Fiddlerman said
mischa91 - The purpose of the pinky is to control downwards bow pressure. Necessary especially at the frog. Hard to play softly at the frog of the bow without your pinky. By bending the pinky you have more strength and better control. It's hard to press your pinky down when it's flat. You barely have to think about it if it's curved.
I have a feeling that it's more than your pinky that is making it difficult for you to bow without bounce. Also, make sure your fingers are laying comfortably on the stick, turned counter clockwise. Perhaps you can take pictures of your bow hold or make a video so that we can try to help you a bit more.

Thanks for the reply.  I watched the video Uzi posted above and it makes a lot of sense, i think my fingers in general don't have a good hold on the bow.  I'll try to take a video or maybe photos if i can't get a good angle on the video of how i hold the bow now as i am sure at this point that it is wrong.  Luckily though my pinky is no longer reluctant to bend so at least it's improving bit by bit

I knew these hand position change would take a while and need tweaking to get it right.

My violin will be in the shop for a few days having the bridge re-cut.  The luthier said everything else looked fine and i should get it back Thursday.  While i was there i inquired about lessons and am now waiting for a call from their lesson coordinator.  I'm quite excited to be able to take a few lessons; if i can swing it i'll opt for 2 a month, cash being tight and all.  

Oh and i gave an small performance at work this morning because i had my violin in the office to take to the store during my break.  I played a tiny bit of the carnival of Venice, it wasn't very good but that was all i could remember off the top of my head.  Playing in front of actual real live people is so stressful, especially when they expect you to be good.

ElisaDalViolin said
Hi misha,

You are doing great. These exercises may be a big pain but they do make wonders

The first thing I notice was the bow hold, but you already noticed it too(great thing in recording ourselves). I think you may have the fingers a bit too high in the photo. Having the right hand as suggested in the video Uzi posted adds more equilibrium to the bow. Putting the ring finger in the frog's eye can be a reference to the rest of your hand. For the weight/pressure, it can be childish but think of your middle fingers as birds resting in their perch. 

Also, when playing on the G string, bring your left elbow inwards. This will help you reaching the notes easier.
Keep up the good work

Hi,

Thanks for for the tips!   I do need to work on the bow hold which I will do while my violin is away getting adjusted, I have an old spare bow at home I can work with.  I agree, my fingers are too high, I need a firmer grip.  I like the bird analogy, it does help to think of them that way.   I spent time working on my left hand hold so now it's time to work on the bow hold.  

The exercises are tough but I bet the first one at least will help strengthen my left hand pinky finger.

Fiddlerman said
Your hold looks fine to me. Does it feel wrong when you play?
If you can't be flexible, try sliding your fingers more together.

 It doesn't feel wrong when I play, I just get more bounce than I did when my pinky was straight.  

I have have my first lesson with a new teacher tomorrow, maybe she'll make changes to my bow hand after watching me play.  

Well the first lesson was awkward.

i was so nervous I played horribly out of tune. So out of tune the teacher put tapes on my violin.  Hopefully I won't be so bad next time and I can take them off.  Yikes, not a good way to start.

the sight reading went okay which I didn't expect it to.   She adjusted the shoulder rest on my violin, then complained about how tight it was and how hard it was to out on.  She adjusted my bow hand a bit, not much mind, curved my thumb a bit more and curled my forefinger around the bow a bit more.

um, she suggested I get suzuki book 1 and work from about half way through, also get a scale book and introducing then positions.  

I've got another lesson next week to decide if I'll stick with her or try someone else, not sure she's the teacher for me to be honest.  

augustoad said
@mischa91 , Don't worry, it's normal to be nervous in front of a teacher. When I first started learning the violin, I considered taking classes, so I went to a music school for a demonstration class. The teacher asked me to show what I knew. I was playing for around 2 months at the time, and knew, like, 5 songs or so... But I was so nervous all I could do was to play Twinkle. She suggested I learn scales and sheet music (which I did just last year), and... That was my demonstration class. XD

I suggest you stick with her, or find another teacher. Things flow much faster when you have guidance from someone experienced. I'd probably be much better if I had taken classes, and I surely would have spent less time correcting mistakes.

Hi, I was super nervous, I thought about the lesson all day which made me more nervous I think.  And first meeting someone is usually a bit awkward anyway, she seems like she's used to dealing with kids so tried to overcompensate by making small talk which i'm terrible at.  Maybe next week will be less awkward plus I'll have 3 new books and stuff I will have worked on all week.  

Shes also fine wit me doing a lesson every other week because of cost.  I don't mind starting to fill gaps in my knowledge and she is watchful like a hawk, every time my left wrist bent so slightly she mentioned it, that's wha I need, another set of eyes.  

it is time I got a teacher to help move me in a bit and fill in bits I've forgotten or just plain didn't learn to begin with.  

Fiddlerman said
Not a bad idea to give her a few more shots before looking for someone else though one usually gets a good idea of how helpful a teacher can or cannot be in a short time.
I feel it's strange that you needed to make small talk. IMAO, she should keep you occupied during most of the lesson.

I have another lesson with her on Wednesday so maybe it'll be better.  I get the new books today and it is forcing me to do more work on scales and such, yesterday i played c major in 4 different positions which i've never done before so bonus there i think!

The good thing to come out of it was i discovered the digital tuner i've been using is out of tune by about a half step, so i've got a new app to help me tune and i'll buy a small digital tuner to keep in my case.  Part of the reason i played so out of tune in the lesson i think was i was trying to 'find' my in tune by ear instead of trusting my hand placement, and because i've been listening to half step out of tune playing for a while my in tune violin totally put me off.  

The small talk thing really put me off, i'm not paying her to talk about my culture, i'm paying her to teach me violin.  If she'd talked about music or asked about my musical preference it would have been better but to ask about my cultural background was a bit off putting.

Sadly the other place i contacted about taking a tester lesson is all booked up and told me to call back next month.  Ugh.  

Schaick said
@mischa91  There is a member here who used a tuner to learn the notes.  Was it @ratvn? Wonder how he is doing?

My Suzuki Teach asked me if I wanted tapes - I said no because I wanted to train my ear.  She patiently helped me adjust my fingers every note as needed!!  Sometimes by physically moving my fingers, other times by verbal instruction.  

She can hear if my violin is out of tune by the tiniest degree!!  Could it be possible your teacher can't?

Small talk BOO!!  Do you take a notebook to your lesson?  You could write down 5 questions you can ask her if she gets off topic!!  

I have one and my Suzuki Teach wrote comments in mine - 5 things to work on for the next lesson.  How I did that lesson - always at least one positive thing.  I started writing down questions for her.

While possibly uncomfortable I do believe that there is a potential to learn from even the worst of teachers.  I also like the idea of learning from many teachers.  One reason why I have taken a couple lessons from my Bluegrass Teach.  Suzuki Teach while an amazing classical violinist [she does teach some bluegrass tunes to her students every other year] doesn't know so much about jamming and bluegrass.

Something that I find interesting  - neither Teach has had me work on scales, but instead on the song I have wanted to play!!

Good luck on Wednesday!!

I do hope that in the next few lessons I can bring up the tape and suggest we remove it to better help train my ear.  I've ive only had the one lesson with her so I'm not too sure about her being able to tell if things are out of tune, she probably can.

I didn't take a notebook but that is a good idea.  I do have questions for her so that would also prompt me, maybe help me be less nervous.  

I remember my first teacher wasn't much into scales but I had a piano teacher that was mad for them.  I do have a scale book and I honestly don't mind running through them.

thanks!  I'll let you all know how it goes.

i got the new books yesterday and I find it slightly annoying that in the suzuki book there are only 2 exercises left, I feel like I wasted money I don't really have.  I could have just worked from her book in the lesson.  Bit annoyed about that .  I did get the Wohlfahrt book finally and am looking forward to working through that myself.