Five Tips of Advanced Violin
Comments (0) In my last article I provided five tips on getting started on learning how to play the Violin basics. In this article I am going to provide five more tips on improving your skills as a Violinist. So if you are ready to learn more on playing the Violin just follow these five tips and improve your skills.
1. An important factor of the more advanced playing of the violin is learning about positions. The reason why this is important is because when you get to the advanced stages of Violin playing is that when the composer or arranger specifies sul G that means you play that note on the G-string. Practically speaking the highest position is the 15th position. If you don’t learn the basic positions or more advanced positions it is unlikely that you will be able to reproduce the note that the composer or arranger has specified.
2. Another important factor of producing more ‘effects’ and the advanced playing is learning how to do vibrato and vibrato trill. The reason for this is simple. The Vibrato in my view hints romance and tender feeling towards the music. The Vibrato is a technique of the left hand and arm in which the pitch of a note varies in a vivacious rhythm. While various parts of the arm may be involved in the motion, the end results is a movement of the fingertip bringing about a slight change in vibrating string length. The Vibrato Trill is when the vibrato is used for a fast trill. A trill initiated from just hammering the finger up and down on the fingerboard will create a harsher quality than with a vibrato trill. This technique is especially important because it uses a skill that makes violin playing more exciting and more capturing from an audiences point of view.
3. An even greater technique to learn on the violin is the use of harmonics. With a fingertip lightly touching the string at a harmonic node creates harmonics. Instead of a normal note being played there your finger is placed more firmly on the string as you know from the basics of violin playing the harmonic note as we know by placing the finger tip lightly on the string produces a higher pitched note sound. There are two types of harmonics: natural harmonics and artificial harmonics. In actual fact that natural harmonics are played on an open string. The pitch of the open string is called the fundamental frequency. Harmonics are also known as overtones. This is especially important to know because the composer and arranger uses a sign for the violinist to produce the effect of a harmonic and it is also very effective.
4. The next very important techniques are the use of the right hand and tone colour. This includes Bowing Techniques, Col Legno, Martele, Tremolo and Mute. These techniques are extremely important to learn because it adds difference, flavour, dynamics and timbre to the music, in which, the violinists plays. The most essential part of bowing techniques is the bow grip – this is where the thumb is bent in the small area between the frog and the winding of the bow. The other fingers are spread across the rest of the lower end of the bow evenly. Depending on the pressure that you put on the bow you can produce loud and quite sounds as well as more dramatic sounds. The Col Legno is a technique and is written in music when the composer or arranger is informing us for striking the string or strings with the stick of the bow, rather than by drawing the hair of the bow across the strings. Martele literally means a strongly accented effect produced by releasing each bow-stroke forcefully and suddenly. This technique can be played in any part of the bow and is sometimes indicated in written music by an arrowhead. The Tremolo is a very rapid repetition that is typically of a single note but occasionally of multiple notes and is usually played at the tip of the bow. This produces an effect of suspense or horror. The Mute is produced when you attach a small metal, rubber or wooden device and you attach it to the bridge of the violin and this produces a softer, and more of a mellow tone with fewer audible overtones; for example, the sound of an entire orchestral string section playing with mutes has a hushed quality. These techniques produces an important effect of their own as they also produce effects of dynamics, timbre and rhythm.
5. The last important tip that I am going to tell you is the Musical Styles, in which, the Violin can be played in. There is Classical Music, Jazz, Popular Music, Indian Classical Music and Folk Music. Playing in these musical styles is very uplifting for you the Violinist and your audience.
So if you really want to be more advanced on playing the violin then use these five tips as your skills will be developed, you would be able to teach and create different Timbres and Textures to your Violin playing.
