The Importance of Scales

I ran across this blog post about practicing scales. Click here to view. While reading these posts, I realized that it's split pretty evenly between those who think scales are not important and those who think scales are important. As a teacher for over 15 years, I've noticed the importance of scales. When you are learning the violin, it is very necessary to practice the notes that you'll be playing. You obviously need to learn where to put your finger for each note and the best way to practice that is with scales. (Young beginners can learn the notes one by one instead of using a scale right away. Most teaching books have it set up that way. Sections of a scale, the 3 or 4 notes on each string, are introduced. Scales are added later.) Scales train your ear so you can hear if the note is incorrect. Beginners start with simple scales and work their way up. Learning 3 octave major and all the minor scales, is pretty advanced and once perfected, one can move on to the Flesh Scale System. Some etude books incorporate scales in the lessons, which I think is great. That way you're teaching your ear the sound and key, before learning the etude exercise or song.

Hope you have a great day and practice those scales!

New Stadivarius Violins?

Many of you might not know about what I'm blogging about today. I just recently ran across some articles about a new scientific way to make the wood that Stradivarius used for his violins. If you click here you can read the full article from Science Daily. They call this mycowood. The scientists that figured this out say that they should be able to develop this so that many others can have the opportunity to play a violin as good as a Stradivarius. Other articles say about the same thing. One article mentioned that if a cheap violin is treated with this fungus, it may still not have the sound of the Stradivarius due to other factors (type of wood and age, strings, climate conditions, etc.)

Personally I think this is an interesting idea. If these scientists can work on this idea, I think it would be great for some violins to have a better quality. As a teacher, I've heard many of the beginner violins and it's not a great way to learn. For most students, the quality of the instrument doesn't matter as much. As students progress, some notice the quality of the violin. Sometimes it is the technique of the student that is creating a not so nice sound, but many times it is the quality of the instrument. I do recall one student being frustrated with his instrument because he couldn't get a good sound out of it. I do know there are other types of violins that have a great sound and are not Strads. My violin is an "Emmanuel Fabrica" from the Guarneri line. Click here to learn more about Guarneri violins from Wikipedia.

Would love to hear other's input on all this information. Thanks!

Violin for Christmas?

Did you get a violin for Christmas? Have you had a violin but never had the motivation to learn how to play it? No matter the age, anyone can learn the violin. Violin Master Pro is a great program to learn the violin. You'll learn from the professional violinist Eric Lewis. View this link to get a feel for how he teaches and if he'd be a good match for you. First Violin Lesson by Eric Lewis on YouTube. His teaching is very clear and easy to understand. You may have to consider whether you can learn by example and following instructions via video, because it may be hard for some to learn that way. I think the price point for these lessons is extremely reasonable. I am a teacher and would almost charge for one lesson, what the cost is for Eric Lewis' WHOLE PROGRAM. Learning an instrument through a video series, allows you plenty of time to go at your speed, repeat lessons, and go through the lessons when you have time. Eric doesn't just limit you to only playing classical music. You'll learn jazz, rock, country, and others. There is a right way to be trained to play the violin. The style of music doesn't determine the way you play. Once you learn how to play correctly, you can play any type of music you want. When I was a young child, I really enjoyed fiddle music and country, so I played and practiced that music along with my weekly lesson music. That kept my interest and love of the violin. A little variety made it more exciting. I love the fact that Eric introduces and teaches other styles of music to help more people reach their violin playing goal. For more information and to download the program click here http://8d290evpp9rr-5wqmez30glj94.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=VLNMASTERPRO or click the ad on right side bar of this blog. I hope this helpful! Best wishes learning the violin!

My Note Value Pages

Here are two pages with the note values. Use these to learn and practice these important note lengths. Once you've learned these note values, you'll be ready to start learning rhythm. Young students should memorize all these values, but only need to learn to play rhythmically, the whole note, half note, quarter notes, and eighth note. I hope these to pages are helpful!

Music Note Values

Part of learning how to play the violin is learning when to play long and short notes. This notation is important in making the rhythm of the song you are playing. When we refer to counts or beats that a note gets, think about a steady beat (like from a clock). If a note get 4 beats, it would be one note held for 4 ticks on the clock. When you're playing a song and have a note that gets 4 beats, you are not going to count 4 seconds (like on the clock) but 4 steady counts. Different songs have different speeds, but to understand and learn the counts of a specific note, keep thinking about the clock ticks. 

Once you've learned all the note values you can have in a song or piece of music, you can start to learn how to play them by doing rhythm exercises. You'll play only one note, but play notes that are short and long by following the music. 

Most beginner violin books have some rhythm exercises and they also introduce the different note values gradually. For my adults or more advanced students, I use this book I had in college called "Studying Rhythm" by Anne Carothers Hall (2nd edition). This book starts out with simple rhythm and then adds something different in each lesson. Clapping and counting the rhythm with this book is a great way to really develop your rhythmic skills.

If you'd like a great way to learn all this, there is a program called "How Anyone Can Learn to Read Music in Just 7 Days". This will teach you how to read music, timing, tempo, rhythm, and much more. 

Rhythm may seem hard to teach oneself, so this is great for those learning to play the violin at home. You could easily spend three to six times more on private violin lessons to learn how to read music and all these other techniques.

Click here to order "How Anyone Can Learn to Read Music in Just 7 Days".

More Notes to Learn for the Violin

Today, I'm showing you the pages, to learning how to read music, for the notes above and below the staff. The first page shows you the note names and the second is for practicing. The third page shows you all the notes as they go from the bottom G, which is the lowest note, up to a high B. These are the basic notes used until you get more advanced. The third page also shows you, that as you go up one note at a time, you go up the alphabet one letter at a time. Practice the notes on that page. Once you have those notes practiced, you are ready to begin learning those notes on the violin.

If you'd to learn how to read music quickly, click here to order "How Anyone Can Learn to Read Music in Just 7 Days". This program gives you tools and other methods to learning how to read music quickly. It also teaches you about timing, tempo, volume and dynamics, and even transposing. You could easily spend three times as much on private violin lessons to learn how to read music and all these other techniques. This is a great way to learn and a great place to begin!

My Music Reading Sheets for Violin

In my last post, I noted that learning to read music is one of the first steps to learning to play the violin. Below , I've posted two pages that can help you begin. They give you important information about beginning to read music, the notes located on the staff, and a practice section on the page. You can print these off so you can practice those notes when ever you can. There are more notes to learn - below and above the staff. I will post those pages another time.  

If you want to learn how to read music faster and learn other important things like tempo and dynamics, click here to order "How Anyone Can Learn to Read Music in Just 7 Days".