Have you wondered which violin pickup to buy? Check my reviews below! If you decided to play with a band, maybe a jazz or rock/metal ensemble, that's awesome! But I bet you have a very important issue right off the bat: the volume that your acoustic violin produces is not enough... In fact, you can [...]
JULIA'S VIOLIN BLOG
This is where I share my best violin learning tips, so you can learn to play your favourite songs beautifully.
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Violin Basics
Technique
Music Theory
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The F Major violin scale is a great one to learn because it introduces using a low first finger into your left-hand posture and technique. In this post, I cover all you need to know about this scale, including how to play it and examples of music pieces composed in this key signature. Before we [...]
Improve your playing by doing violin bowing exercises! FREE Violin Bowing Exercises Improve Your Bowing Technique DOWNLOAD PDF Holding the bow, as well as having control of it, is one of the most fundamental principles of the violin technique. The way we use the bow determines the quality of the sound, and a well-prepared bow [...]
Check out what sautillé is, how to learn it, and how it differs from other techniques like spiccato! What is Sautillé Bowing? Sautillé is a bowing technique where the bow quickly bounces or jumps off the string creating short and sharp notes. This technique is mostly used for very fast passages. The word sautillé comes [...]
Learn all about dynamics in music, dynamic markings, and Italian terms used to name them! My students often ask me what I myself have wondered many times, “How can I make my playing more expressive and less boring?”. One part of the answer is “dynamics”. But what do those musical terms mean and how can [...]
Read on to find out what music ornaments are there and how to play them on the violin! Do you ever wonder how you can add your personal touch to a violin piece? Or listen to musicians improvising by spontaneously adding notes that weren't written by the composer? This is how musical ornaments first appeared [...]
Let's see what spiccato is and how you can master it on the violin! What Does Spiccato Mean in Music? Spiccato is a bowing technique for violin and other instruments in the violin family. In this type of bowing, the bow bounces lightly on the strings as it quickly moves up and down. Spiccato is [...]
The violin sound is iconic, and it draws us in for many different, sometimes personal, reasons. Violinists can create soaring, singing sounds, or devastating wailing cries. The lower range of the violin is close to the range of a human voice, and the higher range might remind you of birdsong. Our love of this tone [...]
Read on to learn all about Otakar Ševčík (often written as Sevcik), one of the most influential violin teachers. When you "hit a wall," any teacher should try to deconstruct and rearrange the thing that causes it in a much easier way. Technical difficulties might seem tough or even dishearten you so that you feel [...]
Learn about the viola string notes, how to tune violas, and how to read music on the viola. The viola is a beautiful string orchestra instrument that looks similar to the violin, but is larger and has a deeper, more mellow tone quality. Have you ever wondered exactly what notes the viola can play? Today [...]
Whether you're a violinist or violist, it's helpful to know what a viola clef is! When I first heard a viola and really listened, I thought maybe it would be another easy instrument to pick up after learning the violin. But after some further investigation, I found that this instrument that's so seemingly similar to [...]
From contemporary pop music to traditional classical music, there's so much romantic violin music out there. Today we'll look at 15 of the most romantic tunes through different genres of music that sound so sweet on the violin. If you're still in a romantic mood after Valentine's Day, you might want to listen to, or [...]