Ok, so basically violin was my first instrument, and i have played it for about 7 years. You would think after this amount of time i was pretty good at it - wrong!! I have only managed to get up to grade 2 exams, and although i can play quite a lot of grade 4 stuff, and a bit of grade 5, I am really struggling. I would say i average out at about grade 3 when you take things like scales and sight reading into account. I took up flute last year and am already working towards grade 5, and that seems to have taken over as my main instrument. I haven't had a violin lesson for ages due to being unable to get a teacher, and have kinda hit a brick wall. I struggle with my tuning, getting a nice sound, and pretty much everything else that there is to struggle with. I'm on the verge of giving up. I have recently been asked to play second violin in a string quartet at school and I'm hopeless. Any ideas what i can do to make myself love my violin a bit more - at the moment flute seems much more appealing.

I think that you can get things for the tunung
Don't give -up though

There is no doubt that you need a tutor to guide you and inspire you, this is of utmost importance. Have a look in your yellow pages, local papers or call any of your local music shops and I am sure you will find someone who is teaching. Libraries are always good to check too, I live near Bournemouth in Dorset and the Bournemouth music library has a database of tutors for all instruments.


Good luck

I agree - you need an inspiring teacher. Whilst searching for him/her, why don't you go into your local music shop and choose some pieces to play that you won't struggle with and will enjoy - anything - classical, popular or play along? If you start to gain confidence with simpler pieces with no pressure, you may find that you begin to love your playing again. Don't feel you HAVE to do 'hard' pieces at the moment. You need to give yourself some time to feel happy about playing again, and if that means simple stuff, so be it. Obviously technical difficulties will only be helped by a sympathetic tutor who can watch you play and advise you, but watch recordings of professional violinists and/or go to as many concerts as you can and watch them like a hawk to see what they're doing!

As for the ensemble playing, there's really nothing better to improve your sight reading, and you may just get some help from other players or the teacher leading the ensemble. If they've asked you to do it, they must think you're capable! So go for it.

Good luck, and don't give up!!!!

Hey!

Perhaps you might enjoy changing style a little bit? I played violin at G6/7 standard in the classical repertoire and, despite being accepted by a local orchestra who normally have post G8 requirements (well, the French equivalent of "fin d'études musicales"), I always felt like a huge fraud and as though I was struggling with everything to do with the violin. This actually led me to give up and let my other instrument (cello) take over - I found it much easier to make a nice sound on the cello and my intonation was better - I actually enjoyed listening to myself while playing.

I recently picked my violin back up again because I found a different kind of music that inspired me more - I took up traditional fiddling and now regularly attend Irish and Northumbrian music sessions (I was amazed to find out that they existed in France) and even play lead fiddle sometimes. I'm loving every minute of it and, despite the technical challenges (regardless of what many classical players say, fiddle is not easier than violin - the notes are easy, rarely going above third position if it even leaves first, but the technique is extremely difficult if you want an authentic sound) I'm loving every moment - my practise sessions no longer feel like a chore and I am enthusiastic about the music I'm playing. I work all week on a few pieces (which I learn by ear from a CD rather than from a score) and then I play them in the session on a Sunday night with a load of other musicians.

Of course, my classical background has helped a lot, my bow control is better than the other fiddlers' and my intonation is usually better, but they have shown me so much in the way of ornamentation, bowing patterns, slides, rolls etc. that I feel like I'm learning a totally new instrument.

Try experimenting with different styles - classical violin isn't the only way forward.

Good luck and don't give up!

Allan