Perfect Fifths

Tips To Keep Violin Strings From Excessive Wear

admin — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Keep your violin out following you finish on stage and give it a fast visual check up. You will almost certainly notice a few rosin stick to the strings. This has to be spotless off. If missing sitting on the strings, rosin may perhaps source them to depreciate quicker than they be supposed to.

Also, if you let a thick cover of old rosin to make up, it may really reduce the sound by obstructing vibration.

Wipe the strings along with a spotless tease. Clean the whole span of your strings, not just wherever the bend over hits. The parts of the strings above the neckline of the tool need to be cleaned down for the reason that they come in get in touch with with your fingers.

Body oils and sweat may finally smash up your strings. Be ready, as cleaning the strings repeatedly causes a horrible scream suggestive of fingers on a chalkboard.

Pressing downward on the strings a tiny with your gratis hand might ease this. Furnish the strings a different examination. Pay consideration to the undersides of the cords as well. If there is rosin below nearby, carefully attach your tease involving the cords and the body of the violin

Top Musical Selections Featuring Violin Solos

admin — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Top Musical Selections Featuring Violin Solos

There are countless top musical selections featuring violin solos, and today we will discuss a few of the most popular and easily recognizable.

One of the best known solos for the violin is Pachelbel’s Canon, which is also called Canon in D major by composer Johann Pachelbel. It has become a favorite of brides everywhere, as they walk down the aisle on their wedding day.

Another top solo selection is Ode to Joy, composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. It features a beautiful melody and is a staple piece in many symphonies around the world. Beethoven has composed other top musical selections featuring violin solos such as Fur Elise and Violin Sonata No. 9.

Air on the G string by Johann Sebastian Bach is a beautiful and top violin solo. It happens to be the first work by Bach to have ever been recorded. Another popular violin solo by Bach is Sonata for Violin solo No. 1 in G minor.

Last, but certainly not least is The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi. Known the world over for it’s four parts, each representing a different season, spring, summer, fall and winter. The Four Seasons is one of the most famous violin solos in the world.

As you can see, there are no limits to the amount of outstanding violin solos out there. Theses are just a few of the top musical selections featuring violin solos.

A Guide To Tuning Your Violin Properly

admin — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Tuning a Violin can seem to be difficult at first, but with practice it will come easy to you. Some like to use electronic tuners that will indicate when the string is on the correct pitch. Others like to use a piano or their own ears to tune their violin.

There are two areas on the violin in which one can tune a string, the pegs and the fine tuners. The pegs are located on the top of the violin while the fine tuners are located at the bottom of the strings. By turning these either way, you can make the string more sharp or flat. Some violins may only have pegs and not the fine tuners.

It is advised to start with the ‘A’ string; once this string is tuned to the correct pitch you can tune all the other strings against the ‘A’ string. Take care to place the violin upon your lap to avoid dropping it. Also keep the violin away from your face, sometimes strings may break during tuning and could cause damage to your eyes or face.

Continue to pluck the respective string as you adjust the string to the correct pitch. Once you have reached the perfect pitch, be sure to push the peg firmly back into the violin. This will insure that it does not slip and become out of tune during playing.

Best Obscure Violin Shops in the US

admin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

There are violin shops located all over the United States, some of which are in places you’d never expect. Here’s a listing of some of the more obscure violin producers in the US:
Terry Borman Violins: Terry’s been building violins in Arkansas for over 30 years and his reputation’s built on quality. Working hard to keep his violins safe, Terry works in tandem with his alarm system company to make sure his shop is as tight as a drum.< br />Mark Edwards Violins: Located in Lexington, Kentucky, Mark Edwards’ violin shop has been in business for decades. The Edwards specialize in all manner of bowed instruments and even have a great side business doing violin repair.
Anne Cole: Since 1970, Anne Cole has been creating custom made violins and violas in her one-man shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her pieces are renowned for their craftsmanship and creativity and though they don’t come cheap, they’re collectable.
Bellwood Violin: Run by Stephen Bacon, Bellwood Violin in Ashland, Oregon has been in business for over 20 years. Bacon originally played music in several Seattle-based orchestras but has found his true calling as a violin dealer.

How Violins Are Manufactured And Assembled

admin — Mon, 02 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Violins are made in a variety of ways. The least expensive are factory-machine made. These are fine for beginning students.

Great, beautiful sounding violins, called “bench-made,” are created by hand by a master violin maker or his/her group of artists.

The first step is choosing a wood like spruce, maple, rosewood or willow. Ebony wood is most often used for the neck but, maple is also used. Woods are chosen for their sound quality and their natural beauty.

There are many parts to the violin body with each piece made individually. The back is usually one piece of wood while the front is two pieces. The sides, also called ribs, are thin pieces of wood carefully bent with heat. These are all glued together, then sanded and varnished. The sound holes or “F” shaped holes are carved out by knife just before the varnishing.

Finally, the neck, chin rest, bridge for the strings, and tuning pegs are applied with specific measurements and placement. The violin is ready to be strung creating great tension on the instrument. The wood, glue, and varnish will adjust over time affecting the tuning and resonance. The violin’s sound will “open up” or develop over years.

The Difference Between Violins And Other String Instruments

admin — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Of all the musical instruments of the world, strings are the most popular. Included in this category are guitars, cellos, banjos, lutes and violins. Violins, and violas, are distinct among the string family because they must be played high against the shoulder, with the player’s head locking them into place. This makes performance very difficult as the neck of the instrument is obscured while playing. Like cellos and double basses, violins are usually played with a bow, which helps to smooth out the high pitch of the instrument, while letting the brightness cut through the entire orchestra. This is why violins carry most of the melody in classical music. Violins, because of their small size and lack of frets, require more practice to master than other string instruments. The good news is that there is a vast amount of music written for the violin, ranging from simple and easy to complex and nearly impossible. Guitars, for the sake of comparison, have become the most popular string instrument in the world because of how easy they are to play. Still, the violin has been around for many more centuries than the guitar, and it remains the king of classical string instruments.

“Violin Online”every student’s starting place

www.perfectfifths.com — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:58:34 +0000

Violin-playing is a refreshing artistic pursuit that’s worthwhile at any age. We realize that the prospect of learning the instrument without lessons can be daunting. Luckily, the modern world offers access to resources that would not have been imaginable even twenty years ago. One of those sites, and the beginning violinist’s best friend, is Violin Online (www.violinonline.com).If you’re learning the viola or cello instead, don’t stop reading. Dr. Robin K. Deverich, developer of the Violin Online program, also offers Viola Online and Cello Online. For brevity’s sake, we’ll refer to Violin Online in this article.The most important section for beginning players is the “Violin Basics” section, where everything from “Changing Strings” to “Finding a Teacher” is covered in a clear and precise manner. With several charts that demonstrate proper fingering (and even allow you to practice online), it’s easy to experiment on your own without seeking professional training.The “Exercise Studio” offers three categories of basic exercises (“Scales,” “Technique,” and “Etudes”), which offer both the sheet music and an audio demonstration. The “Pop-Up Tuner” is a handy tool for making sure your instrument is performance-ready.In the listening room, you can listen to audio clips of important violin works from throughout history, starting with “Columbia Aspexit” by Hildegard of Bingen and going up through 20^th-century composers like Anton Webern and Igor Stravinsky.Finally, in the Music Store, you can find links to purchase sheet music for any of the three instruments, along with strings, rests, DVDs and instructional software, and instruments themselves. Most of these will redirect you to Amazon, except for the sheet music which is offered as an e-Book or CD-ROM.With Violin Online, it’s easy to at least get started exploring the world of violin-playing. If you desire more guidance, it’ll point you in the right direction for that, too.

Violinists in popular music

www.perfectfifths.com — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 05:49:19 +0000

The sound of a violin in modern music is no longer the sign of an eccentric progressive rocker. Many modern musicians, both bands and individuals, integrate violin into their works. Here are a few of the more interesting examples:Darol Anger: Anger plays a unique style which incorporates elements of folk, jazz, and bluegrass. His band Psychograss is a fitting description of his sound. His most recent album is the collaborative Mike Marshall and Darol Anger with Vsen.Emilie Autumn: This violinist is best recognized by her flaming-red hair and punk-goth outfits. Her music is an idiosyncratic blend of cabaret, industrial rock, and classical music. Her compilation album A Bit o’ This & That was released in 2007.Miri Ben-Ari: She goes by the moniker “The Hip Hop Violinist,” which also describes her sound and is the title of two of her albums (2005′s Hip-Hop Violinist and 2008′s Hip-Hop Violinist II). Ben-Ari is originally from Israel, and has collaborated with artists like Wyclef Jean and John Legend.Petra Haden: Haden started off in alternative rock with the 1990′s group that dog. In the time since their break-up, she has done a-cappela cover albums and continued to play violin on various other collaborative albums.Sean Mackin: Mackin’s violin-playing on Yellowcard’s 2003 hit “Ocean Avenue” gained him millions of fans, and Mackin continues to play with the pop punk group to this day. The group’s first album since 2007′s Paper Walls is expected in 2011.Sarah Neufeld: Neufeld plays violin for the indie rock group Arcade Fire, the more orchestral off-shoot Bell Orchestre, and has just joined the Luyas. With all this on her plate, she’s still helping her bands achieve success, with Arcade Fire’s recent album The Suburbs achieving wide success.

Violins in the Guinness Book of Records

www.perfectfifths.com — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:36:29 +0000

While violinists aren’t usually known for hanging out with sky-divers and hot-dog contest winners, a couple of them have made it into the Guinness Book of Records.Vanessa-Mae: In 2003, Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson became the “youngest soloist to record both the Beethoven and Tchaikovsky violin concertos.” She was 13 at the time. Since then, she’s started integrating a techno influence into her albums, which include 1995′s The Violin Player, 1997′s China Girl: The Classical Album 2, and 2004′s Choreography, among others. She also set another record: in 2006, she was the wealthiest entertainer under 30 on the Sunday Times Rich List.David Garrett: This German violinist is included in 2010′s Guinness Book edition as the fastest violinist in the world, knocking out 13 notes a second. He’s covered or integrated many pop and rock songs into his works, including Metallica and Michael Jackson hits.