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String Things
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myguitarnow
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August 30, 2011 - 5:43 pm
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I still maybe using a little too much rosin but I just rub off my strings when I'm done practicing. Don't be too shy with the rosin but I have read that too much build up on the strings can cause some squeaks and flutter sounds. It happened to me.

Pky, you may be on to something with your bowing techniques. I really practice a lot with the position of my right shoulder for each string and bow from the elbow and wrist. It's always a good thing to keep re-visiting Fiddlerman's techniques.

Pay attention to your bowing pressure... When I get lazy I start doing things a little wrong and hear some squeaks and flutters. I usually take a little break then get back to practice. You'll figure it out. Don't be giving up on us now! Just experiment, practice and know that down the road you'll be making that violin sing.heart

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pky
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August 31, 2011 - 11:07 pm
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MGN, Thanks for your encouragement! i won't give up yet, but I really can't stand that sound and I will quick after a short practice. Today, I rosined my bow some more and clean my strings. Then, i noticed that rosin accumulated on my strings quickly, my A and D strings have the most rosin on it (from the accumulated rosin i could also tell I did not bow straight because it has rosin on the strings above the fingerboard). I kept cleaning the strings but each time I bow, within a minute, rosin already accumulated on my strings. 

Then I decided to take some rosin off the bow hair. I knocked it, then i wiped it with a piece of cloth (I knew I'm probably not supposed to do so). I thought my vioin did sound a little better after that. However, i did not get to the part of "Campbell's farewell to red gap" that makes the A and D strings sound bad. Any way, I'm exhausted today, and i thought i was stretching myself to even practice for over 40 minutes (including all those string-cleaning time). I will see how it goes tomorrow.

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myguitarnow
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August 31, 2011 - 11:57 pm
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I really have a feeling that it might not be string things but maybe it is your bowing pky? I will have a video or 2 of me in a day or 2 now playing and I sure do hope you all give me an honest opinion so I can better myself. I think you should post a video of your playing too pky. That's the way we catch our selves making mistakes and sounding good too. It's a pretty damn good fiddler family we have here that are willing to share and help each other.

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pky
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I know my bowing skill is not perfect so part of it is my bowing skill. However, when i have the steel strings from Cecilio, that did not happen. Even my husband said, there's little thing there. the other two strings did not do that (probably I played on D and A more often then those two). I also noticed that rosin collects on these dominant strings a lot faster and a lot more than the cecilio strings even when there was no dust on the top of my violin after I play. I don't know, I will keep practicing and hopefully it will get better (that will prove that it is my bowing:).

 

I wish I had recorded when i played on the first day i have the dominant strings on and after that to compare them with, but i did not. I will record what i have now to compare with the steel strings.

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myguitarnow
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September 1, 2011 - 1:11 am
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Oh, pky, the Dominant strings kick butt on my CVN 500 (we have the same violin brand from Cecilio). I think that I'm getting lucky on soundpost position because kkmusicstore does adjust the violins before shipping and I'm lucky enough to be close by them so I don't get all the bouncing around from truck to truck.

pky, will you put up a video by this Saturday? I will.

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Fiddlerman
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September 1, 2011 - 3:17 am
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I look forward to it. smile

Any one of you may be playing great for the amount of time you've been playing but shouldn't expect to be. It's a fantastic tool to be able to share your progress here if you dare and many members will benefit from it. Even if you have high expectations for yourself allow lots of leeway for improvement. Many hesitate to post their playing for the risk of exposing themselves to critique. Accept critique as a chance to better yourself.

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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David Burns
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September 1, 2011 - 6:17 am
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Fiddlerman said:

I look forward to it. smile

Any one of you may be playing great for the amount of time you've been playing but shouldn't expect to be. It's a fantastic tool to be able to share your progress here if you dare and many members will benefit from it. Even if you have high expectations for yourself allow lots of leeway for improvement. Many hesitate to post their playing for the risk of exposing themselves to critique. Accept critique as a chance to better yourself.

I have gotten shy about posting videos, or at least more critical of my playing. I make a video and then decide it is not good enough. I will post a couple songs I have been working on. "King Of The Road" and "The Star Spangled Banner". Must remind myself to have fun. Working too hard, sweating the details. Loosen up a bit and smile! This is a great place, and I am grateful this site is here.

 

Dave

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Oliver
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September 1, 2011 - 8:49 am
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To approach a piece as if you had to perform it in a video or some other "public" way is always a great learning experience even if it never happens but the actual performance is better yet ! 

(and much more frightening)

(BOO)

devildevildevildevildevildevildevildevildevildevil

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

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pky
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September 1, 2011 - 4:28 pm
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I will try, I don't like to be the center of attention, though. I don't know how to upload a video either, but it's a long weekend maybe I would have a lot of time to figure that out.

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GennaLea
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I don't like to be the center of attention either pky. But playing for others does get better the more you do it. Even if it is just a short video for all of us. I learned that when I used to sing for church and when I was in the school chorus.

 

I'll post something once I can play something through at least once without a billion mistakes. LOLamuse

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Fiddlerman
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September 1, 2011 - 5:41 pm
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I'll will be happy to guide you Pky. This weekend probably won't happen though. I am pretty busy here. dancing

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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myguitarnow
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A couple things pky. Go ahead and order some more Cecilio strings. They're cheep and you don't have to worry about a concert sound right now. D'addario makes prelude violin strings that are all steel too and they are cheep to buy. I never have done any alcohol rubs ever on any guitar string and don't think I will on my fiddles either (I just wipe off the strings with a cloth when I'm done playing). Play slow on your bowing and light on your fingers so you can learn how to get the right pressure to hear clean notes using each hand. I play GHS heavy gauge Boomers on my electric guitars and even pros pick up my guitars and can hardly bend the strings. But I can ;-)  Take up Fiddlermans offer. He'll get you back on track when he comes back from Sweden...

pky if you want to learn about how to record yourself and upload here, I can help. It's all a part of what I do for a living

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Fiddlerman
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September 2, 2011 - 7:05 am
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I agree with MGN about the alcohol. I believe you may risk drying the perlon out. Just use a dry cloth and if it really needs it after a month or so a quick alcohol rub, maybe. I've only used dry clothes and it has not been a problem for me.

dazed

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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pky
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September 3, 2011 - 8:30 pm
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Well, I might have ruined my strings, then, I tried cleaning them twice with alcohol wipe :(

when I used clothes, the strings squeak!

Question:

Would anyone recommend to change my daughter's steel strings to Dominant strings? She has a cvn 500 1/4 size violin. I remembered Barry suggested not to get into habit of using steel strings and should get rid of it as soon as possible,does this theory also apply to children?

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SaraO
Michigan

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September 3, 2011 - 9:01 pm
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I'm leaving my daughter's steel strings on her violin until she wears them out. I don't think it is worth the cost of upgrading the strings (for my kid) until she has been playing for several months.

Yay for beginners!cheerleader

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Oliver
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September 3, 2011 - 9:50 pm
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Strings ARE very important after everything else is under control but most likely will have little impact on a beginner.

(A grammar school man music teacher once told me that he counted it as a great success if his students knew how to hold a violin during their first school year.  That doesn't seem to invite any frills wink

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

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Fiddlerman
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September 4, 2011 - 3:15 am
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I wouldn't spend the money either. The small instruments have tiny sounds and synthetic core strings might be too weak for her violin anyway. I would also suggest waiting until she gets better. We are assuming she is like any other child now. Maybe if she has a burning desire for sound production and perfection.

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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pky
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September 4, 2011 - 11:53 am
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Thanks you all! I will wait then. She is a funny child. She does notice the sound of her violin and my violin are different and complained about it, especially when she was still using her rental 1/8 size (btw, that one is still in a luthier's shop two weeks already!). The one on loan sounds much better and has a very nice bow, but too big for her. The CVN 500 sounds better than the 1/8 and so she hasn't complained about the sound yet. 

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Fiddlerman
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September 4, 2011 - 5:12 pm
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These are good signs. Remind us again how old she is?

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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pky
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September 4, 2011 - 8:49 pm
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my daughter is 5.75 years old, she will turn 6 in January.

Thanks Barry for the tips on cleaning the strings.

 

After MGN stressed that the weird sound from my A string could be my bowing, I began to pay more attention to my bowing and found that he is probably right! When I bowed G FE DBGB DBDG of campbell's farewell to red gap, my bow was trembling and made that noise. Why does my bow do that? how could I avoid it? It did not happen until a week ago. Should I do my bowing more firmly? I do notice that my bow with less hair use to have more hair on the left now it has more hair on the right of the bow when I held the bow with hair facing away from me.

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