Welcome to our forum. A Message To Our New and Prospective Members . Check out our Forum Rules. Lets keep this forum an enjoyable place to visit.
Currently working on getting badges to show up horizontally. Should hopefully figure that out within a week. Thanks for your patience.








Honorary tenured advisor

Ok only a few days away from 3 weeks playing violin... and I'm doubting everything! I mean, before I was not really thinking where to place my fingers on the fingerboard, I was placing them and playing, modifying the position by ear. Now I'm checking charts, placing fingers where they are supposed to be according to the charts and I'm not satyisfied with what I hear! So I'm wondering if I did it right or wrong the last 2 weeks.
Is this happening to some of you guys also? At this point I really wish I had a teacher to reassure or correct me!
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov

Regular advisor




NV, I just saw your post; I JUST had this same conversation with my teacher last week!!! Mine took a little longer to occur, but same issue. For 3 months, I had been diligently practicing, and felt pretty sure of [pretty closely] where my fingers should be. Then, all of a sudden, I began feeling somewhat "dislocated" on the fingerboard. I began wondering if what I was hearing was right or not.
Here's my teacher's explanation; he believes that people experience this problem because they actually start hearing more accurately. He thinks that at first, as long as you're intonation is close, your ear really can't distinguish more minute adjustments.
Have you ever been on a long journey to a new city... at first, you're just happy that you found the right city,,, but then you discover that you really aren't exactly where you want to be in that city, so you experience some degree of anxiety until you've found the exact street that you want to be on, and then you experience a certain degree of satisfaction and content that you've found the right street,,, but then, more anxiety because you haven't yet found the exact apartment or store that you want to find,,, until eventually you are EXACTLY where you want to be.
I have always used a pitch analyzer to tune my violin, and occasionally to check my intonation while practicing; but I now spend the first part of every practice session using my pitch meter while slowly running through my lesson, making sure that my intonation is accurate. I place it on my music stand right under my lesson and monitor every single note.
That's how I'm dealing with this issue.... it's helping a LOT! Don't get discouraged, you WILL work through this. Yes, it is great to have a pro [teacher] who can detect intonation immediately. My teacher is my immediate, human, pitch monitor. But, for lack of a teacher, get a good pitch analyzer; if you don't already have one, FM has a couple really affordable units.

Honorary tenured advisor

Ftufc, thanks a lot, I'm happy to hear it's part of the game! I just ordered Zyex strings (with a silver D to hopefully make my D string less dull lol) and new rosin from FM so will check for that pitch thingie when I have more spare money. I think I saw one that you can attach to the scroll of your violin. If it helped you it will help me also! Love you guys for the advices!
Oliver, you are right of course hehe, your straight to the point is refreshing! FM was telling me the same thing in the chat yesterday, charts are just a guide not the exact thing. But when I'm sure I have the right position for a note and I check my finger and see it's not where the chart sasys it's supposed to be I freak out. FM said "stop freaking!" lol.
BCShalom, I know I will have a good laugh at my videos next year! Speaking of which, I need to do my week 3 wow time sure pass by fast!
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov

I went through the whole doubt phase a few weeks ago. I felt like my fingerings were constantly off! After a few days, it did pass. I think part of it was that both my violin and strings were finally breaking in. That and the weather was causing all kinds of chaos! LOL
After I retuned up, I just started working on something completely different and fun. Just to get my mind off of missing the scales and fingerings! Believe or not, that little mental break helped immensely!
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” ~Benjamin Franklin

Honorary tenured advisor


NoirVelours said
It's been raining all the time these past days, can humidity really affect how you violin sounds?
Humidity causes wood to expand and contract which can lead to differences in sound! In some cases, the more humid the weather is, the more dampened and duller the sound (at least with acoustic guitars). But the strange thing is, I've seen other wood instruments perform better in humid conditions! I guess it's all about the constructions and type of wood used!
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” ~Benjamin Franklin

Honorary tenured advisor

Darn we don't have rattlesnakes in Québec they would die of cold! Fiddle fairies eh? Ok time to take out the Caribou bottle and offer them a goblet so they leave me in peace!
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov
1 Guest(s)

