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How Can I Learn Where to Put My Fingers on My Violin Fingerboard?
I just never seem to know the right place to put my fingers. I have a fingering chart but I don’t seem to be able to produce the right sounds.
The main problem is that there is no violin teacher for miles aroun, so I’m using instructional videos. But how do I know where to put my fingers!
I feel really clumsy.
Tags: Fingerboard, Violin, Learn, Fingers
I used to play the violin, but then I gave up! Well everytime you bow, check you’ve got your fingers in the right place, you will eventually get it, your fingers will soon pick it up and know where to go. After that you can try to go quicker without looking. I hope I help, and good luck!
Are you saying that you don’t know where 1st, 2nd, 3rd positions are on the string?
You need to be able to hear whether it’s right or not.
Pick any string to play and play it without any fingering. Now using that first note as Doh, sing Doh Ray Me to yourself (like in the song from the Sound of Music). Now put your first finger down close to the beginning of the string and gradually move it up until you hear that you have the Ray sound. play the unfingered string then the 1st finger over and over until it sounds right. Do it a couple of times to be sure that you are hearing DOH RAY. Once you’ve got that sound, you know where the 1st position is. Then go on and add ME by putting down your second finger- there is usually a litte space between 1st and 2nd fingers (a little less than a finger sized space). The third finger is the easiest because it goes right next to the second finger without any space usually.
Good luck.
Here’s a link to a book that you might find very helpful:
http://www.amazon.com/ABCs-Violin-Absolute-Beginner-Book/dp/0966373103
Try these web sites.
Practice! Just keep working at it until you find the right sound. THEN, once you’ve found the note, repeat repeat repeat. It will eventually become muscle memory and you won’t really even think about it anymore.
I had a music instructor that gave me some advice about practicing. “Make sure that no matter how long you practice, in the end know that you’ve played it right more than you have played it wrong.” In other words, after playing something wrong for 30 minutes, don’t just stop after you nail it ONCE.
Go back to the shop where you purchased, or currently rent, the instrument and ask them to tape your fingerboard. This is a great way to learn where your fingers go on your violin.
Go to http://www.sharmusic.com and order a “Don’t Fret” for your violin. It applies directly on the fingerboard and has colored coded lines to help you place your fingers correctly. Make sure you order the correct size. When you receive it, have a violin instructor make sure it is properly positioned.
If you want to become a violinist, have private lessons as often as you can. A video can give you basics, but it can’t check to make sure you are playing correctly without bad habits.
do u have a keyboard or a piano. You can learn the piano notes and find that same pitch on your violin. This make take some ear training, but dont get discouraged. At first trying singing the note produced by the piano and once youve matched pitch then you can translate the information to your violin.
One helpful tip is to have somebody continue to play the piano while you play your violin. That way you dont have to remember what the pitch sounded like.
Feel free to ask me anymore questions. theresaveltri@yahoo.co.nz
my brother is learning how to play the violin…so he put some tape on the main finger positions so he would know where to put his fingers…
hope that helps!