Recommended Violin Study Guides

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  Studying Music History, 2nd ed., David Poultney
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  The Elements of Music, Vol. 1, Ralph Turek
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  The Elements of Music, Vol. 2, Ralph Turek
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  A History of Western Music, Sixth Edition, Donald J. Grout, Claude V. Palisca.
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  Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music: Ancient to Baroque (6-CD set), Donald J. Grout.
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  Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music : Classic to Modern (6-CD set), Donald J. Grout.
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  Study and Listening Guide for Concise History of Western Music and Norton Anthology of Western Music, J. Peter Burkholder.
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  Outlines of Grout History of Wesstern Music
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  Scale-Studies for the Violin (Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics, Volume 842), Johann Hrimaly.
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  Sixty Studies Opus 45, Franz Wohlfahrt.
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  Forty Studies For Violin, Herbert Chang.
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  Daily Scale Exercises for Violin, Herbert Chang.
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  Scale System : Scale Exercises in All Major and Minor Keys for Daily Study, Carl Flesch.
• 
  Art of Violin Playing: Book One, Carl Flesch. New translation by Eric Rosenblith.
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  Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching, Ivan Galamian.
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  Art of Practicing the Violin: With Useful Hints for All String Players, Robert Gerle.
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  The Art of Bowing Practice/3.3398: The Expressive Bow Technique, Robert Gerle.
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  Orchestral Excerpts, Carolyn Rabson.
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  The History of Violin Playing from Its Origins to 1761 and Its Relationship to the Violin and Violin Music, David D. Boyden.
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  Violin Playing As I Teach It, Leopold Auer.
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  Early Recordings and Musical Style : Changing Tastes in Instrumental Performance, 1900-1950, Robert Philip.
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  String playing in Baroque music, Robert Donington.
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  A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing (Early Music Series, 6), Leopold Mozart.
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  The Great Violinists, Margaret Campbell.
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  Great masters of the violin: From Corelli and Vivaldi to Stern, Zukerman, and Perlman , Boris Schwarz.
• 
  Violin Virtuosos: From Paganini to the 21st Century, Henry Roth.

Other Highly Recommended Books for Violinists

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  Great Masters of the Violin by Boris Schwarz; Fireside Publishing
• 
  The Violin Hunter by William Alexander Silverman; Paganiniana Publishing
• 
  The art of Practicing the Violin by Robert Gerle; J. W. Pepper & Son
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  String Syllabus, ASTA, David A. Littrell, Editor
• 
  The Musician’s Survival Manual: A Guide to Preventing and Treating Injuries in Instrumentalists, by Richard Norris; International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM)
• 
  While others slept, by Florence Nightengale?
• 
  The Amadeus Book of the Violin
• 
  The 50 Greatest Composers and Their 1,000 Greatest Works Phil G. Goulding

Audition Tips

Getting ready to do an audition? Need some fresh audition ideas to get you started? The Violin Site has asked audition expert Jeff Nelsen to provide you with some free audition advice! Your first auditions are always the hardest, but if you follow these suggestions, you'll be able to audition like a pro. Even though these tips are written specifically for instrumental audions, the ideas apply to singing auditions and acting auditions as well.

Fearless Audition
Make the Decision Easy for Them
Deciding What to Do

Jeff Nelsen is Associate Professor of Horn at Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Previously Jeff was the hornist for the Canadian Brass. For more info, visit www.jeffnelsen.com

Memorizing Music

One of the greatest violin teachers of all time, Miss Dorothy Delay, once said that the best performers are the ones that can memorize the most details. Learning to strengthen the conscious memory is key to memorizing music, and thus becoming a great performer.

Traditional Method for Memorizing Music

Traditionally, memorizing music is done by playing through a piece repeatedly until it becomes automatic (rehearsal). Musicians who practice this way rarely attempt to put the music into their conscious or awake mind. Thus, the music only exists in the artistic and expressive part of the brain, or the subconscious. During a performance, when the pressure on the musician is great, it is difficult to stay in the subconscious, where the music was memorized. The brain goes “conscious” and the mind of the performer can go “blank”. This may contribute to musicians having “memory slips” during a performance.

The "Shadow Practicing" Method


Students begin by playing through a piece of music by memory without the instrument in their hands. When a mistake is made, they look at the music, repeat the passage 4 times while looking at the music and then 4 times (perfectly in a row) without the music. They then continue with the rest of the piece. Each time students go through this process their memory of the piece becomes more solid and reliable.

Musicians should perform the shadow practicing just before going to sleep. Some research suggests that the brain automatically rehearses what was done just prior to going to sleep throughout the night.

Students can actually say out loud the positions they are going to or from and yell out the orchestra letters so they are memorizing rehearsal spots as well. This develops a more photographic memory and a sense of where the hand will be sent so that the mind consciously knows the correct position of the arm and hand.

Through this process, the active memory becomes stronger and stronger – like an exercised muscle – and it becomes possible to consciously memorize faster. This allows music to be performed better as well, simply because the knowledge of the music is more secure. Shadow practicing forces the mind to work harder because the performer cannot hide behind the muscle memory or the instrument, but must rely only on brain power to reconstruct the piece. The arms and hands don’t just move subconsciously - the performer knows where they are in the piece at all times… almost able to write out the music. The improved confidence that "Shadow Practicing" builds, dramatically improves overall playing ability, lowers performance anxiety, and improves musicality.

Books on Memorizing Music

There are several useful books on memorizing music. Some of them are listed below...
Guide to memorizing music, by A. J Goodrich
Memorizing Music (Musician's Handbooks), by Gerald Cumberland
Practical music memorizing, by Raymond Townsend

Music Technology

Using technology can make it easier to learn to play the violin and to create music. This page provides some practical suggestions for technology integration as well as some indespensible technology tools for music teachers.

> View Presentation from ASTA 2006 <

Music Software

Free Music Notation Software
Music Notation Software
MIDI Players
Other Music Software

Online Music Resources

Music Education Database
Music Theory Online
Free Online Metronome

Useful Technology Tools

Teaching via the internet
Free Podcasts - Violin

Violin Composers

This section of the Violin Site provides information about famous violin composers. Many of these composers are also know for their work with other instruments as well. Just click on a composer's name to learn more about them!

Johann Sebastian Bach
Baltazar
Bannister
Bela Bartok
Ludwig van Beethoven
Johannes Brahms
George Enescu
Fritz Kreisler
Rodolphe Kreutzer
Felix Mendelssohn
Claudio Monteverdi
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Niccolo Paganini

Violin Making

Have you ever wondered how to make a violin? This section not only shows how to make a violin, but explains about famous violin makers and types of violins.

Famous Violin Making Links:
Amati Family
Stradivarius Violins (Stradavarius)
Guarneri Family
Directory of Violin Makers

Types of Violins:

German Violins
Italian Violins
Chinese Violins

The Peter Prier Violin Making School in Salt Lake City, Utah has taught close to 500 luthiers over the years. There are over 130 violin makers from around the world who have graduated from the school, some very well known for their fine instruments. The following images, from the Prier Violin School, show the process of making a violin from start to finish.
1. Blocks of wood, typically made out of Spruce, Poplar, or Willow, are placed in violin molds made of Walnut wood.

2. Ribs for the C bouts are bent into shape using a special iron.

3. C bouts are then attached with glue to the violin mold and clamped into place

4. After the C bouts are in place, the rest of the ribbing is attached to the blocks.

5. A thin wooden lining is placed inside the ribbing to reinforce the violin when the mold is removed.
6. Wood is then chosen for the top, back (Spruce), and scroll (Maple) of the violin. The top and back can be made out of one piece of wood or two pieces glued together.
Learn more about the wood
7. The wood is "arched" or carved into the correct shape. Then a channel is cut along the perimeter of the top of the violin for the purfling to be placed into.
8. The purfling is placed into the channel and more arching is done to smooth the shape of the top and bottom of the instrument.
9. A bass bar is then added to the underside of the top of the violin.
10. The body of the violin is now complete (3 violin pictures)
11. The scroll is then carefully sized. An error as small as a millimeter can completely change the feel of a violin.
12. The scroll is then carved into the desired shape.
13. The fingerboard, made of ebony, is carefully shaved into shape
14.Once pieces of the violin are finished, the instrument is carefully glued. Clamps are placed along the instrument until the glue dries.