The holiday season and Black Friday are upon us (did this year fly by for anyone else?!) and you may be looking to spoil the violinist in your life (or yourself!) with some well-deserved gifts. Here are my top recommendations for Black Friday gifts for violinists of all ages and ability levels.

There are four ways to create dynamics on the violin, which I have listed in this article in order of difficulty.

There is nothing more annoying than a squeaky E string. If your violin E string is whistling more often than you’d like, here are some ways to prevent (or at least significantly reduce the possibility of) it from happening. 1. Change your strings. 2. Use a silver E string. 3. Be sure your bow hair is flat when crossing over to the E string. 4. Wipe the rosin off of your strings.

This version of the tune is in A Major, meaning there are 3 sharps, F#, C#, and G#. There will be high 2nd fingers on all strings and high 3rd fingers on G and D strings. Additionally, there are many syncopated rhythms. If you’re having trouble with those, practice them first without the tie.

Stage fright, performance anxiety, or feeling nervous is completely normal. I don’t think I’ve met a single musician who feels totally calm, cool, and collected before a performance. And that’s a good thing! Performing for others requires you to put yourself out there and be vulnerable, and being nervous means that you care; you want to play well, and you want to be proud of yourself and show off all of your hard work. Here are my top three tips for overcoming your stage fright so that you can unlock your best performance yet.

In this article, you’ll learn how to tell what string to play on and what position to play in on the violin.

In this article, you’ll learn the three most common reasons for bow bounces and how to fix them.

Minuet 2 is a popular beginner violin piece written by J.S. Bach. This piece appears towards the end of Suzuki Book 1. Minuet 2 is in the key of G Major, meaning there will be high 2s on the G and D strings, and low 2s on the A and E strings. There are many quick string crossings in this piece, as well as slurs and a high 3rd finger.

How much should you practice violin? It depends on your ability level, experience, amount of repertoire, and goals. Complete beginners should aim for 20-30 minutes per day, beginners for 30-60 minutes, intermediate players 1-2 hours, and advanced players 3-5 hours.

In this article, you’ll learn how to play twinkle twinkle little star on the violin.

There is no way of knowing who invented the violin, but the oldest living violin was made by Andrea Amati, so he is often credited with the instrument’s invention.

Staccato means short and detached. To perform staccato, simply stop the bow between each note. Staccato is notated by dots over or under the notes.

In this article, you’ll learn what scales are and how to practice them.

In this article, you’ll learn what trills are, how to recognize them in sheet music, and how to practice them.

Vibrato is an important skill to master on the violin; however, it is not the most important skill. I like to think of vibrato as the icing on the cake. Would you eat a big ball of icing by itself?! I know I wouldn’t! Icing tastes best when it is on top of an already delicious cake, just as vibrato works and sounds best when it is added to already beautiful technique. If you begin vibrato before you have refined the following skills, it will be much harder to learn and likely take a lot longer, too. The four skills to master before vibrato are posture, tone, intonation, and shifting.

A metronome is a device that keeps an even beat. Incorporating the metronome into practice can help with a few different things: keeping an even tempo, learning to play faster, and deciphering difficult rhythms. But before it can help you do all of that, you need to learn how to use it, which is exactly what you’ll learn in this article.

There’s nothing more frustrating than having a scratchy sound, especially when you don’t know why it’s happening or how to fix it! The three main causes of scratchy sound are: too much pressure, poor contact point, and a stiff right hand.

The fourth finger (pinky) is the smallest finger, therefore it is also the weakest finger. Additionally, the third and fourth (ring and pinky) fingers share a tendon in the hand, which makes it difficult for the fourth finger to move independently. In this article, you’ll learn tips and exercises to help strengthen your fourth finger.

In this article, you’ll learn what instruments the greatest violinists play including: Hilary Hahn, Andre Rieu, Chloe Chua, Ray Chen, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, David Garrett, and Heifetz.