5 ms·

Stradivarius violins are known for being very difficult to play, so that result is not entirely surprising.

jacquesm 4y ago
I think that goes for all violins. I had two years worth of lessons and never managed to get to a point that I felt that it was time well spent. Compared to other instruments which are much more rewarding initially I found the violin to be absolutely beautiful to listen to when played by an accomplished violinist but a total horror to actually master.
- coward123 4y ago
  May I ask - did you have a previous background in music? When I think of my own experiences and those of not only my kids but other musicians I've observed, two years is really just a starting point (IE: you should not have expected to have any degree of proficiency unless you already have considerable musical background)
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    No, I started out with violin, then moved to piano, did nothing for 5 years, then played saxophone for 17 years and then stopped for a couple of decades. The big difference between violin and say piano is that with a piano if you hit a key with a certain velocity it will make a certain sound. Over and over again. On the violin it isn't nearly that simple and just forming the tone will take a long time (in a way you never stop getting better at that).
    - coward123 4y ago
      That's a really interesting observation you make, and one where I'll have to think on it for a bit. One of my thought exercises on this is to think about Glen Gould vs. Simone Dinnerstein's interpretation of Bach's Goldberg Variations. There's something I like about the way Dinnerstein hits those keys that is different to my ear than Gould.
      - jacquesm 4y ago
        There is the myth of 'touch', the problem with the myth is that the piano was designed with the very explicit goal of eliminating it, just like it's predecessor, the harpsichord. http://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/3139/can-a-pianists-touch-alter-tone-a-scientific-study-to-refute-the-myth.html http://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/3139/can-a...
    - tzs 4y ago
      A fun illustration of this with violin is this TwoSetViolin video [1] where they and 8 non-violinist musician friends play a game similar to "Telephone". They split into two teams each consisting of one of the TwoSetViolin violinists and 4 of the others. Each round one of the violinists plays a simple melody for one non-violinist member of the other team. Then that person takes the violin and tries to play it for another non-violinist member of their team and so until the last non-violinist plays it for the violinist on their team. If the violinist can identify the piece their team gets a point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJYaYHmCmAE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJYaYHmCmAE
      - jacquesm 4y ago
        Oh that brings back some painful memories, hilarious though, and some of them are surprisingly good! (and some are just horrific). The most clear memory I have from those days is that during one of the lessons one of the violin teachers dogs keeled over and died. I think she blamed me for that... It also makes me wonder if I would be able to get any sound out of a violin today.
coward123 4y ago
Can you expand on this? Would love more information about what makes it "difficult" relative to another instrument. (Orchestra supporter and string player dad over here, so genuinely curious)

I think that goes for all violins. I had two years worth of lessons and never managed to get to a point that I felt that it was time well spent. Compared to other instruments which are much more rewarding initially I found the violin to be absolutely beautiful to listen to when played by an accomplished violinist but a total horror to actually master.

coward123 4y ago
May I ask - did you have a previous background in music? When I think of my own experiences and those of not only my kids but other musicians I've observed, two years is really just a starting point (IE: you should not have expected to have any degree of proficiency unless you already have considerable musical background)
- jacquesm 4y ago
  No, I started out with violin, then moved to piano, did nothing for 5 years, then played saxophone for 17 years and then stopped for a couple of decades. The big difference between violin and say piano is that with a piano if you hit a key with a certain velocity it will make a certain sound. Over and over again. On the violin it isn't nearly that simple and just forming the tone will take a long time (in a way you never stop getting better at that).
  - coward123 4y ago
    That's a really interesting observation you make, and one where I'll have to think on it for a bit. One of my thought exercises on this is to think about Glen Gould vs. Simone Dinnerstein's interpretation of Bach's Goldberg Variations. There's something I like about the way Dinnerstein hits those keys that is different to my ear than Gould.
    - jacquesm 4y ago
      There is the myth of 'touch', the problem with the myth is that the piano was designed with the very explicit goal of eliminating it, just like it's predecessor, the harpsichord. http://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/3139/can-a-pianists-touch-alter-tone-a-scientific-study-to-refute-the-myth.html http://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/3139/can-a...
  - tzs 4y ago
    A fun illustration of this with violin is this TwoSetViolin video [1] where they and 8 non-violinist musician friends play a game similar to "Telephone". They split into two teams each consisting of one of the TwoSetViolin violinists and 4 of the others. Each round one of the violinists plays a simple melody for one non-violinist member of the other team. Then that person takes the violin and tries to play it for another non-violinist member of their team and so until the last non-violinist plays it for the violinist on their team. If the violinist can identify the piece their team gets a point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJYaYHmCmAE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJYaYHmCmAE
    - jacquesm 4y ago
      Oh that brings back some painful memories, hilarious though, and some of them are surprisingly good! (and some are just horrific). The most clear memory I have from those days is that during one of the lessons one of the violin teachers dogs keeled over and died. I think she blamed me for that... It also makes me wonder if I would be able to get any sound out of a violin today.

coward123 4y ago

Can you expand on this? Would love more information about what makes it "difficult" relative to another instrument. (Orchestra supporter and string player dad over here, so genuinely curious)