Tim Summers, violin | Violin Fundamentals

Feet on the Ground

As you start to play, aim for solidity in left and right hand.

Your left hand should feel full, fat contact with the string; the hairs of the bow should sit thickly and exactly on the string..

Compare the solidity of contact in your hands with the solidity of your feet on the ground.

Try it with double stops as well.

Practising with a Mirror

Practising with a mirror is extremely useful – for both hands.

However, one must not become too self-obsessed.

When practising with a mirror, try to position yourself so you do not see your own face.

You will gain much in the way of objectivity

Your Fingers are Sightless Animals

The fingers of your left hand cannot see.

You must give them eyes with your ears.

Play any passage, concentrating on how your fingers depend on your ears for guidance.

The mysterious energy of Pac Man

As you play, your left and right hand are brought together not only by the bow and the string.

Your arms, the bow, and the string make a complete circuit with a Pac-Man shape.

Energy can flow freely in this circuit.

Tuning the violin like a drum

Every time you use your left hand to choose a pitch, you must be confident in its tuning.

It is as though you are playing the timpani: once you tune it, you can concentrate much more clearly on how it is struck, and how it makes sound.

And know, when you start playing, that what’s done is done.

Drawing the string as a bow

Play a slow scale, watching the small part of the string between the bridge and the bow hair.

Each time you draw the bow, you will see the string push to the left (for up bow) or the right (for down bow).

Do your best to maintain this angle in the string as you play, like an archer in perpetual preparation to shoot an arrow. The string will take care of the rest.

The string is the bow; the sound is the arrow.

What you don’t see when you play a stringed instrument, even if you look

It may be that you have never seen a string move. It doesn’t do what you think. This video will begin to change the way you think about sound production. Many thanks to whoever made it. And here is another nice explanation.