Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The Importance Of Equipment Care And Posture For The Violin

By Ria Yuka

Many have said that learning the violin is one of the hardest things to do. However, things are not what they appear to be. With passion and desire, as well as a sense of practicality, the instrument can be mastered and you could be performing on it soon enough.

It might not be enough to reach professional levels since that requires some talent. But it is still comforting to know that the violin is not a harder instrument to pick up compared to the guitar. You basically need to observe a few points in order to speed up your development.

A critical part of any violinist's arsenal is the quality and condition of his accessories. By ensuring that both these are met with high standards, you will be able to derive improvements at a much faster pace. Using lower quality accessories might hamper your progress and should be avoided if possible.

How good and well kept your violin bow is will determine the progress of your development. Anyone will realize that without the bow, the violin will not be able to create any music. The only way to use it then is to treat it like a stand-up bass instrument.

How can you achieve proper health of your violin bow? Make sure the hairs of the bow never come into contact with any other surface other than the strings and chalk. The risk of them coming into contact with body oils can shorten the bow's lifespan.

Another thing to do that also helps to maintain string health, is to use rosin on the violin bow regularly. With the proper amount of rosin, the violin bow and strings will come together to create a perfectly harmonious tone and sound. Without it, both accessories will experience degradation at a faster pace.

Achieving the correct posture when playing any instrument is vital to becoming successful with it. This applies equally well to playing the violin. Many violinists struggle with the right way of using the chin rest and holding the bow. Have your teacher correct any wrong posture and practice regularly to get it right before attempting to master any other technical skills.

Just like learning how to finger guitar chords for a beginner, the beginning of the journey in playing the violin is very similar. You have to get the little details right before moving on to the more practical. This includes proper care of your equipment and good posture. Once that has been perfected, the rest will come easily. - 15275

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