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My violin strings are immensely difficult to press down. Notably the E String, which broke today. After trying to tune it, the ball end of the string gave, and the my violin Bridge has a relatively deep cut. My strings are D'dario Prelude strings. Compared to my friends violin, these strings are very harsh sounding and im not sure if the intonation is right. Please Help! Any suggestions on how to make the strings less tight?
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Is your violin tuned way to high maybe? Who or what are you using to tune your violin? Are you tuning outside of Low to high GDAE (440 A)? There's many alternate tunings...Plus digital tuners can be confusing when they include up/down options for sharp and flat tuning.... You're saying that your bridge has a deep cut, that could be your problem. Is your violin bridge cracked where the string goes?
Also, learning a string instrument for the first time will get your fingers tired...Mine have bled a few times playing guitar forever. So do you have the right size strings for each 4 on your violin? D'Addario makes my favorite guitar strings but I'm too much of a beginner so far on violin to change my Cecilio strings. Haven't broke one yet 
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Have you strung a 4/4 violin with 3/4 sized strings? It's possible that the company made a packaging mistake.
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myguitarnow has a good point. It could very easily be tuned too high.
Check my online violin tuner out.
/fiddle-learning-tools/online-tuner/
The violin being tuned too high would cause the strings to be hard, difficult to press down, and could cut into your bridge.
Another possibility is that the bridge, or the nut, is too high, lifting the strings too far above the fingerboard.
How often and long do you practice?
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Thanks for the feedback,
I believe its tuned a little high I think. I use this online tuner:
http://www.get-tuned.com/onlin....._tuner.php
I'm not sure if it's correct. I use 4/4 strings on a 4/4 violin. But the thing is that only the E string seems to be ridiculously tight. The G, D, A strings seem a little tense but not overly painful to play on.
The funny thing is that the E string was so tight that it cut through the bridge even with the plastic protector on it. When I said "deep cut" on the bridge, I might have over-exaggerated. It's not very deep actually, its just cut a little bit deeper than when it originally came.
The Bridge was already cut by a luthier to its specifications when I got this violin. I have a spare bridge, but its not fitted and needs to be cut by a luthier. Im not sure if the bridge is too high, it looks fine though.
Another aspect is that my tailpiece is a little bit farther to the bridge than usual. This happened when my tailcord broke inside the tailpiece and I had to get a new one. The cord itself is not long enough to hold my tailpiece above the violin in the back. I had to use drastic measures of loosening the screws on the cord to its maximum length to be able to set the tailpiece horizontal to my violin. The tailpiece is kind of of slanted at an angle, where as the G string side is the lower end and the E string side is that higher.
qid=1310056833&sr=8-2
I practice about 6-8 hours a week, vary from 45min to 1 hour and half a day.
Thanks for the great support!
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That Amazon tailcord is just what you need for your violin. Make sure that you adjust it so that the end of the tailpiece ends where the fiddle ends.
Now that you know my tuner you will be using it instead right? 
Lots of pros have parchment paper or drum skin glued under where the E string rests.
.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Parchment Paper? Drum skin? is it possible to buy it online and manually glue it on to the bridge? cuz my plastic protector on the E string is destroyed.
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Very easy. If you know of anyone or an orchestra that has timpani's, they could give you the old skin from one of the kettles instead of throwing it away. You then just cut a small piece about 5 X 12mm with rounded corners and superglue it over where the E-string rests.
However, online exists too. Parchment bridge protectors 58 cents, LOL but postage must be at least a dollar in US. 
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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