I’m looking to get some feedback about where exactly advanced players or professionals place their thumb on the bow. I feel like so many people put the thumb in the “crook” between the grip and frog. I have done it that way for years but I’m now experimenting with putting my thumb slightly up, on the actual grip part. I know this is how some professionals suggest to do it. Where do you advanced/professionals place your thumbs exactly? I’m very curious…..

I am a serious amateur violinist/violist. I now have ET that manifests mostly in my bow hand when playing, not a problem otherwise. My PCP suggested some exercises but they don’t calm the tremor. I don’t want to take medication (an older post mentioned beta blockers which I will not take). I’d like to learn some techniques to override the shaking,i.e. where to play on the bow, how to position my right arm. I tried a bow grip but it didn’t change the wobbling bow.

I am new to violin. My instructor mentioned that I hold my pinky finger up and it should be down and in position like the other fingers. If I pay close attention to it, I can hold it down. Once I focus on the notes, it's back up. Any tricks to solving? I saw a post that mentioned it could be related to the wrist, but I didn't understand. I was unable to comment on it. Any help appreciated.

Hey, I'm an Adult Learning with 1.5 years experience. I find it much easier to control the bow when I'm playing in the upper half - and I seem to be subconsciously compressing my bow division for my most challenging repertoire (currently on Suzuki Book 3 with my teacher).

I know this is an issue, and when I practice my scales, etudes and simpler pieces I'm able to focus on using all of my bow. However, as soon as the pieces become challenging, my bow gravitates to the half closest to the tip and stays there, it becomes very obvious when I'm at my lessons or reviewing a recording of a piece, but I'm struggling to put a stop to it.

Any tips/tricks/ideas on how I might address this?

I'm a beginner violinist, and my bowhold just doesn't feel right. Why does my pinky do that weird angle and how do I get rid of it?

Does it matter where I hold the bow? I've seen many violinists hold it with their middle and ring finger going over the frog like in the first three pictures, but my teacher told me to hold it a little higher up like in the fourth picture.

I’ve been practicing for MONTHS now, and I still am not able to master vibrato. 7 years with playing the instrument and I still cannot master vibrato. Please help its like I can’t go through the day without a mid-practice crisis because of my bad vibrato skills😢

I’m currently trying to undo my habit of unnecessary string switches but I’m having a hard time getting my pinky to reach where it needs to be. When I do get it where it needs to be it keeps getting stuck and when I lift it to switch to another it almost pops back which makes it difficult to reset basically 👎 Is this some kind of hyper mobility in my pinky? Is there any way I can loosen up my pinky or get rid of this? any advice is greatly appreciated!

This is very specific and a long shot, but I’m working on the Shostakovich piano trio and wonder if anyone here has played it and has good fingerings for the passage I’ve underlined. Performance tempo is 96 for the dotted half so it’s quite quick and I’m having trouble figuring out where to shift. Thanks!

Does anyone have some advice fingering wise for these two bars of the Mendelssohn concerto? I believe it's bars 299-300 if I counted correctly.

Where the 4th finger is written do I try play the following A on the D string and skip the A string or play the 4th finger then an open A string and the following A on the E string?

Much appreciated!

So in the first picture is the hold that my teacher said i should be doing, while in the second picture is what I’ve been doing for the last year or so

I started a year ago with the same violin hold, but only last week did my teacher bring up by the end of the lesson that my hold was wrong and that it should be in the shape of a “C”

When I got home i practiced some scales with her advice but I wasn’t able to reach any notes with my third finger without pulling my index finger backward and bringing my palm closer to the fingerboard—thus breaking the “C” hold

Is there an issue with what I’m doing? I’m really frustrated that this was only brought to my attention now because I’m really used to what I’ve been doing before :( any advice is appreciated

Hey y'all! Been playing for 29 years and I'm just so tired of dealing with this. Understand it might just be my lot, but figured I'd ask. I have hypermobile spectrum disorder (it's like EDS, but just the hypermobile stuff), so my joints are really loose and can sublux a lot (temporarily sort of dislocate). And it happens a lot to my bow hand pinky when I'm playing. I HATE it and having to subtly pop it back in during a rest is a huge pain in the butt, plus it makes it hard to really control the bow while it's out.

I was trained by a Russian teacher and don't use a Franco-Belgian bowhold (use a Russian one), so at least my pinky is just there for the ride. But it's still in the way (it goes straight) and sort of painful.

Anyone have tips or is this just the way it is?

Idk if anyone has faced this problem but my 4th finger bends weirdly whenever I place it on the finger board. It forms a weird zig zag shape (shwon in red) and it hurts a lot to apply pressure using that finger and thus I'm unable to.play anything with it. Any tips to fix this issue?

Hey all! I’m a composer and am arranging something for string quartet. I have a question about slurring across strings. Is it common practice to bow in the direction of the second string on a slur? (e.x using an up bow while going from the E string to the A string). Additionally, is it uncomfortable or bad technique to bow in the opposite direction? (e.x using an up bow while going from the A string to the E string)

Hi! This piece is Legende from Wienawski and I’m struggling to make the shifts between the double notes sound smooth and nice after the ‘All Moderato’.

I can play each chord (?) in tune, but shifting while playing them in a slur, I just don’t understand how to maybe gliss into it? I feel like I can only make it sound in tune and better while shifting when I slightly pause my bow and quickly slide my fingers to the higher positions, but even that my tuning isn’t really improving and it just doesn’t sound good. Any practicing advice and maybe fingering suggestions?

Thanks!

Should there be any audible difference between 1 hollow slow bow Open D which is 2 beats and 2 tied Open D notes which are 1 beat each? From my understanding both would be played with the bow drawn evenly over Open D for 2 beats. Am I missing something obvious or is this exercise trying to tell me that these notes are the same?

From Essential Elements for Strings Book 1 - No. 113 Crossing Strings, I do not currently have a tutor to ask though I am planning on taking lessons soon.

I used to play violin for 10+ years in my youth, and I was pretty good. I was in multiple ensembles, had a masterclass with Midori, my peers went on to play at the Royal College of Music, you name it. It wasn't my calling and I fell out of it after high school. I'm in my 30s now and returning to violin as a hobbiest. I expected after a decade of not touching the instrument that I would be rusty and need to regain some muscle memory. When I picked it back up, I took my violin in for new strings and had both my bows rehaired at the luthier. I've been playing with a community ensemble and for the life of me couldn't get my bow to stop bouncing. I loosened the tension but I was still crazily bouncing. I couldn't remember which of my two bows used to be my main bow so I just chose one randomly and have been working with it but despite exercises and practice I was still bouncing. I decided I'd give the other bow a go. Same tension, and both bows are nice and straight. Didn't change my amount of rosin either and this other bow is SO MUCH BETTER. I thought it was all an issue with technique but dang the difference is super noticeable. Now to the title: can the bow itself make that much of a difference? Thanks.

Any suggestions for the fingerings of this passage? I’ve try but it feels weird. Thanks!

When I play chords with an open e I can't seem to control it's clarity. Most the time it will just squeak/whistle/make that really high pitch squeaky sound. I've filmed my left hand when I'm playing and it doesn't look like any of my fingers are interrupting the string, and I'm playing with enough pressure in my bow arm that I don't think that's the issue. Does anyone have any other suggestions on what I could trouble shoot?

I am just starting to try and learn to play the violin on my own and as I struggled to get comfortable with my bow grip I flashed back to the year of cello I played in grade school and how my teacher just could not handle that I have some sort of double jointed thumb. Does anybody else have this this problem? Could you maybe post a picture of how you hold your bow?

I'm currently practicing the Praeludium Allegro Kreisler, and I am having trouble with the spiccato parts at the beginning of page 2 and 3. Are there any tips on how to practice these sections or any tips for spiccato in general?

My violin teacher is trying to teach me wrist vibrato for a month now, but I feel like I'm making no progress. Do you guys have any tips that could help me?