Why You're Struggling in Violin (it isn't what you think)

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Violin presents as many mental challenges as it does physical ones, if not more. A misplaced focus can make or break your violin progress, so I wanted to address probably the biggest misplaced focus in violin playing: focusing on the Violin Hand more than the Bow Arm
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[@grantwolfe3323]

Playing the violin is about 15% left hand and 85% right hand...if you listen to all the great masters of old, the reason they all sounded so unique was because they USED THE BOW!!

[@Violinna]

Absolutely!!

[@hamwhacker]

Exactly you don’t generate sound unless you move the bow, which contains rhythm tone quality dynamics and phrasing. The left hand is the icing on the cake, but without the cake there is no point. (Although I do like picking off the icing and eating it separately 😀)

[@tullochgorum6323]

The focus on the bow-arm was a lesson drummed into me by my cello teacher long ago when I was a kid. He told me an anecdote of when he was at a residential workshop in Spain studying with Pablo Casals. Waking up early one morning he heard someone practising in the concert hall and went to see who it was. It was the great man himself, in his late 80s at the time, working with intense concentration on the very same open-string long-bow exercise you illustrate. I suspect that it's the continuing focus on getting the unglamorous foundations right that helps separate the great from the merely good.

[@MurphyMusicAcademy]

100%

[@augustinechinnappanmuthria7042]

Excellent teaching of practicing matter marvelous AUGUSTINE violinist from Malaysia

[@kcald9891]

So true: I heard someone recommend imitating your favorite violinist earlier this week, so I watched a video of a soloist and kept noticing his beautiful bowing. When I started trying to imitate that specifically, I noticed that my left hand just automatically relaxed and functioned better as a result. I think the stress of sounding bad (due to bowing) is one of the factors that makes us clamp on the left hand more than necessary and strangle the vibrato/struggle with intonation.

[@technicmachine]

7:48 That resonated so well, I've seen so many performances where it sounds muddy or muted.

[@MurphyMusicAcademy]

It’s cause you gotta focus on the bow!😁

[@binahdelille724]

Woww, thank you so much for this very good video, you say the right Thing. I hope you will continue to produce this kind of video because all the violinist community need this information. Once again thank you

[@alexsaldarriaga8318]

Excellent video. Brilliant teacher. Totally agree with everything you said. Pinchas Zukerman calls his bow arm his bank account. He doesn’t get paid if it doesn’t produce a beautiful sound. My first teacher (a student of Mishel Piastro) was all about the bow and the sound. It would frustrate me to see my rivals playing flashy concertos by Viotti and Rode (with less emphasis on producing a beautiful sound) when my teacher had me working on sober masterpieces by Bach and Beethoven. It was many years later that I came to realize, understand, and appreciate that it’s infinitely more important to learn about bow control and distribution, tonal colors and dynamics, and interpretation and phrasing on “easier” pieces than to show off with left hand pyrotechnics and a sketchy sound. Thank you for sharing your excellent insights with us. Keep up your great work!

[@johnbat6743]

Thank you! I recently upgraded my bow and I am so amazed at the difference in my playing in one week compared to what it was with my old bow. I play without a shoulder rest like you and I find I tend to grip the strings down a bit much so I'm looking forward to concentrating on my bow arm and having the added benefit of relaxing my left hand. I really appreciate your videos and find your logically explained wisdom extremely helpful. Thank you again

[@pluutoop]

Can u tell me what bow did u purchase? I need to buy a new bow . Mine is just way to begginery

[@johnbat6743]

@@pluutoop I bought this one as I wanted better than I had but didn't have a lot of money to spend. I found it's actually a very well balanced bow and the hairs are beautifully aligned. I've since bought two more of theirs, a $200 one and a $400 one as a gift for my mum and actually this one here is as good as the other more expensive ones

[@pluutoop]

@@johnbat6743 do you know the website?

[@johnbat6743]

@@pluutoop oh, it looks like KZbin deleted my comment with the link. I got it from Ali express and it's called an 810v model. Sold by vingobow

[@pluutoop]

@@johnbat6743 thank you so much John ❤️. And yes KZbin erases the links automatically for some reason.

[@mikeconcino4022]

Very good video. I couldn't agree with you more. Though I'm only about six months or so into this, much of my attention has been on what I'm doing with my right hand. Contact point, keeping bow straight, control, and keeping a light pressure especially near the frog.

[@MurphyMusicAcademy]

Beautiful. Learn to work WITH the bow, not try to force it to your will

[@nargisali3117]

@@MurphyMusicAcademyI played a lot and tried to focus a lot in playing my violin and the songs but I failed and learned that music might not always be for everyone even do I did exactly what you told in the video

[@janhawkins6088]

I'm a very old beginner, and very quickly learned to take more notice of the bow than the fingering. Once I have learned a piece then that's when I watch the bow intently or it just goes off and plays something quite different all by itself! 😅

[@luckylawrance]

Thanks a lot for this. I've been working on my bow arm for last three months, and could hear significant improvement in sound (my teacher also told me so). This video will help me further

[@DivaDeb1234]

You were asking for video content. Have you ever done a video discusses how actually difficult the violin is and help people need patients and maybe describe the pitfalls in the struggles mental and physical that you may have had with the violin training. I'm always interested to hear how people struggled with violin and overcame it. I love to hear about times when you thought you wanted to quit we were frustrated you weren't making progress and when you practice when you really didn't feel like it maybe an injuries that you overcame or any personal relationships that were difficult all those kinds of things

[@christophertsiliacos8958]

For more than four years now, I enjoy playing the violin many days a week for several hours a day. It’s no struggle for me, that is, once I got the basics down. I find it very relaxing actually. In fact, I play many tunes by ear. The key to playing by ear, for me, is 1) be completely familiar with the tune, 2) know the first note in which the tune begins, and 3) know in which key signature to play the tune. Now that being said, I must admit, I play the violin aka fiddle only in the first position and with a “finger vibrato.” 😉 BTW: I never used dots or frets when learning to play the violin. I learned to play the violin only by the sound of each note with proper finger positioning and muscle memory. If I want to play a string instrument with frets, I play either my ukulele or mandolin. 👍Happy fiddling! 😊🎻♫

[@bradykelso8682]

This is an excellent video! Thanks!

[@nicolassaldivia]

¡Gracias! Great content im learning a ton! Keep it up 💪

[@MurphyMusicAcademy]

Gracias to you, sir!

[@Marleyweaveredits2]

This is helpful finally a video that helped me❤🎉😅

[@SarumChoirmaster]

Even as a retired professional, I practice 2 to 4 hours EVERY day in segments of one or one and a half hours. When I put away my viola for the day, next next day it seems I am starting all over again. WHY? Its all in the muscles and body. Its about training your muscles. 10 steps forward, and then 9 steps back. LOL

[@tomfriesenberg392]

Hi Toby, you make great videos and anyone can learn a lot from them. Thanks for that. There‘s one thing that‘s bothering me though: What‘s wrong with being an amateur violinist (see 0:50 to 0:53)? Why do you put down the „amateurs“? I find this comment quite insulting for anyone who did not have the opportunity to become a professional violinist for whatever reason. „amator“ is latin and means: someone who loves, or simply: lover. Is there something wrong with loving to play the violin, if it‘s not done professionally?

[@MurphyMusicAcademy]

Hello Tom! Thank you very much for this thoughtful comment! I suppose the term “amateur” has taken a modern meaning of someone who dabbles, is inexperienced, or not advanced, rather than just someone who does it for the love of it, which is the more accurate definition. I do not wish to demean anyone who is a non-professional or professional-track, especially as this is most of my audience and most of the students here at Murphy Music Academy. Perhaps I can find a better word to describe what I was getting at. Thank you again for your comment, and I’m glad you have enjoyed the videos

[@roxiebringman7033]

I was learning how to play violin. I was trying to tune it and then the sting literally fell out and I couldn’t put it back in tomorrow. I’m getting my mom or Dad to return it.

[@HE4RTS4EM1LY]

I’ve been playing violin for 6 years and I still have trouble with the bow

[@Shrinksjp]

Well, I started playing in my 60s, taking private lessons. I am on Suzuki book 7, but I cannot get the hang of vibrato. It seems impossible for me!

[@FCarraro1]

of course, I couldn't agree more! one little question that might be a little technical: to take away weight from the bow, do you prefer to press the right pinky down or to rotate (supinate) the whole forearm keeping the pinky active isometrically but not having it actually pushing down? One other small thing: i noticed that the more you go at the frog, the more, if you pronate or supinate the bow forearm, the bow just crosses from a string from another (i think because of the position and leverage of the contact point from the balance point of the bow, but I wouldn't swear on it) without actually changing the amount of pressure that the hairs put on the string. That being said, what do you think is the right approach to play pianissimo, and conversely fortissimo, at the very frog? Just lifting it up with the hand and pushing it down? I hope I could explain myself, I know it's quite a difficult question to answer, but knowing that you are sich a bright analytical thinker, I would like to hear your opinion ;) thank you and keep up the good work

[@davidekdal7190]

I am surprised to hear that it's uncommon to be focusing on the right arm. The by far most interesting aspect of violin playing is the violinist's bow arm. I have spent hundreds/perhaps some thousand hours rewatching the videos of Heifetz and other violinists just to be awed and inspired by the way the arm and hand moves. That's what's special about bowed instruments, the bow/bow arm is literally our voice, the basis of expression.

[@JohanJohnJohnson]

Wow nice mindset! Does staring at the contact points also help?

[@leyy4363]

I can't afford to take violin lessons so I am trying to learn violin but I can't do at all

[@johnbat6743]

@Murphy Music Academy I have a question regarding physiology. I've just been made aware that I have a double jointed thumb. When I play my top knuckle bends out as it should but the next knuckle down collapses right in. It makes my hand look very odd but more to the point, I'm wondering have you encountered this while teaching and if so is it an issue? Will I potentially have problems down the road or could it actually be a useful trait? I'm now second guessing quite a bit about my playing thinking about it. Thank you

[@sailordora]

I've watched many of your videos! Thank you very much for all your tips. As a left handed person, I was wondering. How do you approach a left handed student? Greetings from Greece!

[@MurphyMusicAcademy]

I really have never noticed it making a difference. I’ve known many great left-handed violinists, including my teaching assistant, and none of them have ever said it has caused them any difficulties or that they had to do something different. Of my students I teach personally, it has never come up, so if any are left handed (which I imagine some are) it’s never been an issue. I don’t think that one hand is necessarily more suited for the bow or violin, we just decided at some point that the left hand goes on the strings and the right holds the bow and that was that. Considering my left hand can make split second micro-calculations when it’s holding a violin but can’t even swirl a wine in a glass tells me that what side you’re dominant on has nothing to do with it, but rather the training required for the delicate movements in both hands

[@sailordora]

@@MurphyMusicAcademy Thank you for the detailed answer 💗

[@philipq6906]

And also the bow might more important than the violin, you can buy a violin good enough for non professional even in 500USD but the bow can be a little bit more expensive if you want the tone to be nice.

[@philipq6906]

And the rosin is also very important

[@edieecordova6907]

I try to understand but I speak spanish, deberías poner subtitulos

[@winnym6806]

I'm left handed and all my attention goes to my weaker right hand. :)

[@DivaDeb1234]

Oh my God Violin 🎻 has to be the most complicated instrument ever ! Ahahaha aaa

[@mischadavison5052]

so if you're a left handed adult learner (of a somewhat advanced age) are you doomed......?

[@4570george]

Absolutely not. Believe in yourself.

[@phantasmal914]

nah, you just play on a left hand violin. Everything he says here can apply to you as well