How to Apply Finger Tapes to a Violin
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- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2025
- This is to help students apply the tapes to their instruments. Keep in mind that you can buy pre-made fingerboard templates which are also quite nice, but I still prefer tapes!
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Finally getting my violin back this Thursday. It's been in the shop since I first bought it. Finally I'll be able to learn I hope. Probably going to be doing more fiddling than violining...lol
This video has helped me a lot with taping my fingerboard. Thank you.
Hi Pipergy, glad this helped! Tapes are great because you can FEEL them as well as see them.....but there are also commercial "templates" you can buy for your fingerboard that are nice, but you can't "feel" them....so you have to use your eyes. That's why I recommend the tapes!
jaja, I can see you get the right place to stick the tape (4th finger as an example), right away. This is the best video about this I've found, thanks a lot!
:-) Thanks for watching, Javier! I'm glad it helped you with your tapes!
Happily, my husband encouraged me to trade it in. Easy way to fix the problem! I ordered the Carlo Lamberti Sonata last friday. The bridge on this vioin shot out several times and then the foot broke. A musical technician repaired it neatly, but it probably still has issues. It seems well aligned to the points on the f holes. It stopped flying out since I removed the plastic bridge sleeves from the bottom 3 strings!
This was such a great video, thank you so much for taking the time to create and upload it!
It helped me so much. Now that I have the tapes on, it sounds so much better with my fingers in the right space
Your comment made me so happy. I'm glad it helped!
Great tutorial on finger board stickers!Thank you so much!
Hooray! Glad it helped!
Many thanks for you kind response and excellent video lessons - I have learnt a lot................John
Not finding any white pinstripe or chart tape anywhere locally, I grabbed some white Avery labels we had and our paper cutter and whacked off three 1/8" strips from three across labels in one cut. Applied them to my fiddle. Worked perfectly. - so far.
Great solution! Yes, anything can work, but problem is....some tape turns "gooey" after awhile. In the case of your paper labels, the paper will wear out really quickly.....but, then you can just put it on again! Gotta do what we gotta do!
Thank you for this great video!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for all of your videos good violin tips using good video techniques.
Glad you find my videos helpful, Robert! Thanks for watching!
What colour tape do you think would look best on the violin? I have the choice of white, silver or gold.
I think they all look good! Silver is the color I see the least.....so if you want to be unique....use silver! I have some students change their tapes to green and red at Christmas time...and orange at Halloween....so, put the silver on, and you can always change it later if you want to.
That's interesting about the plastic sleeves...that could have been causing the bridge to fly out. Or, sometimes the cheap bridge feet just don't "grab" the violin top very well....I've had it happen on some of my students' violins where the bridge goes flying. It just requires a better bridge. Good clue about the sleeves...
Thank you for this explanation. Using this vid I just did up my violin with auto pinstripe detailing tapes (1/8") in red and they sure look snazzy. ;) (Not to an experienced violinist who I am sure would recoil in horror but to me they look good, LOL.) I used my tuner each way up the string. Thanks again.
+Luver Lee LOL, Luver.....here's an idea: go get some white pin striping, and alternate red with white for a holiday candy cane! What the heck.....throw some green in there too! I say wear the tapes with PRIDE! It means you are learning and getting better. There is NOTHING wrong with using tapes! You will get rid of them once your ear develops and you can recognize the right and wrong pitch just by ear!
Dont forget to be realistic - you will need to put in a bit of work whichever method you follow for learning to play sax I've been researching into how to play saxophone and discovered a fantastic resource at Takiras music method (check it out on google)
I LOVE THAT IDEA! Halloween could be orange.....St Patrick's could be Green....
:D
Colette--sorry for the delay. Sheesh, I really don't know! I would look at the arial view of your bridge, and make sure it is straight. That is a really good guess that it might be your bridge. If it's not the bridge, then it might be a worse problem with a warped fingerboard or something like that.
This video was so helpful. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Can you do a video on how to put tapes on the second third and fourth position on the violin too please
Great idea, Keit. I will add that to my list of definite videos to make!
But, I would urge you: use the tapes to learn 1st position. Then, learn 3rd position without tapes....or maybe using just the anchor finger (3rd finger in 1st position becomes 1st finger in 3rd position)
I'll explain all that in the video.
Hi, I really like your videos, I want to know how long should I use the finger placement measurements
Hi Frank. It's very individual. We use the tapes until we gain confidence in our ears, plus gain some consistency with hitting the right spot. So if you are playing consistently in tune, and you feel you have pretty good ears, start taking the tapes of one at a time. (remove them in this order: 2, 4, 3, 1) If you aren't sure when to remove them, as a general rule, I start taking student tapes off in Suzuki Book 2. Some students take them off sooner. (some later)
@@RedDesertViolin Thank you so much for answering and for the advice
I have found painter's tape to be the easiest tape to work with. Just cut thin strips with a razor blade and ruler. Make sure to make the tape long enough so that the ends overlap.
I don't recommend tapes ever since the release of the Fantastic Finger Guides. Check them out online.
Just got them on and now i can play!
Hooray! Good job!
Thanks for this video. What is the make/model of the tone generator device you are using in this video? Thanks.
It is a sorinuri MT33. But they quit making them. I LOVED IT.....if you can find one, GET IT. Here's a link: reverb.com/item/2223560-sorinuri-mtr-33
Thank you for this. I would have thought that auto pinstriping would have been too sticky, hard to get off and leave sticky residue. To the auto store I will be going.
My problem with pin striping is that it doesn't stick ENOUGH. Go with the more expensive kind!
Thank you.
Very helpful. Thank you :)
Lovely thanks for shearing
Raymond Paenga Hope it helps!
I still have 3 of my stickers on (minus the fourth finger sticker).. But I'm playing ABRSM Grade 7 pieces and I've been learning violin about a year. However without my stickers I can't get the pitch.
just received a violin as a gift and i don't know a single thing on how to play it. no ideas where to start :(( do you have any advice on where i should focus or what should i learn first?
Lucky You! I don't know of many people who receive such a gift! I do have some suggestions for you: FIND A TEACHER. I highly recommend the Suzuki method, because it is very systematic. You can find local Suzuki teachers by searching the Suzuki Association of the Americas "teacher finder" feature. If you cannot find a GOOD local teacher, consider my online beginner violin lessons. I use the Suzuki method, and my lessons are VERY thorough and organized, teaching you all the basics from the very beginning. CHeck them out here: www.reddesertviolin.com/onlinelessons
Red Desert Violin i would sure check your link :)) thank you
I used thin white electrical tape strips. I cut long strips that I slid up from the bottom of the fingerboard then cut the excess.
Very resourceful. I forgot electrical tape comes in white. My only complaint about E-tape is that it will slip and slide after awhile. (the glue is gooey) But then, you can put it on again! (after cleaning the goo off with alcohol)
good advice. many thanks.i try and play by ear because i like to do everything the hard way. lol
LOL.....playing by ear is harder.....but it is a GREAT SKILL to have!
Thank you!
+Jon O'Neil :-)
thank you so much red desert violin,,, i have a question and if you can give an suggestion,,, i own a violin 4/4 which seem to be widen longer in finger board,,, so its hard and difficult to reach my finger,, as my finger is short what is the best advice or is there any method to adjust or repair it in a easy way,,,
+Punii Pao Hi Punii, sorry, but there is no way to adjust this problem in an easy way. If your violin is very valuable, you would not want to alter it. However, if your violin is NOT valuable, then it is not worth the expense of altering it! The only good alternative for you is to sell the violin and try to find one with smaller neck. They make AWESOME 7/8 violins that sound wonderful, plus some of the really old violins are "petite" 4/4. But the problem might be with learning to manage your short pinky......and you can do things with the way you hold the violin that will greatly help your pinky. (TILT the violin MORE.....it can greatly help a short pinky) Good luck!
I play electric guitar. I wanna learn violin or viola to play rock music on, I think it would be cool. I was wondering why you guys don't have the sharps marked
Hi Fred
Some systems mark every note, (every semi-tone)....but the way I learned was just with tapes to place a half step between 2nd and 3rd finger, which is the easiest.....and consequently, most beginner tunes are in the key of A or D, which have a half step between 2nd and 3rd finger. So, that is why you see some tapes close together and others far apart. That can be confusing to beginners, because there seems to be no rhyme nor reason to it....but it's just a choice of teaching beginners the easiest finger pattern first, a limiting their options so they don't get overwhelmed. Some of the tapes ARE on sharp notes....for instance, the 2nd tape on the D string is F#....but the 2nd tape on the G string is B natural. 1st tape on E is F#, but all the other 1st fingers are natural notes. YOu can buy fabricated templates for fiddle "fretboards", which will show you EVERY semi-tone, and those are pretty cool for adults.
thank you! I've been taking the instrument, (and it is my first instrument), for about a year and four months now, and even though I'm already playing high intermediate to lightly advanced songs, my ears and fingers are still rubbish at note guessing. It's extremely frustrating.
How Are you now, after five years?
Btw i just started to play the violin yesterday
@@alkadi4746 how are you after 2 months,i just started 3 weeks ago :3
@@caitleenron2294 how are you after three weeks,I started learning a week ago :)
@@taberu6385 bad.. i can only play twinkle twinkle little star and ode to joy and im still in book 1 violin
@@caitleenron2294 oh that's a shame..still,if you truly love playing the violin I hope you keep doing it!It's a very complicated instrument but I think if you keep doing it and if it's what you love don't let anything stop you!
thanks! I guess I'm off to the automotive store to get some tape! :)
I have found that if my tapes are straight across, my highest string is flat. Do I have a bridge problem?
I tune up the A string just fine but when I check the other strings they are all out of tune. What is going on? 😖😖😖
Were the strings installed professionally? If they WERE NOT, then there is a chance the strings got crossed wrong in the peg box.
It could also be that you need peg goop on your pegs....they may be slipping and you aren't noticing it.
Sometimes, when you tune one string, it changes the tension on the other strings and makes them out of tune when they were JUST IN TUNE seconds before. (but I doubt this is what's going on)
Make sure you push the pegs IN as you turn, to firmly wedge them in place and avoid slipping pegs.
I would take it to a shop and ask. It won't be expensive, and then you can learn what the issue is and avoid it! Good luck!
@@RedDesertViolin I appreciate so much the reply. I will most definitely get it Looked at!
THANK YOU SO MUCH REALLY HELPED A LOOOTTTT!!!
i need to get a fretless finger guide because im self taught and im not the best at hearting things right
Tapes work better, but they are harder to put on, because you have to get it in the right spot. But with tapes, you can FEEL them.....that way you dn't have to go cross-eyed looking at your fingers. That can create a bad habit.
What other tapes could you use?
We really don't use any tapes after these basic 4. The basic 4 just help us to develop our ears, and to learn our first couple of finger patterns. After that, we use scales and tunes to teach our fingers and our ears. And we all strive to take the tapes off when we are ready. MANY people put the 3rd finger tape back on when they are learning 3rd position. (3rd finger tape is where your 1st finger goes in 3rd position). And some people put ALL 4 TAPES in 3rd position....but that just gets messy, because in 3rd position, the fingers don't all belong on the tapes like they do in 1st position. In other words, it's hard to choose a spot for the tapes in 3rd position, because you always have a mix of high 3 or low 3, high 2 or low 2, high 4 or low 4. The only finger that is somewhat consistent is the 1st finger, which is why most people just put that single tape on until they get "calibrated" in 3rd position.
Not complaining but why put the tape at C#? Wouldn't a natural C be easier? I'm new to the violin.
See comments below, the answer to "Fred Bill's" question, and hopefully it will explain. (short answer: it could be on the C-natural.....depends on what school you relate to....that's how I learned......it's based on FINGER PATTERNS, not so much on notes) see below :-)
oh, and also "cipdas" question a little further down
Thank you.
Question: Shouldn't these lines be diagonal? Due to the different string diameter, the notes are not in the exactly same place on each string.
Obviously, you have to check the notes on all four strings for that! 😉
Strato Incendus Actually, no. The lines should not be diagonal, it's like a guitar :)
Anki Örlogskapten Yeah, I've found out using the Fiddle Fretter. You have to make adjustments to the bridge, however, if you want to use straight lines.
I just used normal tape that I cut to a proper length
Yep! That works too!
Nobody makes it crystal clear where to buy the tape. What tape?
Hi John. The cheapest and easiest to find is automobile pin striping tape, 1/8". (1/4 is too fat) But you can also use graphic art tape from office supply...it's harder to find, but it does stick better.
and you can find either on amazon.
Why put on C sharp and do not put it on?
The tapes are not placed on NATURALS. They are placed according to the easiest finger pattern for beginners, which has a half step between the 2nd and 3rd fingers. So the 2nd tape will be on B-natural on the G string, F# on the D string, C# on the A string, and G# on the E string! Just like 1st finger tape is on A on the G string, E on the D string, B on the A string, and F# on the E string. It's just a beginner's finger pattern.
Red Desert Violin ok ..! I understand now. thank you very much. I thought only natural notes that it would be important to be significant. The second strip has only one natural note, which can be put on line A, C and G as natural notes.
can i just put a tape?
I don't understand the question. You can put only 1 tape on if you like.
Oh, and yes, ANY tape will work.....but some tape turns gooey and makes a mess. Graphic ARts tape or Automobile pin striping works best. MAKE SURE IT"S 1/8".
Wish she was my violin teacher
Teacher... yea utube
me uhg not another tutorial
:) lmao
Thanks for watching, Thomas!
Try to focus your efforts on training your ears. You can probably hear better than you think you can....but tapes can make our ears lazy!
Thank you
Welcome!