I'm helping a 7yr old with her violin practice (she's had lessons for a term) and she's finding it very difficult to only play one string at once. I think her note reading is ok although she won't go past the first or second bar of any piece as she says its bad. I've tried playing her pieces (Merrily we roll along amongst others) using the correct strings and then several strings at once and she says she can tell the difference. Thanks for ay advice

You don't say what you want advice on!!

Anyway, problems with playing more than one string at once etc are often down to correct arm height for each string. If you slip off the right position, you catch the wrong string.

Hope that helps.

Sorry, how do I help her not to play more than one string at once?

I would immediately suspect there is a problem with the bridge curvature. How easy is it for you to play on one string at once on her violin?

Liz

Fairly easy (although it is a 1/4 size ) However I am not a violinist, and so I'm only really helping her as I know a bit about stringed instruments being a cellist and no one in the family are musicians so I'm just pointing out wrong notes ect.

It's more likely that they're just beginners having beginner type problems, that's all! Unless the bridge is really flat and you can't bow on one single string, then the problem simply comes from them - it's a very common beginner problem (and one I'm encountering again for the first time in years since I've got my new five string fiddle and the strings are not in the same place on the bridge - tis very disconcerting!)

Allan

Yes I agree.

One of those things, and as soon as you've cracked it you then have to learn to double stop, which all of a sudden is then impossible

So true!!

Yes it's true! It's like learning not to lift the bow, only to then learn how to make it bounce when you want to later... aaaaargh!