Free Video Violin Lesson 2
Posted by Thom on Jan 20, 2008 in All, Lessons • 11 comments
Hello and welcome to Stringsavvy.com Violin Lesson #2! Today we will covering some basic theory and then moving on to actually playing our instrument! In our last lesson we talked about clapping and counting to four. When we clapped and counted, each NUMBER was a beat. So 1 2 3 4 was really 4 beats we were counting out. Today we are going to relate that to what you are actually seeing on your pages of Essential Elements.
A Quarter Note is one beat of sound. Each time we have one of these we will be playing a note.
A Quarter Rest is one beat of silence. Each time we have one of these we will play nothing.
The Staff is what hold all of our music and organizes it in an easy to read fashion. There are 4 spaces and 5 lines which I will go over in just a second.
A Barline is what helps us seperate the staff into pieces of easy to read music called Measures while also keeping time.
The Treble clef is basically a symbol that tells us that the music written here is to played in the range of pitches that are available to violin.
Lines and Spaces
Here are the lines of staff, labeled E G B D F. To help us remember we have a fun phrase. Starting from the bottom and moving up, “Every Good Boy Does Fine.” A fellow teacher of mine uses the phrase “Elvis’ Guitar Broke Down Friday.” Any acronym that you come up with on your own is fine to use too!
The spaces of the staff are spelled out D F A C E G. The middle spaces are easy to remember because they spell out “FACE!”
When remembering which mnemonic device goes with which, remember that, “Line is fine, space is face!
Playing
Alright, now lets begin learning how to play violin! Going over the string names, E A D G - note that we count from high to low.
- 1st String - E String (Highest)
- 2nd String - A String
- 3rd String - D String
- 4th String - G String (Lowest)
Remember to pluck using only the side of your thumb and not the pad!
Questions
- What is subdivision and why is it helpful to use while counting?
- What is a phrase you can use to remember the notes on the lines of the staff? The spaces?
- What is a quarter rest?
- Why should you look at the music while playing?Answers will be posted next week with the next lesson!
Assignment
- Memorize notes on lines and spaces
- Work through pages 4 and 5
- Pay attention to rests and repeat signs!
- Practice counting with subdivision i.e., “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &”
- Figure out #9,”Essential Elements Quiz”
[...] Free Video Violin Lesson 2 [...]
Hi there,
Your free lesson is amazing and very much helpful to everyone like me, keep up the good work!
[reply to this comment]
Thom reply on June 29, 2008:
Thank you, Alex!
[reply to this comment]
I just bought a violin from a second hand store and I am trying to learn how to play. I find your presentation easy to learn. I would like to know how to take care of my violin and how to use the rosin for the bow.
I wish you had sheet music for beginners that I could print off so I could learn to read.
Anyway, thank you for having free lessons. I really appreciate you.
[reply to this comment]
Thom reply on July 1, 2008:
Thanks for the suggestions, Sharon! I’ll definitely put together a video on caring for the violin!
I’ll also look into beginner music to put together!
If the bow is new you may have to spend some time really working the rosin in-
Lesson 4 demonstrates the “Rosin Rap” Which will let you practice moving your bow while also helping to rosin it.
[reply to this comment]
Hi Thom - just discovered you a day ago. I just started violin lessons - have had 5 so far.
While practising yesterday, I developed very sore, tired wrists. I had come across a book available on the internet to do with exercising wrists prior to this, but I do not remember where I saw it and unfortunately did not make note of it at the time.
Can you possible tell me what and where this book is?
Your videos are great - thank you for sharing! I play piano, trumpet and Fr. Horn - love strings, that’s why I am learning violin now. Reading is no problem.
Thanks - Amy.
[reply to this comment]
Thom reply on September 15, 2008:
Hi Amy! You can find a link to the book I teach out of on the main Lesson Index page! (Click index on the top navigation)
As far as the wrists becoming sore…make sure you aren’t squeezing down too hard or gripping the violin neck. On a rare occasion when playing too tense I will have to stop to stretch my wrists and relax. I might throw up a video in the near future of stretches to do.
Don’t be afraid to ask if you come up with more questions! The more people ask, the better this site gets!
[reply to this comment]
thank you so much for posting free video lessons for people who are unable to hire a private tutor! it is very appreciated! my violin has been sitting in its case for several months but now i am able to finally start learning, so thank you!!! please keep making more videos!!!!!!!!
[reply to this comment]
Thom reply on September 15, 2008:
Thank you Francesca! More are on the way!
[reply to this comment]
Hi Thom! I’ve just started learning how to play the violin through your video tutorials and I was wondering if you’re going to re-post the videos? Btw, you’re doing a great job, thanks for making the video easy to follow for newbies like me in learning how to play the violin.
[reply to this comment]
Thom reply on December 6, 2008:
Hey Andrea! I’m glad to hear you’re getting value out of the videos! My main focus in the teaching is doing my best to see they are easy to understand and follow along with. The first couple videos are kind of low quality due to me not knowing what I was doing yet almost a year ago. I may re-record the first few lessons sometime in the future with better video/audio.
Hope to hear from you some more as you’re learning!
[reply to this comment]