How To Really Play The Violin / How To Bring The Music To Life
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- Опубликовано: 6 окт 2024
- The Romantic School of Music presents: How to bring the music to life, including; How to Really Practice, The Virtuoso's Extended Markings and How to Set the Stage.
Special thanks to Becka Pearce for her fantastic talent.
I just put the music to Strida La Vampa on The Romantic School of Music Website
www.the-romant...
= Always copyright free to print, copy and use any way you like.
![Natanael Cano - Amor Eterno [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EO4prCs6WpM/mqdefault.jpg)
hello. I am 50 years old and just started to learn a violin. I am grateful to you. Thank you for your gift.
Me too ;-)
I’m 67, starting violin!
Today my first ever violin arived. I am 43 and have never played violin in my life. Then I found you by total coincidence and watched your videos half of night. I love your style, humor and sincere wish to share your gift with us all. In other video you mention how every note must be alive, that was huge for me, you have already transformed my playing and I haven't even started yet! Thank you so much for all your hard work.
I understand that your comment was made 2 years ago, but I just loved your testimony and I wish you are still practicing the violin. Its amazing when someone has this drive, this dream of something new! In my channel I have 3 videos dedicated to adult violin begginers, and in fact I have been one for the last 4 years! Cheers
Dear lover of music and the musician, your piece on the "learning to play the violin" was in itself masterful! I started out playing the piano. I practiced for hours a day. The best instructors said I had a gift and little did I know at the time how right you are in your meticulousness. But I did tear apart the very fabric of the music, got out a pencil and marked up the music and , in general, made a nuisance of myself.
Later in my adulthood I noticed the discipline had affected much of the rest of my life. However a stroke hit me when I was 42 and I spent several years in recovery. I had to learn to read again, talk again, and go through a terrible awakening---I no longer could translate the treble clef in the music nor translate it to the keyboard. I came home and sat down at the piano and touched that old friend for companionship. The shock of my discovery shook me to my core. I cried for the first time over my loss. I sat there for an hour or so feeling very sorry for myself and in essence reevaluated my entire life. M;y conclusions may be of interest to you. Someone originally sat down and wrote the music I had played. Committed it to paper. Others had played it. Others had recorded it. And.............it was still around. I decided then and there, to smile for at least I had done it and I still could listen to it. For the love of music is what I did it for and that is what I am getting out of your lecture. You see, music is the end produce but the way is what people forget or never knew.
The day this video was uploaded was my 29th birthday :) BEST. GIFT.EVER!!!
Happy birthday (Tomorrow) to you!!! 🎂🍾🍾🍾🍾❤ ...........................................................(date today 2.25.21)
I love watching this guy. He really knows what he's talking about.
Best of luck with your health Kevin. You are a great man for giving back to the violin community and sharing your gift to the world.
This gentleman is intense with common sense. Thank you for the great
care, my friend.
Thank you, Kevin, for another inpiring Violin, and Music, lesson. I have only just stumbled onto you...but, you have already made me a better Violin player.
Thank you for stumbling onto me.
I could spend all day in your channel, sir, you truly are amazing and inspiring and I just love you so, so much.
Thank you!
Kevin, pleased to meet you through your work in these videos. I am sad that accident recovery interfered with your practice schedule and am happy that you are on your feet again. Much respect and best wishes, sir. Glyn :)
It's so good to have you back, congratulations on your recovery!
I am 59 and just started playing the violin. Thank you for the videos. Best of health and recovery to you
Sandra Skokal I’m 60, and just ordered my first violin from Amazon. Wish me luck! Thanks.
@@tomseadon9965 I beat both of you. I'm 64. So challenging!
As I saw him crafting the violin an listened the piece, somewhere deep inside my thoughts, I thought about being able to make my own violin and play it and it made me cry...I love these videos
You're alive!!!
I enjoy so much all your videos, thanks for existing!
Glad you're able to play comfortably again!
I am glad you're back, and hope, you can practice and play, again.
You're video is once again an outstanding mixture of tips, humor, and - most important, IMHO - encouragement.
Thank you! \m/
~ Michael
Your videos always motivate me to practice more. I even had a pencil in my hand for an entire day whenever I went in order to get used to the straight motion.
Fascinated by his style of story telling n teaching
Great artisan n artist n musician
I'm so thankful you've endured your pains and problems and have kept the beauty of music near you and now at your hands again. Sharing your poetic insights is a tremendous gift I'm only starting to be able to appreciate.
I love this guy approach and style !!! :)
You are amazing, I love the instruction & humor, great combination with class....Thank you -Adnan/KC5OPH
You reminded me that everything is possible if you really want it, thank you
Kevin, Ive just started violin and its my first experience with music, ive been very apprehensive about the way classical violin is played and learning music theory etc, but your videos have convinced me of the beauty of it
There is beauty and a place for almost all kinds of music done well. And yes, I love the classics and hope to do a few music videos in the future.
A beautiful demonstration on how to bow correctly. The presentation had class and style which appeals to Europeans. A pity you do not live in Europe as I would certainly attend your lectures. Deep sadness about your injuries. A speedy recovery from an admirer of your presentations.
What a kind, passionate, knowlegible and generous man and violonist and luthier you are Kevin. Thank you so much for sharing with us all that precious knowledge of yours.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful gift. Learning from you is a joy!
Thank you so much!
Kevin, I am 48 years old and I have just bought my first violin. It is ironic that in this time of isolation and social distancing I now have the time to learn but am unable to obtain a teacher. I have scoured the online resources and found your videos on RUclips. I must say that I find your videos enchanting... almost reverent and magical. This is a combination of the delivery style you have - romantic and dramatic. The information that you impart is perfect. Some of the subjects are just not covered by other teachers. I have found your left hand advice to be critical -especially the exercises. Your bowing videos just clicked with me like an epiphany. I think it was the thread analogy connecting to the wrists and pulling rather than pushing. Can I ask, how should I structure my practice? Where should I start? When should the bow touch the strings and should that then be scales? Or string crossing? Or a simple piece like twinkle twinkle or Mary had a little lamb as children are taught? Many thanks in anticipation of your reply.
I apologize for missing your comment. All of these questions will be answered in the next few lessons. Just go to my "Violin Lessons" playlist and look for the most recent videos there. Though please be patient, it takes an unbelievable amount of time to get these all recorded and online.
Thank you and welcome back again ... I love your style! You inspire! 😉
I love you! Kevin!
Welcome back!
Yes! I was waiting for you to post a video :) . Thank you for making these videos.
Very happy to see you back on RUclips with new videos.
I did not break my back but I have so many tears in both muscle and tendons and displaced bones in my shoulder that it makes playing for more than a few minutes near impossible. I am only starting out but I love it. Thank you for your videos. They are charming.
I love your knowledge and the way you teach!
My friend. You inspire me to be the best musician i can. I play many instruments. Not master of any. But i am beginning to embrace that about me. Thank you for the knowledge and inspiration.
Very good lesson Maestro!
i look forward to youre plays,thank you!
I've been waiting for this for a loong time!
courage and respect.. I did not knew for the spine
thank you so much for this beautiful and inspirational video: lots of love
Bravo, bravo!!
Perfecto, another "great One" In my lifes journey and road to learning the violin myself. Thank you sir kevin lee luthier
You are very very wonderfully special! Know this... the gift of my appreciation being my reason for telling you. Thank you for all the gifts you have given me tonight, as I watch your videos, just before my journey of learning the Violin... as my first instrument arrives two days from now. I have fallen in Love with the violin suddenly and almost Magically, over the last few weeks, while learning to set up and repair them, in hopes of one day bringing back to life an old one owned by my grandfather. Until then... I have purchased one from amazon. Realizing a good Violin costs a bazillion dollars, I know I will be starting with what most great Violinists would consider a piece of junk... but I will press on!
Thank you again!
Good luck in your journey. I will be putting a lot of videos on in the near future that should help with learning to play, making, and restoring. Also photos and descriptions on Facebook, Kevin Lee Luthier. :)
So nice to have lessons by a musicologist!
Awesome Teaching!! Thank you
I am really happy that you made this video. This is an amazing lecture how to play the violin in a great way. I am learning how to play violin a little academy in Guatemala, I just started it one year ago. I know that I need to learn a lot of techniques and concepts, but today I learned that it is very important to have a good attitude.
Thank you very much for your really valuable lectures and lessons:) You must be a kind of teacher who gets the essence of art not the superficial crazy techniques only as many teachers are. I really hope you are well and give lessons to us as your health recovers💐
I played Viola for 13-15 years and put it down for 20+ years. At least you got 20 hours a year in :). Recently decided to get a violin because of some inspirational people lately. Switching out viola for the violin = a whole new set of sheet music to learn how to read because I never learned the treble clef as the "underdog" for 15 years even had a "special" clef that not many even use.... even after 20 years my fingers want to hit where they used to when I seen that dot on Alto clef.... The knowledge is still there but my muscle memory has to be totally retrained lol. I CRINGED when I broke down and put the noob stickers on for my fingers lol. (And ya I would be one that encourage a beginner to use stickers for finger placement to start with but remove them asap :) ).
At least I get to skip most of the "training wheels" part of the learning process. You mentioned the part about love/hate feelings with pieces. After 15 years of viola, I think it became more of hate/hate relationship..... lol. Viola never got descent parts in pretty much ANY piece. The Cello even got descent parts regularly.... When I first started I picked viola because I was a big guy, 6'5" 280 lbs so at the start my thinking was violin = tiny and viola would be a little bigger and fit better.... When I learned violins are "sized" it was too late and my foot was already stuck in a giant bear trap... I couldn't switch to violin because there was 4 violas and like 30 violins and the teacher never let me switch. I couldn't read treble clef at speed, but I did end up transposing the violin parts into Alto and would learn their part for fun.
The sad thing is..... Viola and Violin are pretty much the same thing.... They get one higher string and I had 1 lower string and they share the rest only I could slide up and hit the notes on that string I didn't have but they can't play any of the C string lol. But pretty much ANY composer forgets all bout that little section of violas and spreads their "love" to all BUT the Viola lol. Even the BASS got better "spotlight" from time to time. Just imagine playing William Tell Overture in MONOTONE!!!...... At least I got part of the "melody" I just had to do it monotone for almost the entire thing.... lol.
I think I only disagree with 1 thing you said in this video. Where you mention taking notes about your posture and facial expressions and such. I say that should not even be PART of the thought process as you play. I say this because once you learn the piece that will or "should" be a byproduct of you playing the piece and should be essentially clueless that it is even happening. The facial expressions and those body movements are the byproduct of you being in the "zone", that place where the world no longer exists and it is just the music and you as you are no longer playing the music as the music begins to play YOU! You should never really "practice" a certain "dance" to accompany the act of playing it because if you do, then you are engaging your brain into being "aware" of that and thinking about that instead of being where your brain should REALLY be...... totally disengaged and in that "zone" place. Once you enter it, you will be doing all kinds of stuff you are unaware of. It is the same thing with like a baseball pitcher... a guy that does something weird in his "windup".... he does not even really "know" he is doing it, he is in the "moment" but before he winds it up he does his own weird thing.
My dad was a pro dart thrower... He did a thing that took advantage of this WHOLE thing. Right before the match, sometimes he would lean over and quietly tell his opponent that the tip of one of their darts is bent a little bit. Something so small and meaningless would totally throw the other guys game way off.... because now their brain is engaged in that one little meaningless thing instead of entering the "zone" that their brain needs to be in.
The only time you should even mention the "dance" to ANY student is if you notice they become a statue while they play.... and then all you have to do nudge em a little bit so they do break the "statue" habit and that usually only happens to those who stare at their fingers the whole time so all you have to do is get their eyes OFF their fingers, and the "dance" will be the byproduct of breaking that habit. That one meaningless little thing sets that trap for their brain as it concentrates solely on their fingers.... Any magician will tell you the worst habit to have is practicing in front of a mirror. It becomes a "crutch" trapping your brain into thinking about it and when they perform, now they have no mirror to watch yet their brain is still focusing on that little bitty angle not quite sure if the audience can see it.
The "dance" only comes when you remove yourself from the world and that room full of people no longer exist and you become nothing more than a marionette puppet as the music becomes the puppeteer pulling your strings :)
If you watch a "serious" singer.... same thing. They leave this world and their face/body does all kinds of weird stuff as they only have a microphone to keep their hands/body busy. You cannot "teach" this as it is like teaching a fire how to spew all that smoke as it burns. AND if you have to "teach" this, then chances are they will be one of those that NEVER "get it". They will be one of those that go through life just simply "playing the notes".
This whole thing has been nothing but nitpicking 5 seconds of the video, but I feel strongly about it. I had a awesome instructor I got to spend some time with. He went to the extreme the "other way"..... if you are not moving you are not playing..... he would start in 5 seconds after your eyes look at the sheet. Before I even read the Title of the piece he was yelling it. All that energy he spent on that really didn't help the "learning process". But he was very passionate and I did learn a lot from him, but still cringe over the "dancing lessons". Never mention the "dance" but look for the "trap" that is not allowing it to happen. Find that one little meaningless thing or thought that is holding their brain hostage and nudge them away from THAT and get rid of that stupid little "trap" holding them back... and the "dance" will simply be a byproduct :)
On the other hand, the lesson you gave for the "bow" !!! OMG!!!! After 15 years.... 1 little bitty thing you said and 1 little exercise to prove it = !!!!!
You did the thing where you lift all your fingers off the bow except those 2 to show nothing should change in the note tone.... I really focused on that and took it further than that. Instead of "proving" to myself its a fact, I incorporated that into part of the "warmup". I will run 2-3 scales with only those 2 fingers. Since those 2 fingers in theory control it all, then why not do some "2 finger push-ups" so to speak to reinforce that whole idea. I have seen a LOT of people teach bow holds, and never ONCE have I heard anyone tell ANYONE to bow with 2 fingers. And as you said it is so simple even someone on their first day of picking up a bow can benefit 100% and after 15 yrs, it shattered the whole way I approached a bow lol.
My teacher in school used little tricks like that to teach a whole class something and only use 10 mins of her time to do it. Vibrato = get one of those little black plastic film cases you put your film in while you took it to get developed.... pop a quarter in it and put the cap on. Hold it in your left hand as if you were holding your instrument. Now watch your favorite TV show while you wave bye-bye to yourself. If the quarter "slides" back and forth you are doing it wrong.... if it pops each end of the tube forcefully, you got it. Next day she knew if you didn't do your homework as the whole class was doing vibrato and learned it while watching TV. It takes more force than necessary to pop the ends of the tube than it does to vibrato on a string = you trained your muscles to over exaggerate the movement and trained muscle memory in the process... without even TOUCHING your instrument. Actually it only took 1:30-2:00 to teach an entire class how to vibrato because she brought a film case with her to demonstrate and simply told us that was our homework. The violin just gets in the way and complicates the process of learning vibrato :).
Tldr
Holy crap a soprano apears!... amazing!
outstanding work
Excellent information, thank you.
Very artistic...
I adore your Videos I always look in hopes of new ones!!
dude, when i first clicked on to your video i was amused by your slightly odd way of public speaking, i kinda thought this was a joke, but i gotta say you are one hell of a great teacher
you're an inspiration, i salute you
rockhard of course
Thank you
"like the rebellious teenager, who has fallen in love with someone rather wicked...ignore everything that you've ever been taught and have as much fun as possible." :D I think my adult students would love that line. Even after decades of playing/performing and as much teaching, I find there are always new ways to approach and speak life into being a musician. :)
This relates to even getting my classically trained (by me or others) students to "hear" and embrace Irish/Scottish Trad... which tweaks and bends about every bit of classical bow arm, rhythm, counting and even reading rules they've ever learned. lol Yes indeed... have fun. :)
And have to add... beautiful fiddle! Love the art. (As all the purists take a collective intake of breath and shout... but but but the varnish!) ;)
Thank you so much for your comments. There are times that I do embrace simple purism, and others when absolutely nothing seems too outlandish. What a wonderful world there is that awaits the young (or old) violin student willing to explore the possibilities.
Some years back I came across a young lass with a new RUclips channel. She had a handful of followers, and and a rather original hip hop style. We had a nice chat, and I suggested: "You know, you're pretty talented - you might be able to make something of this". Little did I know... As you might have guessed, that was Lindsey Stirling...
Welcome Back!
Inspiring! :)
i am really waiting see you playing concertos for violin 😄
your lessons are really great
The next lesson is a music video to get me started, but I am now beginning my serious practice on a classical virtuoso piece. It's a fairly obscure piece that I hope to make popular again, and it is meant to be a surprise, so please don't ask it's name. At least not yet. :) Thanks!
Paganini? Sarasate? I am waiting it impatiently. :D
Genius
Violinist are nice people.
Good stuff here :)
Kevin...How did you get this way? Lovin' it...!!!
This guy is epic
Is this Frank Fritz from the the american road show? I haven't had tv in years. I figured he had some angle up his sleeve. Pretty cool if so.
fabulous, i laugh a lot with his joke.
YES!!
Take care man.
Actually, your story reminds me of that "teacher" I talk about, her son was in the class too. His after school job was fiddler at a live music hall every night. His sophmore or senior year he got into a wreck and ended up being like a 5-7 year old because of the brain damage...... but his doctor played violin and even when the guy was still unconcious after the wreck he would work his hands after he got him all "patched up" so they didnt completely go to shit. They didn't know bout the brain damage yet, but to have the guy cutting you open and patching you up actually understand what it meant to him.... Now your lucky if you get nurse to empty your damn bedpan if you can't get out of bed in a hospital.... and lucky if you see the actual doctor even once a day for 30 seconds..... His doctor started his "physical theropy" on his hands almost instantly.
Hi that piece reaches me too, where can I find the score for that? Thank you!
I just put/posted the music to Strida La Vampa at The Romantic School of Music.com =
www.the-romantic-school-of-music.com/Free_Sheet_Music/Free_Sheet_Music.htm
Always copyright free to copy, print and use any way you like.
Thanks for asking!
Seria importante que agregue traducción al español automática. Muchas gracias.
First of all, I'm very sorry to hear that you broke your back again. I'm happy that you're doing better and that we might get to see more content from you.
That said, I still maintain that Ms. Sterling is not a virtuoso. She is definitely influential, but certainly not for her nuanced technique. Hilary Hahn is a far better roll model.
I have to agree with many of the things you say, but when it comes down to it, I think you should emphasize technique more than flowery ways to identify with music.
Also, I would probably start that b on the d string in fourth position (second finger). Better tonal color.
Let me start with; Hillary Hahn "IS" one of the finest violinists in the world, and possibly my favorite of all classical musicians today. Yet, while I do wish that Lindsey could play as well technically and classically as Hillary, I also wish that Hillary could set the stage in a way that could relate to a broader audience. The dream here at the school is to have it all. Yes, of course the higher position on the D would bring out the tone more. I was simply pointing out the rules in a beginners book, and I was starting at the very beginning.
are you going to do a class for this score? I can't find it to listen to how it sounds. Is the part "at rest" included in Stride La Vampa?"
Just the sheet music at The Romantic School of Music for now. This lesson was an example for "any" song/piece. Maybe in the future....
is there any place where I can hear this played on the violin?
What was the song in step 3, because I really enjoyed it.
Everything here was Strida La Vampa. The purpose of step 3 is to "let yourself go" and have fun with it. Everything at the end was simply "ad lib" and playing around with the notes.
That is one thing a LOT of people "miss". In order to play "music" you HAVE to "jam". People talk about "music theory" but the very best "music theory" is where it teaches you "music" You can spend 4 hours a day learning every scale, every combination of keys to play those scales in, but at the end of the day all you accomplished is teaching your fingers where the note is located (not that scales and "theroy" is wrong or bad.... I just think people put too much "weight" in them).
You can teach yourself a song, but then your just a parrot blindly repeating someone elses words without understanding what you are saying.
"Letting yourself go" teaches you so much more than learning that 1+1=2 but if you take those 2 1's and put them together then 1+1=1. Now you learned that just because someone else says 1+1=2 and live your whole life saying 1+1=2 you realize you can tweak and change it just enough and make 1+1=1. If you put em together then ya, you got 1 big pile that is the same as the 2 smaller ones but you indeed still only have 1 pile at the end.
Music is just that. If it makes you feel good, and you love the sound of it, then it is good music.
The perfect song is Amazing Grace.... A noobie can learn it and be playing it, even by memory right from the beginning. How many "versions" of Amazing Grace have you heard? The same song, but it is a new "experience" every time you hear someone put a new "spin" on it. You can play the exact written notes of the "original" piece and be a parrot or put some of that "Letting yourself Go" into it and produce new good music even though the song is older than your great great great....
David Garret takes pieces that are hundreds of years old and mix them with modern rock music and just the THOUGHT of mixing Vivaldi with stuff like Metallica or something like that just doesn't sound right..... until you hear what the mix produces.... he truly proved that classical was and is "rock music". Couple guys called Black Violin do the whole hip hop/rap thing and I have NEVER truly liked that genre. Add the classical "flare" to it and because those couple guys packaged it in their own unique way, they created "music"
For someone who does not or have never played an instrument even they know where those people go to when they are the only ones in the world as they enter the "zone". Non playing people have done the "sing in the shower" type of thing so even they do understand all they NEED to understand about how to play "music". If you can stand in a factory line 8 hours a day and do the task you get paid to do..... you are playing "music" as it is no different. Repitition, muscle memory, and practice. Work a factory line for 10 years your hands do some amazing shit and your brain is really disengaged from the "actions" you are doing as you no longer "think" about it. Now a guy is on day 1 and can only do 1 of your 30 you do a minute. That is truly the only difference between a noobie and a master. How bad do you want it, and willing to to invest in the repitition and practice. After 10 years of doing the same actions over and over you can now take a nap and your hands will probably just keep going becauise your hands no longer need your brain to "think" for them.
Only those that can disengage their brain completely and remove the process of "thinking" about it can reach the level those virtuoso guys get to. If your brain is thinking about making music then you cannot get to that level.
Lot of people have heard Nutin But Strings, but don't realize that ONE of them continued on and is truly AMAzing. Damien Escobar he does a LOT of the "Let Yourself Go" He likes to put his "fate" into someone elses hands as he tellls em to be the "DJ" and play some stuff. So... they play random music and Damien Freestyles to it... whatever the other guy decides to thow at him and has produced some awesome "music" just adapting to different "beats" being played by someone else.
The true secret to reaching that level that people rarely ever reach is to realize all they have to do is disengage their brain and let it happen. Its no secret, people have been reaching that place for thousands of years. Those guys that are all into "meditation" = EXACTLY where you are trying to be when you are producing beautiful music. To them, you no longer exist as they enter their own "world" just as you will enter that SAME world if you just disengage the "thought process" of producing notes, and let that muscle memory you have worked so hard to "train".... You taught you hands how to do it, now LET them do it and take your brain out of the equation = the moment amazing stuff happens :)
@@rustykoenig3566 heelllooo again under a different video! Yes I agree with you so much! "Let it goooooooo...let it goooooo" . Are you a violinist? You are smart. And Yes I always believed and saw that 1+1=1
I just can't say it to people cause they will look at me like a freak.
@@Poreckylife @All Yy I played viola for around 10 years but stopped playing for 20+ years.
After listening to modern violin players like David Garrett, Lindsay Sterling, Black Violin and others I ended up getting a violin couple years ago.. I can tell you that you loose all the "skill" and have to literally relearn how to play. The "knowledge" is still there but your muscles forget everything and have to start all over. I even put the "newbie stickers" on for finger placement lol.
Your muscles learn faster because the brain still has the past experience stored (10 or so years in my case).
I had a awesome teacher that used simple "tricks" that made a lot of things "simple" to learn like day 1 we never took instrument out of the case... only the bow and we "air bowed" an imaginary instrument because the bow IS the violin and doing it without the violin removed some of the "complication" of focusing ON the instrument when the "lesson" was only about the bow.
Using a tube with a coin inside held like you would the neck of the violin, doing the wrist motion of vibrato that will make the coin slap each end of tube without "sliding" in the middle if the motion of vibrato is done correctly = you can teach muscle memory while watching TV.
She was a awesome teacher. Once you learn with "weird" but simple things she taught, you start to invent your own simple "weird" exercises to learn things you have trouble with..
Paginini did an "aerobics routine" designed specifically for the bow hand just as rigorous as if you worked out doing aerobic training but with a "stick" or pencil held like a bow and "hand pushups" with the stick along with other exercises that give your bow hand a "work out".
If you can isolate the "problem areas" you have difficulties with, focus on that part and "work out" that part just like you do pushups to target the shoulders or situps to target the abs... only its your fingers/hands/wrist/arms.
Remove the instrument from you "focus" when dealing with the mechanics. You wouldn't do a bunch of situps to work out your shoulders or a bunch of arm curls to work out your thighs so don't "play" the instrument to work on bow mechanics :)
This video shows the exercises for the bow hand using a pencil (that can be done anytime/anywhere without your instrument or bow.
ruclips.net/video/5Pk66NVkmqw/видео.html
Hey Kevin, what do you think about making a violin black without dampening its sound or necessarily hurting its sound?
Either through dying the varnish black before applying it?
Or using an extremely thin layer of paint (who knows what the best kind of paint would be) on top of varnish if you've already bought the instrument?
It's definitely possible to make a master instrument pitch black, and I have had a couple customers inquire about this before. Yet so far, when it comes to laying the money down for a master instrument, once they see the beauty of the finest tone-wood in person under the traditional Cremonese varnish, they have always chosen the later. Yet, as a comment, large black areas, as part of a "themed" violin can make the grain of the wood stand out even more dramatically in the "traditionally" colored areas.
I see. Thank you for the reply.
Now that would be awesome. I have never seen "black" used without it being USED lol. I have seen a bunch of solid black violins. You tend to see it more used on the Bass than violin, but there are some black violins out there. When you do it, you have to realize if you have a violin that has an AWESOME tone and sound, once you apply the "black" you change that sound forever as anything you "apply" on top of what is already there, will dampen the vibrations it originally had. Even if you are simply "lazy" over a period of time and fail to clean the rosin off your instrument, it will eventually form a "layer" on top and I have seen the tone of a instrument drastically change simply from the "crap" that built up on it because they never took 20 seconds to wipe it off when they were done. I seen one girl that when she realized that stuff does not come off and turns into concrete if left for long periods of time, she decided to use alcahol to remove it....... it removed it allright.... along with the varnish under the crap she was getting off lol..... HEY! Theres a puddle of BLEACH, I think I gotta kneel down wearing the brand new black jeans I just got!!!!! :) (sad thing is..... it ACTUALLY happened!! lol)
I did notice you used the word "paint".... if you do use PAINT, make sure you thin it out a BUNCH if you want to preserve a good sounding tone the instrument produces. Varnish does dampen vibration because it directly contacts the thing making the vibration, but varnish is thin, and a dot on a rag = covers a ton of area. If you do go the "paint" route just remember to not just open it up and go to town applying it.. make sure its THIN as you can get it and still get the color your after. Myself I think a "solid" color on ANY violin = a ruined violin...... some people like the solid black/white instruments when nothing can beat the look of natural "wood". The thing that amazes me..... and OLD OLD antique guitar is like the fenders/stratacasters from the 50s-60's and are super rare...... yet people are still rocking on 400+ year old thin wood violins and are WAY better looking than any solid painted strat/fender and plugging them into electricity to get "unique" sounds from them when those 400 year old WOOD violins produce their OWN electricity giving you any unique sound you can THINK of..... (goes without saying every time I see an "electric" violin, I want to just grab it and smash it on something! lol)
I am just SO glad that the modern "boom" happening with the "violin" the majority of the modern stuff are being done on ACOUSTIC and not wired up to the wall outlet. The closest thing to "electric" the violin needs is a microphone and even then, you can fill a HUGE space with full sound with no mic, but those that fill sports stadiums need a little "juice" to help carry the "natural" sound :). Black Violin has some amazing music and one even sports an acoustic viola, but the violin is electric.....
Then you got David Garret who takes his stradivarius and rocks metalica, ac/dc, gunz roses, michael jackson on it. He broke his one time and even then he was still playing a stradivarius that was on loan while his was in the shop and the "rental car" was insured for $3,000,000. I think that is one guy who is not a master or a virtuoso..... need a new word for a new "class" for him lol. He did a 8 hour flight to do a "thing", got no sleep.... walked in and belted out Summer pretty much flawlessly... even with the "crap recording" it sounded amazing. He just cant "fiddle" he puts too much "classical" style into "fiddle" and it just doesn't sound right, but for a german that decided to venture, it wasnt too bad, he just needs to "unlearn" a lifetime of classical training to loosen up some for the "style" :)
One day I will became a soloist like ( perlman, Hilary Hahn)😊
I dream of that day, right along with you, and hope that my videos help you achieve it.
@@kevinleeluthier thanks
hello,I know you probably won't answer me but i will ask anyway,first do you sell your violins and if you do how much is it ? i am a beginner i started violin late,but i really want to be violinist , I practice 3-4 hours a day but my parents want me to become another thing then musician,do you think i can achieve my goal or is it too late?
My violins begin at $35,000.00 but I am currently backordered, and not taking any new orders for the next couple years, until I can catch up and finish a collection of 12 inlaid "theme" instruments that are WAY overdue. 3 to 4 hours a day of the right kind of practice and inspiration, and most people can achieve just about anything. The most important part is consistency and sticking to it. Good luck!
Thanks
Um....... all I gotta say is click on his "other videos" and enjoy :). I really HATE that word "Correctly"..... believe it or not, when I am playing, my palm rests on the body of my violin underneath. A million people will tell you that is the furthest thing from "Correct" as you can get. Well... I am 6'5" 280 lbs and the only thing I can shop for at the store is a shirt.... I cannot buy shoes/pants at the store. If my hands were the same size as that 90 lb 4'9" - 5'2" person I could probably hold it like they do lol. Resting my palm on the body of the violin I am naturally in 1st position with my fingers. When I need to vibrato, I do not need to move my palm, I just simply "unanchor" it but it still stays where it its at and my fingers still have enough "wiggle room" to get a full vibrato. And when I have to slide up to 2nd-3rd position my palm still stays there, I just pivot and now it rests on the outer edge of the violin.
For me..... that is "correct" and "comfortable". For you..... maybe not so, I just take advantage of a "feature" of me that allows me to do that. The correct way = the way that does not get in YOUR way of playing.
ruclips.net/video/IGS8SR4Mu34/видео.html Watch this guy. Now... Tell me 3 things he is doing "correctly" and you would be hard pressed. He has the same hand posture I described that I have only my hand would be planted on the body of my violin. The bow hold = nobody would "teach" that, he is not even touching the frog. My teacher called it shooting the ants on the ground when we pointed the scroll at the ground. The whole weight of the instrument is being supported by his left hand.. you should be able to remove your left hand from your instrument without the violin moving any as the "support" is all your chin/shoulder.
By all that is "holy" he is pretty much doing it 100% WRONG..... but guess what? He is an awesome player/fiddler. All that "Wrongness" is right for him. My teacher would have thrown a 20 minute tantrum as she yelled at the top of her lungs at you, then depending on how worked up and pissed she got while yelling at you, get a chair flying through the air headed straight for you at the end!!!!
I suggest do not spend TOO much energy fussing over "correctness". I do believe you should be taught the "correct" way but that is where "correctness" ends for me. If you want to kill me and we both have swords but I have a gun in my pocket, ya I know how to sword fight, but i have no problems shooting you with that gun because I have an advantage you do not have. 1 person still dies, I just make sure it is you without going through all the bullshit of a 30 min sword fight when I can win in 5 seconds. By all means I was not "correct" but...... :)
If you do develop "bad habits", those habits can most certainly "hinder" your ability and hold you back. There are reasons you spend a LOT of time at the beginning getting yelled at cuz you shoot ants and have lazy wrists. All that stuff that seems to do nothing but rob you of "comfort" and make it more difficult as you would not "naturally" go about playing a violin the way they teach, there are reasons. If your wrist is supporting the neck of your violin while you play, then that tiny bit of "comfort" robs you of the ability to vibrato and makes it 10 times harder to move your fingers. You get the illusion of "ease" and "comfort" if you do nothing but 1st position and stay on the E, A, D string and you are now "struggling" to nail the D string if you hit a spot that composers LOVE to throw at you and go out of their way to make the notes as far away from each other as POSSIBLE lol. And now since you are lulled into that lazy "comfort" position now it is 100 times harder to hit the G string for that ONE note they just HAD to throw in and send you back to A-D strings.
If I were "teaching" a noobie I would not allow "lazy" and I would indeed teach the "correct" way, but as the guy in that video, I would not listen to his awesome fiddle playing then "correct" him on his 100 lazy incorrect "posture" he just used. Mechanics = pretty much what you have to "learn" and as you learn the correct "mechanics" of your instruments the rest will come with practice and experience. I feel strongly that you cannot teach anyone how to play awesome music, all you can really do is teach them how to hold it right and how to hold and use the bow right, beyond that it is truly up to the individual to advance from there. If you are someone that is learning but are not "serious" about WANTING to learn how to play awesome music, nothing you can do will ever get them there, you can only take them so far before you let them go and ride on those 2 wheels of the bike by themselves. Once you let go and let them balance the bike your job is really done, they can love it or not love it, one kid goes on to BMX competitions and eventually he is jumping dirt bikes 80 feet in the air while the next guy you let go would rather play his XBox than learn how to balance the bike with no hands and ride it.
I am actually just "lucky" that I can plant my palm on the body of my violin and still have the freedom of movement to do full vibrato and slide to any position and not even move my hand.... only move my fingers. My palm = the center of the sea saw, my reach allows me 1st-2nd and a couple notes into 3rd position and never slide my hand anywhere. So.... the correct way for me would hold someone else back as it is a roadblock for them, but helps me. I have heard Paganini had a HUGE reach on his hands as well, and he would have even BETTER advantage than me.... he was a "little" guy with long ass fingers. I lack some of the "dextarity" he would have had as my hands are just big. I cannot "anchor" my fingers very easy anywhere. When you got fast notes on separate strings, most will anchor their fingers and not move them and the bow does ALL the work but.... I cannot anchor a finger next to the string I am playing on because 80-90% of the time it is touching the next string. Sometimes I get "harmonics" when I don't want harmonics because my finger is touching a string it should not be on. My palm on the body of violin is a "natural" way I adapt to fingers that cannot "anchor" if I have to cross strings quickly.
So....... Once you learn the way that makes you "hurt" you have the right to find your own "way".... and.... beyond that WHATEVER and HOWEVER you make beautiful music = the "correct" way. You can throw your bow across the room, and use your violin as a DRUMSTICK and beat the table with it...... if you make music that sounds awesome = who am I to tell you that you are doing it ALL wrong :) I only have the right to smack a noobies hand with a ruler every time he thinks the neck is loose and needs to support it with his wrist or it will fall off lol.
Paganini actually did it "all wrong" "technically". Who the hell beats the stings with their bow and treat it like a DRUM as they play? WTF kind of stupid "madness" is that? Oh.... wait we are still amazed by his "incorrectness" hundreds of years later and are still striving to reach his level of "incorrectness" :)
Even 1 hour a day or even 30-45 mins daily can produce amazing things if you love what you do. Hell, even if you cant do a full "practice" just grab it and run 8-10 scales at the very least. If I can't get the time to sit down and actually "practice" I will try to do just that, even a few scales is better than not having time and doing nothing. 3 mins running a few scales is worth it.
THANK for giving your time,I think you are right about everything,I really liked violin and I think i improve so much even i play 1 hour a day..
I think if you love anything,you can do it best
even if you doesn't work a lot.
More videos.
I just posted the next violin shop tour video. Understanding the history and background of master violins can be just as important as learning how to draw a bow.
Thanks
I sometimes say Stradivari when I mention Stradivarius to see if anyone catches it lol. I have only had 1 person ever who caught that I was using his name instead of the "instrument name" . I would love to learn the craft of creating them. It doesn't look "hard" to do because there is nothing super complicated in the structure of a violin, but we are STILL trying to match Stradivari's violins. After 20 years I'm wondering why I ever layed it down for that long and wishing I didn't. I loved it, but always resented being stuck with Viola in a Orchestra setting. Basically every piece we did, I learned my part then learned 1st Violin part for fun because they always got the good parts lol. Finally decided to pick it up again but it was a fight between violin and a short learning curve goin from viola to violin or a banjo and 100% learn curve.... done a few chords on a guitar before and it was like picking up a cello and playin it sideways lol.... Never stopped loving the music and I drive more than enough people crazy at work because they will hear Vivaldi Summer/Winter at least twice, few Irish fiddle songs, 1-2 Hungarian Gypsy violin, and at least 2 paganini caprice and if Im workin on a song, they hear whatever that is like 5 times. I do try to stay away from the "slower" ones at work..... them going crazy = good, me getting stabbed or shot = I try to get the faster tempo ones lol.
I LOVE it that the newer generation is picking up acoustics and reinventing the whole genre of violin once again just like vivaldi/paganini ect did in their day as they WERE the rock music and wild/crazy "out there" music for their generation. Everything is going electric.... piano/guitar/violin..... amazing instruments being ruined just to get a "unique" sound. It amazes me how unique the violin truly is..... CELLO/VIOLA/BASS for that matter but hundreds of years later, it is surviving the "conversion" that has claimed most other instruments.
Piano/Trombone = closest thing you can get to violin. Every other instrument = you push a button and a note comes out. Trombone can hit unique pitches/sounds but even a piano with all its 1000000 keys =- you push a button and you get a note. Even guitar is limited to their full range of notes but stuck with pure pizzicato so essentially you pluck the button and get a note. Violin = the only true freedom of music instrument. It is still inventing new unique sounds hundreds of years later while they plug everything else into the wall to get something "different". Not only can you pluck the notes out, but you have a million different options of pulling different sounds out because of the bow.
Some even say it is the ONLY instrument that comes close to matching the human voice because if you want pure freedom you can sing it or play it on violin.
Thanks for that long answer..
You can say "Wall of TEXT".... its ok lol. I can get carried away sometimes :)
Sir, you move exactly like a Sims character.
bigger is better lol
I am already the greatest virtuoso... Just lazy to play and scared of audiences
Then it's my job to help get you inspired to play more and learn how to "feed" off of audiences instead of being "scared" of them. I'll see what I can do. :)