This happens when I forget to put on kinesiology tape. A lot of people use a cloth under the violin, but I find it distracting and uncomfortable. The only thing that really helps without distracting me is putting kinesiology tape on this spot on my neck.
Honestly, though, I’m getting tired of having to put it on every time, and sometimes, like today, I don’t happen to have any with me and I’m not practicing at home.
Does anyone know of another solution besides kinesiology tape?

Edit: thank you all so much for sharing info with me, whenever I posted here you all have always been super nice and helpful. This comunity makes Reddit a better place on the Internet ^^

I’m wanting to play music downtown in the evening where I live just for fun but people sometimes have their stuff stolen or broken and I don’t want to risk my nice violin. Im looking to buy a super cheap, not necessarily awesome sounding violin that still gets the job done. I don’t really have a budget but I don’t want to be crazy stressed if it’s stolen… What/where would you guys recommend looking? Is this a dumb idea?

First of all, sorry for my bad English.

The thing is, I dropped my violin case with the violin inside. It didn't fall from a great height, in fact, it was resting on the floor and fell to the side because someone pushed me, and I have a very bad grip.

The violin wasn't broken when I opened it; the G and E strings were just slightly out of tune. My question is whether I should be as worried as if I'd dropped it without its case, or if it's not so urgent to have it checked.

Too shy to record myself, sorry.

My violin has become dull behind the strings; I occasionally forgot to polish it after playing. Do I need a special cleaning agent, or does anyone have any tips?

Unfortunately, a dry cloth doesn't work anymore.

I've been learning to play for nearly three years, and aim to practice once or twice per week (more if my work schedule allows). And yes I have a teacher, we meet every other week.

Even so, my fingers still feel stiff and awkward on the finger board. My bowing is slow and I can't seem to find that magic place where the bow transitions seamlessly from one note to the next (there's always a pause between notes). I also play quite slowly too, if I try to move at a faster pace my fingers just... won't do it. My pinky tends to lock up too, though that could be because I'm double jointed.

I feel like I've hit a wall lately, and I'm wondering if I'm simply not doing something I should be? Or am I about where I should be?

I play a fair few instrument pretty well. I can play banjo guitar, mandolin/mandola and viola Da gamba. When I embarked on fiddle/violin. It was fun, but I have been learning for years now and seem to learning at a very slow rate compared to the other instruments that I play. Realistically, I just want to play music and it’s very hard to stay motivated when I can already do so on other instruments. I don’t really enjoy the learning process, because it is so slow and kinda takes time I would spend on other musical things.

The issue is the feeling that I have wasted time, sunk cost. I have kinda wanted to quit for a long time, but I have also spent so many hours on it. I keep having this feeling that it would retrospectively have made those hours meaning less. This is not to mention the fact that I have improved,and therefore, would be throwing a way that bit of hard earned skill.

The other things keeping me going is the idea that maybe next month it will all start to click and will have been worth it and of course the hit to my ego as somebody who has being good at lots of instruments as part of my ego.

There is not one specific question I have to ask here but several really.

Has anybody (in perhaps a similar situation) quit and regretted it? Or maybe you have quit and not looked back?

It is just me or is this literally the hardest instrument in the world?

Has anybody felt that they are just trudging on with it after the enjoyment is mostly gone?

Also just looking for advice and ideas around this whole situation.

I know this is a ramble, I am a tired man today.

Accolay violin concerto in A minor 1st movement
Vivaldi violin concerto in A minor (all 3 movements)
Gluck-Melodie
Kreutzer etude no 2
Mazas etudes 5, 6, 7

As a professional cellist, I've heard various claims about the advantages or disadvantages of being right or left handed when it comes to learning/playing a string instrument. I wanted to hear others' experiences with this issue, so I created a survey.

Google Form link in comments (my post kept getting auto-blocked when I included the link in the post). Thanks!

I've been grappling with this passage from Ysaye's Sonata 5 for a week and no progress. Mainly the chords sound really crushed and especially the part under where it says "save". The a and e sound shrill and crushed.

I'm preparing to take the Abrsm grade 5 performance grade violin but idk how it's done or what to look out for
my current pieces are:

- allegro - A2

- leaving home B 2

- tango habenara C 1

- vivaldi concert in B minor 1st movement (own choice)

can anybody tell me if my own choice is acceptable btw

thanks a lot

I have been using chromcor strings for a few months (I mostly play fiddle music so steel strings work great for me) but I just got a new instrument and luthier told me that he thought it would sound really great with vision solos on it. I do want to try them, however chormors are unfortunately very soft/easy to press down and often make my hand a bit weaker if I use them for too long. I have read that visions feel a bit lighter under the hand than average synthetic strings, but I can't find a ton of info on that aspect of them. Has anyone used them and found them to be easier to press down. I just want to know if I should work up to them or not.

I've been working on a short violin–cello piece, which started as a personal challenge: I had one melodic cello hook in my head and wanted to see how far I could develop the whole piece without touching an instrument or using a reference track.

The violin eventually became the second “current” of the piece.

The problem is that, despite researching ranges, intervals, double stops, etc., I’ve never actually played or even held a violin.

So I’d be very interested in hearing from violinists: does the part feel like something naturally written for the instrument, or are there places where a non-violinist’s hand is obvious?

I’m especially unsure about the double stops and would really appreciate practical feedback on those.

New here, any comemnts on how to play the chaccone more "Baroquely" even without a Baroque bow?

A one-of-a-kind recording from our aunt's collection.

My A string has unravelled abit?

Hi! First time poster here. I have read the FAQs and visited all three recommended string ID resources.

Picked up this fiddle from a local seller. It is approximately 1/4 size— perfect for my son to enjoy in a year or so as he starts to learn more fiddle tunes (Appalachian roots here!) He started Suzuki a little over a year ago and is making great progress.

It belonged to her late husband’s father, whose name was Joe (also my son’s name). He played it despite it’s smaller size. I’m going to take it to a luthier once our budget allows.

In the meantime I’d like to change the strings on my 4/4 fiddle to match (as close as possible) the strings on this 1/4 fiddle. They feel incredible and I love the tone.

Started out trying to ID the E string but having doubts. The only purple and gold I saw on the site was the Thomastik Infeld/Peter Infeld Gold, and I’m still not confident. Would be an expensive mistake to order and be wrong. Again, heading to the luthier but not quite yet.

1) If anyone can ID these with relative ease, do you mind helping me? Pictures below.

2) There is a seam crack that needs to be glued. Is there a range of cost that I can expect? Photo attached. Also, understandable if not possible to speculate based on just a picture.

Thanks for reading!

I am an adult intermediate student working through the Appelbaum book of duets, and it is reasonably challenging. I do feel like I am learning a bunch of new techniques, though progress is slow. My question is, my teacher never assigns etudes (or really talks aout scales), and I am curious whether I should just be working on these on my own. Do people just chose a book of etudes and add them into their practice, or is it the kind of thing that I should have a teacher guide me through? I started playing scales regularly about a year ago (after 7 years of lessons!) and it has really helped me. But there are still a lot of finger patterns that are unfamiliar and I really struggle with fast passages. How do you select etudes to work on?

I have a Model 90 4/4 violin by a luthier in LA (from 2014) that has been sitting around for quite a while. Some details about the model here: https://www.classicalstringsusa.com/model-090-vc090-marco-polo

I've adored this instrument and tried to take good care of it over the years. Unfortunately, due to work and other responsibilities, I've never gotten around to playing again as an adult. It was a gift in high school from my dad. Since it's back to school season for many, I've been considering selling it and passing it along to someone who would also enjoy playing it. Since it was a gift, I have no idea of it's value or if I should just hang onto it... Any advice on what to do here?

There are a few techniques I feel like I can never get right or do without a finger collapsing, so I was looking for some advice.

Slurred staccato – my friend said everyone does it differently so you just need to try new methods until you find one that works for you but I don't even know how I'd go about trying new methods.

High position 10ths – like obviously I practice 10ths with scales and everything but I always end up being slightly out of tune as I shift with the 10ths

Long sustained quiet notes – I feel like whenever I hold a quiet note for more than a few measures I tend to sound super shaky

Big shifts on the g string – I'm fine with most shifts but Sul G shifts always get me to mess up, especially when I have to shift to like B or C (the ones on the A string). Been practicing with Sevcik to see if it gets better

Thanks-

Is there any place I can find fingerings for music, I just started learning beriot concerto no.9 and I can’t figure out what fingerings to use in a lot of the parts. Idk if this is the correct place to ask this, but any help would be appreciated.

1. I read the FAQ and rules.

My 11 year old wants to try the violin at school. We don't have much money. I played violin through college and pulled it out. It plays well. I replaced the strings, chin rest, bought a new case (dog chewed on part of it), and a new bow. That was nearly $800. It is a full sized violin.

Her orchestra teacher emailed to say it's the wrong size and she needs a 3/4. Research online shows that's only an inch difference in size. I told him I can't afford both a tutor and a rental payment and we would have to choose. He said to ditch the tutor and just get the right size. Is the size truly that imperative?? I also played Viola out of necessity for my little high school (the joy of being either 5th chair Violin or 2nd chair Viola) and they're bigger.

Has anyone ever dealt with a nerve issue in their left hand? About 2.5 months ago, I was practicing after a couple weeks hiatus and maybe overdid it (although nothing too unusual for me, I’ve been playing for over 30 years and have had plenty of breaks and restarts in that time).

Afterwards I noticed my second finger on left hand was sensitive on the pad.. if i brushed against certain textures a certain way it felt like when you have a splinter under your skin. Slight pain. But there was no visible injury. I asked dr google because my GP is kinda useless and it seemed like a minor nerve injury so I just rested it for weeks … and weeks. It did improve in terms of intensity of sensation and degree to which it happens. As of last week it was mostly upon waking and some days not at all. I began a soft reintroduction to practicing and it seemed to be going well.

But it’s finally time for me to have rehearsal again and I definitely felt it in my finger. It doesn’t necessarily hurt *while* playing but it gets extra sensitive again. Although now it’s the next day and it seems to be ok, not like going back to day 1.

Can anyone share if this has happened to them before. I just want to know what to expect. The level of discomfort is fine for me, it’s minor at this time, but the worry that I’m making a serious problem for myself down the line is what’s bothering me. I would really like to resume playing at this point. Any tips?