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The violin is often thought of as one of the harder orchestra instruments to learn and is seen as inaccessible to many.
Of course, this becomes less true by the day. In recent years, new ways of learning have helped bring the violin (or fiddle) to almost everybody. Playing violin is for everyone, after all.
There are violin lessons near me in music schools for those wanting to learn more about music, improvisation, positioning their left hand, reading sheet music and notes, or just improve their playing.
Additionally, you can learn on the internet, with manuals, guides, and books, and private lessons. Find out which is the best way for you to learn the violin.
How Can You Learn How to Play Violin on Your Own?
Is the local school of music miles a way?
Struggling to find music classes?
Is there no violin teachers near me or class where I can turn to for help with learning the basics of music theory and getting to grips with the violin?
There are many reasons why budding musicians are choosing to teach themselves how to play. In some cases, their geographical location is the decisive factor. Teaching yourself an instrument can be a really good choice.
Learning without the help of a teacher means you can learn when you want and where you want. You won’t have any pressure from a strict music teacher to adhere to a schedule that doesn’t work for you.
Are you just starting out? Then, check these violin lessons for beginners here.
There’s a feeling of freedom and you can practise whichever song you want and add to your repertoire. This can help you stay motivated as long as you still practise regularly and have a good routine, making the most out of every lesson you choose to follow.
There are plenty of options for those wanting to teach themselves to play the violin on their own:
- Using YouTube video tutorials
- Buying materials in music shops
- Learning music theory online
- Learning songs through tablature
Of course, you have to fix yourself clear objectives when studying the violin! Practise makes perfect, especially when it comes to playing the violin. You can’t just give up at the first sign of trouble, you have to keep going. Music is about perseverance!
Your motivation will be what decides whether or not you learn to play the violin.
This instrument is famous for how difficult it can be to play, after all. Beginners will still be beginners after a few years before they finally manage to play more complicated pieces. The violin’s not for everybody, either.
Younger learners need the teacher to ensure that they don’t pick up any bad habits and so they have someone to show them when they’re making mistakes. This means that teaching violin can be as difficult as playing it, even if they're not preparing for concerts or a musicianship at a school. There are plenty of different types of instruction and classes for children of all ages.
Can You Take Violin Lessons without Knowing Music Theory?
Before they start learning the violin, the student needs to check to see if they can get music theory tutorials. Of course, this isn’t an option for every single student. The first question you need to ask yourself is whether you’re learning the violin for your career or if you’re just learning it for fun and your own amusement.
Are you looking to perform a concert, learning music for your personal development, or preparing for an audition?
Music theory is used by every musician around the world to better understand the music they’re playing or writing. It’s therefore important that you do the same if you want to become a professional musician. It'll be tricky creating a composition or following along with an instrumental orchestral pieces if you've had no formal music education.
Music lessons are generally obligatory when you attend certain music schools or conservatoire. However, you will learn about:
- Notes
- Tempo
- Rhythm
- Harmony
- Scales
- Key
- Fingering
- Reading sheet music
Everything you need to advance as a musician. Even if music theory can get boring, it helps you to better understand a piece by understanding why it was written in such a way.
Can you do without it?
Of course, if you’re not planning a career as a violinist, you could learn to play without having to study music theory or focus on performing as part of a symphony orchestra, ensemble, or string quartet.
This isn’t the case for instruments like the flute, tuba, or trumpet since it’s much harder to find tablature (tabs) for them. Even though there are far more tabs for the guitar and bass, there’s still a good amount of violin tabs.
Find great violin lessons here on Superprof.
A lot of self-taught musicians who’ve never studied music theory use this method to help them to learn certain songs. If you can't read music, this is a great option.
Of course, you can still get a private tutor to help you, too. Unlike the violin teachers at music schools and conservatoires, there are tutors who are happy to teach you how to play the violin without focusing on music theory.
You need to choose the right tutor. In order to do this, you should carefully check each tutor’s profile on a tutoring platform like Superprof.
How Can You Learn How to Play the Violin Online?
Why not use new technologies to help you learn to play music on the violin?
The internet is a great way to share knowledge and millions of people are using it to take online violin lessons.
So why not make the most of it?
There are plenty of YouTube channels to familiarise yourself with the instrument. There are musicians showing you tips and tricks to improve your playing like:
- How to correctly hold the bow
- How to play a note on the strings
- How to restring a violin
A picture is worth a thousand words and videos are made up of several pictures per second. This can help beginners see how to perform some of the more difficult techniques.
There are also plenty of dedicated violin YouTube channels showing you how to play certain songs along with tablature or how to master certain violin techniques.
Whether you’re trying to learn a particular pop, jazz, rock, or classical piece, you’ll find videos of seasoned violinists telling you how to play each note.
There are also dedicated sites for learning how to play the violin online! While not all of them have video tutorials, they can still be an interesting read and useful for improving your violin playing.
The advantage of the internet is that you can gain access to resources almost anywhere in the world at any time of the day. If you’re having trouble sleeping and are still awake at 3am, it might be worthwhile using this time to read up on a technique that’s been giving you bother. It might also help you fall asleep, too!
It’s probably not a good idea to start playing at this time, though.
How Can You Learn to Play the Electric Violin?
The violin has a pretty big family (including the cello, viola, and double bass) and the famous Stradivarius violins that are known for being some of the highest quality instruments ever made.
In recent years, a newer type of violin has surfaced and became popular with some musicians. We’re talking about the electric violin. Revolutionary in the world of violins, there are some violinists who swear by them. However, the electric violin has a few features that you should be aware of before you decide to pick up one. The shape and how you play it, for one. While you can go from playing an acoustic violin to an electric violin in a short amount of time, you will need to adjust for playing style a bit.
If you’re going to learn to play the electric violin, you’ll need to get yourself an amplifier. Just like the electric guitar, an electric violin without an amplifier isn’t really much use. These instruments are designed to be used in conjunction with amps and can be paired with effects pedals to modify their sound, too.
That’s why you're you're unlikely to find a music school or conservatory with music teachers who have the resources to focus on teaching the electric violin. To play, you’ll probably need to learn music theory and how to play the traditional violin first.
Of course, you can get in contact with a private tutor who’ll come to your house and teach you how to play the electric violin from day one. Whether you choose to do music theory or not, they’ll know the best ways to help you become a good violinist.
Whatever you choose, make sure you’re enjoying playing your musical instrument. The electric violin can adapt to almost any style of music; rock musicians are particular fond of it. There are also a good number of tabs available online or in music stores for genres that favour the electric violin.
How Can You Learn Violin Vibrato?
Once you’re getting good at the violin, you’ll have to learn some of the intermediate and advanced playing techniques. Vibrato is one of the most common ones.
Vibrato is the act of varying the pitch around a given frequency.
This technique gives an undulating effect. The vibrato can help add expression to a piece. You therefore need to know the right time and place to use it. To perform vibrato on the violin, you need to be good at positioning your fingers on the neck.
Generally speaking, vibrato isn’t taught until the second or third year of tuition. To learn vibrato, you need to do a back-and-forth motion with your left arm. The finger being used to press down on the string will pivot back and forth from its initial position. You’ll have to practise this a lot in order to get it right. However, after a while, this action will become second nature to you. If you’re a beginner, be patient! You don’t want to walk before you can run and teach yourself to do it wrong.
Don't forget that if you feel like the violin isn't for you, you can get singing, clarinet, or piano lessons, etc. from the many private tutors on Superprof.
The platform that connects tutors and students
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