Im a new violinist, and need sme advice on a few things?

Question

i just got a violin today and im going to begin lessons.. Ive read a lot online already. Anyway... How much do you rub rosin on the bow hair? I did about 10 times and it still isnt playing, i scratched the surface of the rosin with a fingernail file. And rubbed it again and still isnt playing, does it take awhile? do i rub it up and down or side to side? Also where can i find some good sites with free finger charts and stuff?

thanks!!!

Answer 1

Congrats on taking your first violin steps! You have gotten some great answers here, I would just add it is very important not to touch the bow hair or the part of the strings where the bow goes (between the bridge and the end of the fingerboard) with your fingers - if you do the oils from your fingers will make it so the rosin won't stick.

Good luck and have fun!

Answer 2

If your bow and violin are new... you have to rub a lot of rosin on it... like many, many times or else it won't play. You have to rub it up and down a lot of times to make it work. Also, you have to continue to do that like every week or so, but not as long...just to keep the bow working.

http://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/in...

That website is a good place to start to know all the notes and where they are located.

Also, you could look at your local book store for more books and scales for beginners. There should be a lot there.

I hope this helps!

Answer 3

Take that beautiful smooth cake of rosin and scratch the surface with a coin until the surface is powdery.  Then slow and smooth pull the bow across the rosin just like you were playing the violin.  When you begin to feel the bow dragging on the rosin. Stop and try the bow on the violin.  Once the bow is rosined, you need to rosin it each day you use it.

Pull the bow across the rosin again, back and forth until you can feel the drag.

I played violin for 20 years before someone explained it for me.

You will get your finger charts etc. at your lessons. First learn to hold the violin and bow and get a nice sound on the open strings.

Good Luck

Answer 4

yay, violin!! :D

the most amazing instrument everrr

for the bow: if scratching the surface of the rosin with a file didn't work very well, try scratching it with a coin. move the bow up and down on the surface of the rosin about ten or so times. if it still isnt playing, try tightening the bow by twisting the tension s***w to the right because it may not be tight enough. sprinkling the rosin on the bow works too :)

some good sites.....

http://www.metronomeonline.com -- has a metronome if you don't have one and need to use it to keep the speed of the songs you play

http://www.violinonline.com/violinbasics... -- has basically all of the violin basics. details on how to apply rosin and take care of your bow and violin, finger charts, details on changing strings, and LOTS of other things. i use this website all of the time its really helpful!!

have fun playing:)

Answer 5

Hi Rogo

If the bow is new, it an be frustrating. Here is the secret. We used to teach that to the newomers in our music store.

Break a small piece of rosin and make it into tiny tiny pieces almost like pepper.

Sprinkle it on your bow and rub the bigger piece of rosin on the bow. That should work fine now. guaranteed. It will work.

Here is a good fingering sites....

http://www.theviolinsite.com/fingerings....

http://www.fretlessfingerguides.com/