with the mute on, it looks like it's resting on the fingerboard if I have it in the right place. My bowing is straighter when I take it off.
~Sara
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Yep, sound like you may be being too cautious. Have fun with it.
🐭
The Bumblebee Flies!
Please ignore any typos. My typing ability on a real typewriter did not transfer to these device key pads.
Regulars
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To me, it is not so much the intonation that a mute hinders (which it does) but even worse it makes getting good sound even less likely. It really interferes with the dynamics and resonance.
That being said, while it is better to practice without a mute, practicing with a mute is better than no practice at all.
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Day 2 of practicing without my mute. The first day, well, sucked. Of course, I'm really focusing on my left thumb and my posture as well right now, so some of it was I can only pay attention to so many things at once (thanks, brain fog). But I had recorded it with and without the mute and realized what a false sound I was getting with the mute, so I gritted my teeth.
Yesterday, though, I realized how close to the bridge I was bowing, a habit I had got into with the mute on because the mute blocks my line of sight, and I decided to move the bow up even closer to the fingerboard. It made an immediate, fairly drastic difference in my sound. It actually sounded decent, even on the E string. I recorded it and compared it to an earlier recording and it wasn't just my imagination- it was less squeaky and at the same time less...wavy? I could feel the violin vibrate more. I wish I had ditched it sooner.
~Sara
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One thing to keep in mind as you are newly exploring the sounds and bow placement, each violin has a spot on the string that they like better, and they can sometimes be different for each string. For example, my Snuffles actually likes it and responds better closer to the bridge, though the G string a bit further away from the bridge.
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Sasha said
One thing to keep in mind as you are newly exploring the sounds and bow placement, each violin has a spot on the string that they like better, and they can sometimes be different for each string. For example, my Snuffles actually likes it and responds better closer to the bridge, though the G string a bit further away from the bridge.
That's good to know. I need to play around with the E string a little, so that's a good starting place!
~Sara
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It's a general rule that the thinner the string, the closer the soundpoint is to the bridge. Also the louder you play, the closer the soundpoint is to the bridge. And also the higher the position you are playing in.
Andrew
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