Articles & Other Useful Information
Articles
Musical Training Benefits Kids' Brains by Shankar Vedantam (Article in the Washington Post, 09/20/06)Finger Chart for Beginner Students (Courtesy of StringSkills.com)
"A Parent's Guide to Music Lessons" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones
"The Adult Beginner" by Julie Tebbs
"How to Buy a Violin" by Julie Tebbs
"Orchestra Etiquette for the Youth Orchestra String Player" by Nikki Routman (coming soon)
ViolinOnline.com
Introduction to the Violin & FAQ
String Pedagogy Notebook
Instrument Care and Maintenance:
The violin is a very delicate, wooden instrument so proper care and maintenance is crucial. I will go through this with you at your first lesson, but here is a helpful website to browse in the meantime.Always wash your hands before touching the instrument- don't play the violin with greasy, dirty hands!! NEVER, EVER leave your instrument in the car. The varnish can melt in the heat, and ruin the instrument for good. There is also the chance of your violin getting stolen. Thieves think that all instruments are decent, so they try to break into your car to pawn your instrument. Most people don't know the difference between a $200 violin and a million $ Stradivarius.
I recommend getting a handkerchief or thin towel that you can use to wipe off the excess rosin, oils and dirt off the strings and fingerboard. See the detailed explanation from Strings Magazine. Leave the handkerchief in the case, placing it on top of the violin like a blanket.
You can also purchase a pre-treated polishing cloth for the wood of the instrument, but this is optional and probably not necessary.
Always remember to tighten your bow hair when you play, and then loosen your bow hair when you put your bow away. Students often ask me: how do you know how tight it's supposed to be when you want to play? I say that it there should be enough space to put your pinky in between the stick and hair. Adult men, your pinky may be a bit large, so think of ladies small pinky. Everyone, DON'T touch the horse hair!
