Violin For Dummies

Katharine Rapoport is an accomplished violinist and violist who taught violin, viola, and chamber music at the University of Toronto for over 25 years. In addition to authoring teaching manuals and syllabi—as well as articles for Strad Magazine —she has performed live in Canada, the USA, and across Europe.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 2Icons Used in This Book 2Beyond the Book 3Where to Go from Here 3Part 1: So You Want to Play the Violin 5Chapter 1: Introducing the Violin 7Meeting the String Family 7Tuning up 8Holding on 9Bowing Out Some Sounds 9Looking closely at the bow 9Using both your hands 10Making Music with or without Notation 10Knowing the notes 11Getting rhythm 11Digging Deeper into Music 11Scales and key signatures 11Harmony 12Playing with Style 12Dazzling technique 12Multicultural music 13Having Your Own Violin 13Chapter 2: Getting Started with the Violin 15Examining the Violin 16How Violins Work 19String vibration and string length 19Using both hands to make a sound 19How the bow helps 20Unpacking Your Violin and Putting It Away Safely 21Taking the violin out of its case 21Putting the violin away 22Protecting your violin 23Getting Your Violin in Tune 23Working the pegs and fine tuners 24Tuning with the piano 28Using an electronic tuner 29Getting close with a pitch pipe 31Finding A with a tuning fork 32Troubleshooting Guide to Dealing with Pegs and Fine Tuners 33Peg problems 33Fine tuner problems 35Chapter 3: Holding Up Well 37Understanding the Importance of a Good Violin Hold 37When standing 38When sitting 41Reading from a Music Stand 42Finding a Good Fit: Chinrests and Shoulder Rests 43Chinrests 43Shoulder rests 46Fixing Common Problems with the Violin Hold 48Keeping the scroll afloat 48Watching the horizontal angle 48Keeping your elbow under 49Relaxing the shoulder 50Part 2: Getting Started: The Basics 51Chapter 4: Taking a Bow 53Saying Hello to the Bow 54Treating Your Bow Well 55Tightening and loosening the horsehair 56Using rosin on the bow 57Getting to Grips with Your Bow Hold 59The famous diva method 59The hidden treasures method 60Conquering common problems with the bow hold 62Putting Bow to Strings 62Bowing on different strings 63Understanding bowing symbols 65Playing Your First Concert 65Bowing in the Styles of Mr Smooth and Mr Clean 67Chapter 5: Getting the Left Hand Right 69Shaping Up Your Arm and Fingers 69Getting your arm in shape 70Taking your fingers to tap dancing class 71Framing your left hand 72Relaxing your thumb 74Putting Your Fingers on the Strings 74Getting groovy fingertips 74Counting your fingers 75Knowing which finger to use for what note 76Lifting and placing your fingers 76Taping Training Wheels on the Fingerboard 76Preparing Your Pizzicato 80Putting Finger 2 to Work 82Chapter 6: All Together Now 87All Together Now: Putting Both Hands to Work 87Getting into playing position 88Practicing with hands together 88Crossing Over to a Different String 91Changing strings with the bow 91Moving your fingers to different strings 95Playing Music with Both Hands 98Warming up to the task 98Topping the charts: Two simple songs 100Expanding Your Bow Strokes 101Using more bow, gradually 102Preparing to play Pachelbel 102Part 3: Reading Music for the Violin 105Chapter 7: Translating Five Lines onto Four Strings 107Lining Up the Music 107Setting the pitch with the clef 108Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (and so do girls!) 110Climbing the ledger lines 110Naming Your Notes, String by String 11117 basic notes 112A string 112E string 113D string 114G string 115Meeting the Sharps, Flats, and Naturals 116Identifying sharps, flats, and naturals 116Playing sharps and flats 117Playing Music by Reading the Notes 118Getting Louder or Softer — Dynamite Dynamics! 119Playing loudly 120Making soft sounds 121Adding crescendo and diminuendo 121Chapter 8: Making Rhythm Count 125Dissecting a Musical Note 126Adding Up the Value of Notes 127Whole notes 127Half notes 128Quarter notes 129Eighth notes 130Sixteenth notes 131Triplets 131Counting In-Between Notes 132Dotted half notes 133Dotted quarter notes 133Taking a Rest 134You’ve Got Rhythm: Pieces to Play! 135Chapter 9: Measuring Up: A Guide to Meter 139Keeping Measure of the Beats 140Counting Beats: Time Signatures 141Tapping into the beat 142Counting rests 143Emphasizing the right beat 144Regulating Your Speed with a Metronome 145Mechanical metronomes 145Electronic metronomes 147Making friends with your metronome 148Making Music in 4/4 Meter 150Counting and Playing in Threes 151Doing (Just About) Everything Else from Fours and Threes 1532/4 time 1536/8 time 155Getting Up to Speed: What Those Tempo Markings Mean 156Time for Some Songs 157Part 4: Musicianship and Harmony 161Chapter 10: Weighing In on Scales 163Climbing Up and Down 163Marching through the Major Scales 164Building major scales 165Major scales you need to know 166A major scale 167G major scale, upper octave 170G major scale, two octaves 171E major scale 172A major scale, two octaves 175F major scale 176Casting Light on Those Minor Scales 177Building a minor scale 177Playing A melodic minor scale 178Playing A harmonic minor scale 179Meeting Other Scales in Brief 180Natural minor scales 181Pentatonic scales 181Chromatic scales 181Harping On about Arpeggios 183A major arpeggio 183A minor arpeggio 184Major (and Minor) Achievements 184Chapter 11: Cracking Key Signatures 187The Keys to Reading Music 187Getting keyed up about key signatures 187Reading the key signatures for major keys 188Keeping order 190Unlocking the Music with the Right Key 190Finding the Minor Key for Each Major 191Forming the relative minor 191Recognizing minor keys when reading music 192Having the Last Dance 192Chapter 12: Making Sweet Music Together: Harmony 195Combining Notes with Chords and Harmony 196Playing in the Big Leagues: Major Chords 197Finding the primary triads 197Breaking out in chords 198Unearthing the Minor Chords 200Making the Most of Major and Minor Chords 201Meeting the Bossy Chords: Dominant 7ths 202Harmonizing in Thirds and Sixths 203Part 5: Taking It Up a Notch: Techniques and Styles 205Chapter 13: Becoming Fluent in the Language of Bowing 207Fitting Two or More Notes into One Stroke: Slurred legato 208Changing bow direction smoothly 209Starting to slur two notes 210Slurring across strings 214Playing three notes in a bow stroke 217Fitting four notes in a bow stroke 220Planning Bow Division 221Deciding how much bow to use on a note or measure 222Doing the math: Dividing the bow by note values 223Dividing the bow strokes in anticipation of the next note 224Adjusting the amounts of bow for dynamics 224Mais Oui, Maestro: Taking On Ze Accents 225Accenting the positive 226Hammering it out: Martelé 227Meeting the Fanciest Bowings 230Slurred staccato 230Meet the off-the-string family 231Chapter 14: Putting Your Finger on It 237Two Notes Are Better Than One: Easy Double Stops 237Preparing your bow for double stops 238Going from one string to two and back again 240Ballet dancing with your fingers on the lower string 243Playing double stops where both notes use fingers 244Playing double stops galore 245Pulling Out All the Stops: Three- and Four-Note Chords 246Three-note chords 247Four-note chords 248A grand finale with chords 249Getting into the First Four Positions 250Finding first position 250Smoothing out the second position 251Putting second position to work 252Playing in third position 254Venturing forth in fourth position 256Knowing what position you’re in 259Changing Position 259Easing into shifting positions 260Getting to know the four kinds of shifts 262Changing position to go to a different string 268Playing a shifty song 269All Aquiver: Vibrato 270Getting started with vibrato 271Good vibrations: Using your vibrato in a real song 275Tapping into Trills 276Building speed of repetition 276Speeding from finger to finger 277Trilling techniques 278Chapter 15: Playing with Style 281Fiddling Around with Country Music 281Familiarizing yourself with fiddle music 282Sounding like a fiddler 285Fiddling your way to songs 288Grooving to Jazz 290Getting the jazz sound 290Listening to some jazz violin 293Jazzing up your violin 294Enchanting with Gypsy Violin 296Romancing the violin 296Listening to some great gypsy violin 301Playing in the gypsy style 302Part 6: Getting Into Gear, Staying In Gear 305Chapter 16: Finding the Right Violin and Bow for You 307Picking a Violin That’s Right for You 308The price is right 308Tip-top condition 310Old news 311Sound advice 312All about appearance 313Sizing Up the Violin 314Buying the Best Bow 315What bows are made of 316How the bow feels 316Buying or Renting Your Violin 318Buying 318Renting 320Renting to buy 321Finding Your Violin 321Getting Plugged into Electric Violins 323Acoustic pickups 324Electric violins 325Chapter 17: Protecting Your Assets: Violin Care and Maintenance 327Cleaning Up 328Daily dusting 328Cleaning the strings 329Polishing the wood 330Changing Strings 331Taking off the old strings 332Prepping the pegs and string 334Putting on strings attached at the tailpiece 335Putting on strings attached to fine tuners 336Tightening the strings 337Protecting Your Violin 338Practicing safety at rehearsals 339Traveling with your violin 339Upgrading Your Case 341The makings of a good case 341Testing a case 344Looking at extra features 344Changing Chinrests 345Taking off the old chinrest 345Attaching the new chinrest 346Rehairing the Bow 347Finding Useful Accessories 348Necessities 348Extras 349Part 7: The Part of Tens 353Chapter 18: Ten Top Performers — and Their Recordings 355Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840) 355Fritz Kreisler (1875–1962) 356Jascha Heifetz (1899–1987) 357Stéphane Grappelli (1908–1997) 357David Oistrakh (1908–1974) 358Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) 358Itzhak Perlman (1945–) 359Nigel Kennedy (1956–) 360Natalie MacMaster (1973–) 360Rachel Barton Pine (1974–) 360Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Go Beyond This Book 363Subscribing to a Magazine 363Attending Concerts 364Joining a Community Orchestra 365Going to Summer Camps 366Playing in Small Groups 367Participating in Festivals 368Local music festivals (competitive and noncompetitive) 368International music festivals 369Building a Music Collection 369Watching and Collecting Videos and DVDs 370Visiting Competitions 371Performing at Hospitals and Seniors’ Homes 372Chapter 20: Ten (Or So) Tips on Finding a Teacher 373Networking 373Calling the Local Orchestra 375Inquiring at Music Schools 375Checking Out Community Colleges 376Asking at the University 377Hearing Students Play 378Asking at the Music Store 379Mentioning Your Quest Everywhere 379Checking Out Violin Lessons on the Internet 380Looking for a Good Gut Feeling before You Start 380Meeting a Teacher for the First Time 382Auditioning 382Planning lessons 382Making business arrangements 383Appendix: Audio Tracks and Video Clips 385What You Find on the Audio Tracks 385Looking at What’s in the Video Clips 391Customer Care 394Index 395