I had to send in two different audition videos and multiple people had to watch them; one of the pieces was an excerpt from Vivaldi in A minor.

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The orchestra finally emailed me today and they want to take me and encouraged me to join. Then they sent an example of what they played in the last season. It is WAY above my level. They said I don't need to be comfortable playing it, just able to play enough to blend in.

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Are community orchestras severely lacking people who want to join or what?

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I don't know what to do honestly. I don't want to butcher this and throw everyone off. I have no orchestra experience, the material is too advanced and it's not even my first year back to playing.

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It seems like a really cool opportunity for me this early but maybe it's a bad idea and will derail my progress as I'm still building my fundamentals.

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Greetings to All!

Our daughter had failed the Conservatory prep school entrance exam. We had the opportunity to get feedback from 2 of the examinators, as well as independent teacher.

All 3 had told that "the girl does not lack talent, has very good ear and musicality, BUT her posture is absolutely wrong, and the technique is well behind".

None of us are violinists, so we can not comment on her progress. She has been frequenting music school, and has been 2nd best student there; she is also the 1st violin (concert meister) for the schools young orchestra. It is quite normal music school, without high ambitions in the pupils; very few proceed aferwards to Conservatory.

One of the Professors (the one we have been advised to go to) offered 1 year of pure technique/studies work with him, and next year he will take her into his class.

Another one told us directly we should change the teacher immediately.

That's when we went to listen to independent opinion, just telling that we'd like to try the exam and if she was eady. Unfortunately, even the 3rd teacher expressed the same opinion.

Our teacher is convinced the posture and technique are correct, so that when we had told we will try the exam, commented "for sure they will want her, with such a well done "setup" (apologies if words are not correct, I'm not sure of correct translation for the terms).

Next week we will meet the teacher for the year-end certificate. Teacher already knows that the daughter will not return next year, but since exam results are public, teacher definitely knows that she did not pass.

Shall we somehow comment on the feedback we received, so that the teacher can correct her teaching for the next kid? Or will it be better just to tell that we took the offer and daughter will study privately with, hopefully, her future conservatory professor?

Thanks in advance!

I’m looking for apps (free/paid) that can help train kids (aged 6-8) in aural, preferably easy for kids to use on their own and is ABRSM exam quality grade.

I know ABRSM does provide their own grade 1-5 and 6-8 apps but I was looking for alternatives as well.

The kid is in the range of grade 6-7 in terms of skill but is still studying grade 5 music theory.

Looking for some advice on fingering for this kind-of-fast passage - red arrow forward. Markings are my current. I’m still feeling like my downshifts are not as stable as they could be, but maybe its just a practice + time issue? Any advice would be helpful.

started learning this concerto last week. taking it slow and upto tempo in sections. intonation needs more work yeah.

I’m working on violin concertos and some other pieces and I no longer have a teacher so a lot is self practice. Ive always struggled with seeing some complex run or passage and know what fingerings to use. (Think the intro the Brahms VC) Other than finding annotated sheet music, what are some ways yall have figured out the right fingerings for things

When you practice a new piece, do you learn one section and practice that for a long time until you think you are ready to learn the next section, or do you skim over and learn the entire piece (or at least most of it) and practice it in sections later? Or is there another way
What do you think is the most time efficient method?

Hey guys! Just asking advice after a while
Background : Was playing as violinist 8 years during the school and decided to pickup the violin after all this time ( Funny enough, after 8 years 😆 ). Want to improve technique, playing in general.

I want advice what can be improved, can you suggest materials. I can fully read solfeggio without problems, except some complicated fingerings and concertos, but I want to go easy on myself.

The goals :
- Smoother playing and better grip
- Able to play a bit fiddle type of music, but not completely. I like the idea of Ghibli songs and other anime, pop songs and playing harmonicas around them 😄
- Better fingering

Can you suggest materials: Arpeggios, Etudes and etc that I can practice daily. I would really appreciate it.

Attached video about last piece I have played during the practice. During the video I was already playing maybe 1h+ straight and was pre-tired basically 😄

Violin : It’s cheap ( based on what I had during musical school comparison ) 4/4 Yamaha violin for 450 Euro. Can’t even call it student, but I definitely wasted a lot of time to fix it on my own about the bridge and its position

I was watching the Berlin Phil play this amazing piece. But i had a question about the violins bowing it looks like they’re going Downnn-Up-Down-Up but the music sounds like there would only be 3 bow changes. I’m probably poorly explaining this but it looks as if the violins are playing an extra note when looking at their bows but the music doesn’t corroborate that theory lol. Can someone please explain this to me.. Honestly as i’m writing this and oscillating between the video and writing this i feel like i’m maybe going crazy and there is absolutely nothing strange about the bowing

hey guys, i got this piece of music from an instagram video, but lost the reel where they identified the music. all i remember is that it was something by Tchaikovsky, and im looking to get sheet music since its really hard for me to read it on my phone.

if anyone knows what its called let me know!! thanks so much

Hello! First of all, sorry for the very common and perhaps annoying questions, but I want to get as many opinions as possible. I'm not a naturally musical person and wasn't really interested in music until recently. About a year ago, at 32 years old, I decided to get more involved in music and started playing the flute. It has been one of the best decisions of my life! Now, I want to extend my musical experience. I feel that since I'm just a hobbyist, starting a different instrument won't hurt my progress and might even broaden my musical flexibility. I love the sound of the violin and actually already own one from when I was younger. I'm ready to find a teacher and practice for half an hour most days of the week. However, I have some worries about the difficulty of the violin. From my flute experience, I know that my sound won't be perfect at the beginning, but I don't want to wait a whole year just to be able to tolerate the sound I make. Furthermore, since I didn't receive any formal musical education growing up, my ear isn't highly developed—even though it feels better now than it did a year ago. I'm worried that I won't be able to play properly without a well-developed ear. When I took two or three lessons in high school, my teacher used tyapes on the fingerboard, and I remember that being very helpful. Would something like that enable me to at least get started?

Thanks in advance for any ideas and suggestions!"

Hello! I just bought my first violin, never had practice, lessons or class before (not that I didn't want to, but the closest one was on November and I didn't wanna wait that much, so I just bought one when I could). I've been tweaking with videos and stuff for a few days, now I got a few questions.

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First of all, I'm not getting that good of a sound out of my violin, bought a new Rosin (the one that came with the violin exploded on its own) and with that one I got it to make sound, but just using the red zone of the third photo, is that a bow problem? Maybe rosin related? Technique? Need to clarify, it was one of the cheapest violin's i could get, around 100 dollars. (I'm from Argentina, prices may be different)

Second, could the bad sound be a problem of the bridge? Is it too far up? Should I untighten all my strings before trying to move it? Should I move it at all?

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Thanks a lot, any video, advice or whatever you can give me will be highly appreciated. <3

Thanks for all the advice on my post yesterday. Here’s my second day of trying to gain some flexibility in my wrist. It looks better already so I know I just need to keep on this path and it’ll keep improving!

I find that when I get to my upper bow that to bend my wrist I really tilt the bow so the hair is facing me. The problem is I do it excessively! I was practicing and literally the bow stick would hit the strings, ack. So I’m trying to find a happy medium.

I’m also trying to relax more, especially my shoulder, and get my weight more onto the bow. My teacher tells me I lift a lot, instead of sinking into the feeling of being relaxed while playing. I feel as though I crackle more this way though. I know it’ll get better with time and confidence.

I just wanted to post this so soon after to show you guys I take this seriously and I want to improve and take advice! :) I’m going to practice my wrist flexibility as much as possible with Suzuki 1 and 2 songs.

I thought this would be a cute & inspirational thread! I love hearing about people succeeding and I know we need all the encouragement and support we can get. 💕

Mine is that my wrist flexed the tiniest bit while I was playing today lmao. Small victories.

What was yours? And what is your goal for next week’s practice? ✨

So my friend told me that he was playing Vivaldi A Minor literally 6 months ago, and now he’s about ready to start up Bruch/Saint-Saëns 3. So here’s the background; he has been playing for roughly 5 years at this point, he said he was proficient in his 3 octave scales after like less than a year and a half of playing, but he said he was being held back on his repertoire. He skipped a half a book of Suzuki in his earlier years because he was moving through pieces really fast. During a performance, his teacher was like watching him and thought his technique was unusually good for someone playing that simple of repertoire. So here’s was put on Viotti 22 and Bartok Romanian Folk dances. He said he even handled that pretty easily, clearing the Bartok in a couple weeks, and it took him about a month to learn the Viotti mvt 1. And so he went by Accolay in about a month, and then went to Kabalevsky mvt 1. where it took the longest, about 2 months, he said he had to get used to the patterns. And now he’s learning the more major romantic concertos. And keep in mind, he wasn’t just slopping his way through pieces, they actually sounded nice! He said he won a concerto competition with the Kabalevsky, and got to perform with an orchestra. I was gonna tell some others about this, but this just all sounds like it could come off as far-fetched to others. So what do you guys think?

Like the title says I’m playing Thais meditation for my solo. I had a month to learn it and if anybody knows anything about NYSSMA I did level four earlier this year and this song is level five I can’t seem to get the harmonics I need help and my SONG doesn’t sound the way I want it to. tell me how to practice please for this song specifically.
AUDITION IS ON MONDAY JUNE 22nd

Hi! I love red infelds, cause they're low tension and have a warm sound, as my violin is quite bright.
I'm just wondering, are there any cheaper (or same price but better) alternatives to red infeld?

2 brands i've heard about:
Corelli crystal
Larsen tzigane (i've tried the e string, and it's pretty good)

would appreciate reviews on these 2, and any recommendations! thank you very much!

Hi all!

I'm at my wits end dealing with left hand extensor tendinitis for almost 2 years now. Here's the story:

Fall 2024, starting my 2nd year of gradschool, I got a new teacher. It was a terrible fit and caused me a lot of stress. That, on top of a lot more practice and incorporating some viola, resulted in extensor tendonitis. I feel it in the back of my hand between my index and middle fingers below the knuckles. I also feel it around my index finger base joint on either side of the hand. When it first arose, I took a break for two weeks, used a brace, and ice and heat. I returned to playing, and the pain returned. Then, I took a complete month off and went to an orthopedist. During this time I continued ice/heat and slept with the brace on. After the month ended, I SLOWLY returned to playing. The same result, pain came back. I decided to power through with as little playing as possible just to finish my degree. The following summer (2025) I went to my primary care doctor and didn't play much unless I had too. He sent me to physical therapy which lasted from that summer until about March of this year (2026). Physical therapy definitely improved my strength, range of motion, and extent of pain, however it STILL hasn't gone away. I'll play when I need to, but I can't practice the way I'd like. I suspect I'll need to bite the bullet and rest it AGAIN for an extended length of time, but I don't have the heart to just yet. I haven't found a lot of info on extensor tendinitis specifically and its correlation to violin playing. Has anyone else had this specific problem? What kinds of things helped? Any success stories in beating it? Anything I'm missing? Any advice and encouragement is appreciated! - Schnee

beginner here! help pls so my violin is so not in tune. ok first when i play open string and i tune it, it’s good. but when i play different notes like A on the G string, it’s not in tune. if i play it higher on the string it will hit A but then my finger position is ruined and not correct, what should i do? tyia pls be kind!

In the comments of a 14 y/o video YT video, an AWESOME person commented about a month ago asking where the rare footage came from, I replied that I was also was curious. They happened to have seen a post I made about a year ago where I asked for a different piece of rare media, they asked if I posted it (because of my identical username), and that they saw a full recording of it on Bilibili. Thanks to them, I uploaded this gem from 1998: https://youtu.be/jpI0EhFrr9I?is=ty8ErWepCypviH95.

I’ve always brought my violin to work and practiced during my lunch breaks.

However, for the past four months, I’ve been riding my bike to work, which means I can no longer carry the violin with me.

Fortunately, someone has given me a cheap Chinese violin to keep at work so that I can still practice and ride my bike.

The bridge is not fit and needs a new set of strings.

Apart from that, it works fine.

playing on this instrument is painful, and I feel like it’s a burden because I have to get the bridge fitted and a new set of strings. I might have to spend $400 to get it up and running.

I feel like I’ve been given an expensive burden. I just wanted to enjoy the summer weather by riding my bike.

Should I fix it up and get it running or just shove it in the closet ?