violinnewb

What's the end goal? To play for fun at home? To become a concertmaster of a great symphony? To be a concert soloist? To play gigs? Honestly, if you are truly a beginner, then a low-cost beginner instrument works fine. Playing hot cross buns on a chinese fiddle versus a strad makes very little difference in terms of gaining proficiency. Once you delve into the realm of student concertos and sonatas, you may want to invest a bit more, but still not too much more. Steel strings - no. Proper set-up, yes. As long as the luthier charges you a price commensurate to the quality of the instrument. For example, you play a $60 fiddle. Is it worth the $100 to have it set up "properly?" If it plays and sounds good enough to learn on, I say not really. I don't recommend purchasing anything over $1,000 USD until you are at least shifting to third position and possibly learning spiccato. Just my two cents.

Ok, I picked Vengerov and Perlman based upon the cadenza only. BUT--my answer to this question really depends...If I were watching live, Vengerov. I love how animated he is. Recording, I'm leaning towards Perlman. For the record, I have to say I did not like how you put Perlman and Heifetz in the same bracket and in the same first round. Part of me will always be a purist and want to vote Heifetz for virtually any piece of music. BUT--the Tzigane is a little different. For sure, you ask me about the Chaconne, its always Heifetz.

IMO, "projection" in terms of stringed instruments, and as opined by instrumentalists and luthiers, is indeed very subjective. Perhaps, if we take out as many variables as possible, such as the person playing (obviously we can't compare a novice to Zuckerman or Perlman), or number of persons in the audience (because bodies dampen sound), we can maybe get a quantifiable result? Maybe we can ask the Toyota-bot to play? (click link) https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=Awr9IMw9VHpddx4AiDhXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEycmkwaWk3BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQTA2MDdfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=robot+playing+violin&fr=mcafee&turl=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOVP.a-qAMLVv27qhfncReeaBUAEsDh%26amp%3Bpid%3DApi%26w%3D144%26h%3D77%26c%3D7&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-yInphJdick&tit=☆+TOYOTA+PARTNER+ROBOT+PLAYING+VIOLIN+☆&w=144&h=78&pos=2&vid=36cf2db67c981bf3e415341885dd85aa&sigr=11b4vqi96&sigt=11bjnuu47&sigi=12oagrrej

From the clips of the OP, we should infer that this is for fun. Entertainment. Anyways, pick apart and analyze the subjectivity of "competition" and the word "winner" while I indulge the OP by giving my favorite.... Vengerov for the left. Perlman for the right.

Pretty sure the rules were to listen to the opening cadenza. That's not bad at all.

100%! I had to write down the list in order to begin searching on youtube. Too hard to toggle on a single screen laptop or mobile device. I like this thread though. I will have my vote soon.

Try going to a violin shop and explaining your situation. Ask them if you can rosin your bow there.

The title of the post is grammatically correct. the verb "closing" relates to the direct object, "violin shop," and is also linked to the possessive form of the "best friend." In any event, duh...OF COURSE it is a sad moment when a violin shop closes, especially if it belonged to a good person and friend. I am so sorry to hear the news PhilipKT.

This whole idea that the natural ability to memorize ONLY the whole and not the parts is weird to me. I am willing to bet that there are a vast majority of musicians, both professional or not, who can back up two measures from memory as opposed to having to start from the beginning.

Can you imagine the length and heft for a bow large and long enough to play a harp? Awesome!

Why stop at 5? Just go full Harp mode with just enough arching to be a bowed instrument. Just saying.

I am SO JEALOUS!

Mr. Merkel, your posts/comments/observations/suggestions never bore me. Always interesting reads!

I propose the following challenge: Think of a popular melody from any musical work that you have NOT previously studied or played. Hum it. Then take out your respective instruments and try playing the melody from memory. Next, try the above with a difficult piece of music specific to your instrument. For instance, I have never studied the Beethoven violin concerto. I have listened to it thousands of times. I can probably hum at least a good 75% of the violin solo part from the first and likely third movements. Now... obviously that doesn't translate into me playing the piece well, but you give me the music, I can probably make it sound half-decent. IMHO - memorization has to take place from both conscious and subconscious levels (ie: active and passive listening) . My BEST example of this is that 80's song about Jenny's telephone number. I never actively tried to memorize the number, but I am pretty sure it is something like 867-5309.

It works. Also, youtube is a fantastic tool because, at least on mobile devices, you can loop fragments and also slow down pieces without compromising tuning.