The violin tailpiece in an integral part of the mechanical structure of a violin, a convenient place to tune your string or strings but also plays a big role in the sound production of a violin.
While you bow your violin on the other side of the bridge there are also vibrations happening on the strings and tailpiece on the lower half of ypour violin, in a sympathetic way.
Understanding this is a key to getting a little extra sparkle out of your instrument. I have seen many a fine instrument miss out on a little extra boost to its sound through poor tail piece setup, choice or a sole focus on aesthetic. All of these are easily rectified and can improve the sound and convenience of your instrument.
Choices in timber or modern materials, sound adjusters and the geometry of setup can all make a difference. So here is 10mins of your life you won’t get back to find out more
“Help my violin makes no sound” I have had a few people ring me with this dilemma, usually after buying a violin on line. Generally speaking with a wave of my magic hand I can make a violin work 😉
Whats this magic you ask, its a little piece of rosin that should be supplied with your instrument , it nees to be passed over you violin bow about 50 times up and down, this creates friction on the bow hair (sometimes its nylon though) and then it works, Therein you only need to put it on the bow maybe every second time you play.
FWIW all violin rosin it not created equal, it needs to have a slight stickiness to it to help the bow grip, some rosin with cheap violins come with a really hard rosin that doesn’t work to well. You can get the best out of it by scuffing it slightly with some sandpaper (or a nail emery board) to get rid of the initial shine.
Here is bow rosining in action, so your violin can make a sound. Of course there might be more complex reasons but this is the most likely.
The Axiom violin is only $99 and is seriously impressive for the price BUT!!!
Actually you get a lot of violin for you money with the Axiom violin, the violin looks beautiful, the case is on par with student violins BUT….
So here is my axiom violin review….
You get a lovely looking instrument, with seemingly all the hall marks of quality with a spruce top and flamed maple back, a nice case, the bow is serviceable if a little soft…so when you see it for sale for $99 its amazing value money! If your looking for an instrument to play and learn on though it’s not without its challenges.
First up the setup – the Axiom violins I have seen come with bridges too high (NOTE: this may be because its been out in the wild a while and with Qld humidity you get movement) . Though the owner of Axiom assures me all instruments are setup (see violin setups) . The running gear isn’t ebony (the pegs might be but the fingerboard isn’t) – fair enough ebony is expensive and your only laying out $99. Finetuner are serviceable , strings are OK (the usual beginner steel strings)
Secondly, the bow, which makes half the sound is a rosewood bow and they are generally too soft to play on. Ok for a few months but you really want a Brazil wood or better bow.
Critically though how does it sound?. The Axioms sound Ok up to a point ….. the reason is the timbers. You can’t carve a violin top and bottom plate for $99 there is just too much about in it. Instead the Axiom uses very thing plywood, with lovely spruce and maple veneers and presses them into shape. I get it its quick, so reduces the labour and skilled labour costs so you can do it all for $99. the problem with ply woods (this looks to be 5 ply) is the cross grains of each layer and the glues in between…yes they give it great strength but impede its ability to vibrate so the tone is sacrificed. (See inside a plywood violin here)
In fairness to the Axiom its targeting the lower end of the market and its good value for money for what it is (some people would call them a VSO) , recently they have brought out some higher end instruments but I haven’t come across these.
My verdict, if you can get the instrument setup properly its probably OK for the money for the first few months of learning. The challenge is the cost of getting the instrument setup is approaching the cost of the violin…and if you put all that money towards a better instrument you would most likely be better off.
My violin journey away from reading the “black spots” began early, with my first folk band at the tender age of 13, where were the Chris Haig violin books when I needed them? I loved the roaring pace of the Irish jigs and their Australian decendant tunes and tearing through the notes. I always had a wistful sigh though, for the guitar and drummer though who found a wonderful freedom behind the melody, to drive various rhythms, chordal progressions and dynamics to bring a nuanced depth to the music. Dial forward through numerous classical groups/performances, membership of many orchestras and a few theatre groups. It’s been quite the journey. Picking up again later in life I was determined to go Beyond Classical Violin and with a determination to free myself from the notes one of my most treasured resources along the way have been the Exploring/Discovering Violin book series by genre chameleon Chris Haigh ( http://www.fiddlingaround.co.uk ). Some other resources I have found useful I have listed here (classical, online classes etc..)
And so it was with great delight that I ordered his new Exploring Country and Bluegrass Violin book. Now to be clear I’m not a country music devotee, but there are lots of the elements of this music in music I do play and would like to learn in a pedagogical manner. These include rhythmic bowing, drone/double stops, fills, improvising/ harmonising and how to work with with singers in contemporary and worship music settings.
Previously I have enjoyed a lot out of his Discovering Rock Violin music book. An introduction to chording, pentatonics and his magic harmony trick all have had great utility. The Fiddle Handbook (I think its out of print but found one secondhand)was great tour deforce on no classical styles. His jazz book, Exploring Jazz Violin was great, well the first 3/4 anyway… after that my brain got a bit full!. I suspect this is largely because the genre doesn’t much grab me (though Gypsy looks fun), but the techniques and theory I learn’t in the book were quite helpful.
As a look back across the books there is a fair bit of overlap and I reckon thats more than OK, everything needs to be put into its proper context and coming at music from different angles really helps with clarity…eventually.
I like the progressive nature of the books and indeed the country one. Chris neither drops you in the deep end, nor belabours the simple stuff. It’s truely a progression using loosely the historical development of country music and the different genre influences along the way as a vehicle. So for me it hit my Goldilocks violin sweet spot, not too hard, not too easy.
There are plenty of worked examples and Chris works hard to provide accompanying audio tracks to play along with, and backing tracks as well. These are not done as an after thought but well integrated and really support the learning pedagogy.
Having said all of that, like his previous books you won’t be able to get through the book in just a few practice sessions and readings. I found I needed to dip in an out of it…as well as have a playing space (my jam group and other groups) to explore the ideas. It takes time to take head knowledge and get it to the autonomic nervous system to make music. At least now i know what I don’t know, know how to get it …and occasionally glimpse getting it!
Book sample courtesy : www.stretta-music.com
One of the serendipitous treats in Chris’ books, and this is no exception, is the the time he takes to fill in the spaces between the musical examples. There is background, history and lots of little nuggets along the way as well. Sometimes these little nuggets are enough to make the penny drop on something I’ve been struggling with. My perennial favourite is using scales not necessarily in the key of the song..I’m still chewing that one over..but at least for now i can say to my classical brain “its OK big fella just move on worry about it later” and then one pops out in a song …from my fingers no less!
Chris’ books come in around the cost of a single violin lesson, that is even if you could find a violin teacher that could teach you this stuff. And inside are hour upon hour of lessons you can do, annotate, go back and repeat. Just like any teacher you can hear Chris demonstrate the playing of the exercises. Also if you track him down on facebook he might even answer a question or two as well.
Exploring Country & Bluegrass Violin is part bed time reading, but most of it needs to be right in front of the music stand with my fiddle and computer with an mp3 player. Seeing isn’t believing, hearing is closer to believing and then the doing and the feeling is the real stuff! I’ve found to get the most out of the book I need to slow down the audio samples (by about 25%) so I can hear and play along with the nuances. Lots of computer audio players can do this built in. Learning something new is a cognitive process for me, so slower is better.
Book sample courtesy : www.stretta-music.com
Probably the stand out examples of Chris’ pedagogy in Exploring Country and Bluegrass Violin is the Bluegrass “Roll in my Sweet Baby’s Arms”, (and later the Banks of the Ohio) a simple tune which is given 7 pages of treatment, 8 audio samples where Chris introduces the various possible fiddle elements that could be added together progressively (and a reboot later in the book). Most important he shares his rationale and thinking behind it! If I had a wish for anything in the Chris Haig violin books it would be to do this more often. Yes it belabours the point and might be repetitive, but working through various tunes and keys it would turn his Exploring series into accompanying “workbooks” you could put on the practice stand and work through it.
PS I’m still wrestling about wether I want minor or major pentatonics in my head when I play …at least now I know they are the same thing …thanks to the circle of 5ths
Thanks Chris for your contribution to music! I might try one of your online courses one day too!
A common maxim you hear at violin shops is that violins bow should cost around 1/3 of the price of the violin. What madness is this? you reckon…its just a stick, all of the real workmanship is in the violin which is were the sound is made. This was certainly my view for a long time. That is until I made the step up from a student bow to a better student bow. Then as I was heading out to other music genres I started looking into carbon fibre bows…they have real advantages when you are cranking out the tunes…especially on electric violins…and also stand up to a lot more punishment both on string and on the stage (the orchestra is a pretty organised place ….rock bands less so).
But it wasn’t until I met my current bow, a serendipitous addition to a line up of various Coda Bows I was trying out, that all was really revealed about the violin bow costs. The bow every so subtly disappeared from my hand, as it became more of a part of me and less something I was holding. Yes this is a bit of “Harry Potters Wand“, but the translation to playing soulful pieces was immediate – it was one less thing to get in the way of expression.
Aside from the stiffness a more expensive pernambuco bow brings , which allows better transmission (and sensitivity) of power from the hand to the string there is much more going on Digging deeper into the science of the bow, you discover it does actually make half the sound through the grip-slip-grip of the bowhair and rosin…. through to the sympathetic vibrations down the stick itself. In a good bow you see all of the higher order tonal characteristics in a violins sound…in a less expensive bow you tend to see lower stiffness and less of these vibrations making them that much harder to produce on the violin.
A softer bow is great for beginners, its more forgiving of the nuances of technique so don’t worry about a more expensive bow till you feel you need something more from it.
Anyway your mileage may vary. if you in the market for a more serious bow, be prepared to take your time , a couple of notes won’t let you discover whats right for you. A part of a favourite song and a selection of bows to work through worked for me.
FWIW I stock mostly student bows ($50-75), picked from among a range of suppliers for the best price /sound trade off though, together with a few better quality (often European) fully mounted bows up to $250. I also keep a small stock of carbon fibre bows in the $150 range, that offer an increase in performance – but without the price tag you see on a lot of carbon fibre bows.
A lot of noise is made about “has your violin been setup” and setup correctly? Why? because its really important! Most factory violins arrive at a music store not ready to play and thus need to be setup. Higher quality instruments the maker will usually setup though.
Setup refers to making sure the violin is ready to play, of which the most important characteristics are the string height above the fingerboard, via the bridge is at the right height and fitted correctly to the body of the instrument and also at the nut. . Checking the pegs fit and can move freely with a dab of peg paste is next. Next is that the finger board has the correct scoop and that inside the violin the sound post is properly fitted and located and the tailpiece is the right length. Its a specialist thing and string stores all have people trained that can do it…but a generic music shop may not…and an internet violin…well you won’t know till it turns up! For a secondhand instrument these might need to be revisited
Violins are unique each and every one, however for sound production and easy of playing they are incredibly standardised. If strings are too high above the fingerboard that can’t be pressed down easily and will frustrate a player and their tone production.
A poorly fitted (and located) bridge will not allow the string to vibrate correctly, nor transmit its vibrations to the body correctly.
Some quick rules of thumb if you are checking out a violin, up near the nut you should only just be able to fit a business card between the strings and fingerboard. Any higher and fingers can’t press the strings down properly, any lower and the string will buzz.
Down at the other end of the fingerboard. The player should be able to fit the tip of their pinky just under the G string, and the gap under the E string is nearly half that. A smaller hand is probably on a smaller instrument where the heights are smaller. Also I didn’t give away the “trade secret” measurements of 5.5mm under the GString on a full size violin…oops
Looking at the bridge the feet should line up with the inside notches of the f holes and if you can see daylight between the feet and body it hasn’t been fitted. Inside there is some stuff with the sound post…a whole topic in itself.
So if your Ok on the fingerboard and the bridge probably the rest is ok..if its not …go to another store.. like Fiddler Dan 😉
Side note on beginner instruments I tend to leave the finger board nut heights a shade higher, as they are fitted with steel strings that tend to wear down a nut over time – as there aren’y too many 7 years old playing Paganini’s Caprices on them they are still quite playable. I also leave the bridges a bit chunkier, it takes out the shrill squeaky tone (admittedly at the expense of some finer aspects of tone production) and the bridge is less likely to warp if left unadjusted for a longer period of time so less likely to need a repair.
Parents often come to me clutching a teacher preferred violin list and can I sell them the exact brand from the list…and of course for a good price. Why do teachers have a preferred list?
Firstly teachers know the whats best for your violin student and the teacher preferred violin list is a part of making sure they have a good instrument that is right for their student for that stage of their learning journey. Its also done in desperation, because they have seen a few to many ALDI blue violins and Ebay cheapies in their time. As a parent if you knew violins you wouldn’t buy these..but you don’t know and they look like they have everything and the price it good…but they are often sub standard instruments for learning on. See my guide on internet violins for more thoughts on this.
If your learning violin in a group lesson, such as at a state school there isn’t a lot of time week to week, let alone for instrument selection, this is where a preferred instrument list really shines. If you have individual tuition, such as at a private school or with a teacher outside of school there is room for more conversation to get a good instrument. in fact i am often contacted by private violin teachers hunting for a good value instrument for their student.
So what makes “the list” ? well generally they need to sound OK, be reasonable priced and also be widely available in shops at the moment. So , depending on the teacher you will see Enrico, Arioso, Arco, Gliga and a few others (that are commonly stocked in stores) listed – or they might say anything from the XXX store. Brisbane has most of the popular national brands, but not all of them so there are a few that you won’t see, like the Kreisler from the Sydney String Store and the Glanville family of makers . The other thing about these instruments are they are usually setup well, thats is the bridge height, fingerboard and nut heights are all good, pegs greased so they turn without getting stuck. All violins, these ones included, need to be ‘setup’ to be playable, an ebay or ALDi instrument isn’t and I suspect this is what the teacher is most concerned about…as well as the quality of the build.
Secondly there is also the *dark side* of the musical instrument business, where teachers receive an undeclared commission or gifts from music stores(2Set violin have a nice video about this) . This is more common on the expensive violins and is a practice that might be fading, but its definitely a factor.
As you get to be a more advanced violin student, it can take a lot of time to find the instrument that is right for you…and usually won’t be a list instrument…but thats a story for another day.
Do you know the story of Goldilocks? It is a little known fact that she was also a violin player…no really its true 😉
What violin did she play, the curious amongst you might ask? Well all I can say is it was not too cheap, but not too expensive….it was just right. Just right for her that is.
As a beginning player, her mum couldn’t bear the thought of a cheap tinny instrument being played around the house, nor did she have the money for an expensive European instrument when she wasn’t sure if Goldilocks was going to keep learning.
On her violin were not the cheapest of strings – which can hurt the ears, but neither were they the expensive solosists strings …that would amplify every falw in her beginners technique.
Her bow was neither too soft so she could get decent tone out of the instrument, nor to capriccios as an expensive pernambucco bow would be skittering around as she was just learning how to handle a bow.…its was somewhere in the middle
The case itself also was just right…tough enough to handle the every day rigours of heading off to her friends grandma’s place for lessons. Her friend wore a red riding hood…you might know her. But also the case was not so expensive as to cost more than the violin as well.
So when you are next in the market for a violin, keep in mind your ideal Goldilocks violin. Watch out for stores that will frame their products ranging from expensive to very expensive and try to find something that will suit you. Remember a quality well cared for violin will hold its value into the future, just change your violin according to your needs as you grow.
I have lost count of the times I have been servicing a $300 instrument only to find $180 strings on it, because that was what some music store (or cough teacher) recommended. I know why they recommended it of course the % markup on strings is pretty low, so if you can sell an expensive set you are more likely to cover your transaction costs.
But is not really a good match for the violin or likely the player, It’s a bit like putting racing tires on a Hyundai Excel or a donning Tuxedo to go water skiing… looks great, but not really fit for purpose. In fact for a beginning student expensive string may make them sound worse…amplifying every technique imperfection.
There are literally hundreds of violin strings on the market today and you can buy them all in Brisbane, with great variation between them in tonal properties, projection and durability. Yes they are expensive, why can’t they be like guitar strings at $20 a set you ask? Its all in the construction, and perhaps to the premium of playing a classical instrument?
So what do I recommend? Here are some thoughts…
Steel strings…
Steel strings – everyone wants them on a guitar , but on a violin they don’t sound the best. Probably this is because the modes of vibration, don’t get the delicious upper order harmonics nor the rich fat lows. But on smaller instruments where the string length is shorter, so they are not so tight its not too bad and so are a good match for beginners. The tone on smaller violins tends not to be stradivarius quality, as they re generally cheaper instruments only used for 6 months or so so expensive strings are a bit of overkill. I like the Clarion Silver Strings, with a multi stranded steel core and last a longer time. So a good match up even on 3/4 size instruments, if its your first instrument and your just starting out ~$25 a set too they are easy on the pocket.
Filament cores…not cat gut
Filament cores are the modern equivalent of traditional gut strings (which were never made from cats), but without the challenges of humidity, tuning and generally better sound projection (pursuits have at me in the comments section if you will)
What to choose – Basics
By the time you are on a 3/4 or 4/4 instrument though you will probably want something better than steel, to reflect a better instrument and also to reflect you developing tone production abilities.
Thomastik Alphayue come in around $50 and then Pirastro Tonicas at ~$65 and are a good choice here. In fact Tonicas will do you well into your third grade of playing and beyond.
From here though what string you use starts to depending on you as a player, your violin (especially if its electric) and the kind of music you play. Thomastik Dominants have been around forever, and are a mainstay of quite a few professional and amateur violists alike , at ~$100 treat yourself to solid performer perhaps?
The above strings are what I tend to keep in stock for setting up instruments new and preloved, though I can order in anything my Brisbane violin customers want as well.
Stepping up
Pirastro Violino (~$80) can bring down a hard edged new instrument a bit and for the more serious Pirastro Obligatos ($175) can bring out some rich dark tones, Larsen Tzigane(~$120) are another option in this regard for some really chewy tone.
If you want a bit more brilliance and projection go for Evah Pirazzi Strings ($165) or newcomer Warchal Brilliants (~$120 ), pronounced as Varkal if you want to sound sophisticated at the till ( the V and W sounds are substituted in some European countries). There are also the Thomastik Infeld Red and Blue (~$130), designed to mix and match to get the right string for your violin across the 2 sets (and give you something sophisticated to talk about – like you are discussing fine red wines).
Durability
Strings can last anywhere from 6 months to a year depending on how much you play them, yes many will keep going long after that but they tend to lose their “magic”. Evah Pirazzi’s for example are a favourite soloist string but are infamous for not keeping their zing all that long (3 months some people recon). String lose their sound so slowly you may not even notice it till you put a fresh set on and then “wow these are the best strings ever”.
When to change
I usually have a set of what I want to try next in my violin case. When the first string goes (breaks or gets ‘fuzzy’) and change it only and maybe wait till the second one goes before I give in and put them all on.
Strings tend to go better with their own kind , I suspect this is because all the strings resonate sympathetically to the one being played, though often people might have an E string they prefer (especially if you have a wolf note – you’ll want the patented Amber E from Warchal)
Most often its the A string that goes first, up near the fingers, there is something about its winding and finger sweat that does mix. On student violins its often the E string – as a victim of over enthusiastic tuning …ping!!!
Simply for Strings in Brisbane Northside runs a programme every year called Stringtember, with a modest discount on all strings. It’s as good a reminder as any to change your strings. I suspect they chose September because it is the quietest time of the year in the trade (except possibly week 3 of term 1 ) so it makes sense to drum up business..and hey while you are here look at these lovely instruments 😉 As for me its when I catch up on all my backlog of instrument renovation getting ready for the December rush.
So your spending anywhere from $60 – $160 a year on strings, it sound like a lot but remember thats just the cost of a few violin lessons. Strings are what make the sound and are only cents per day, so get over it and treat yourself and your violin.
Experimenting with sound
Here are some violin string tonal charts. I like this one from violin string review the most, because its multi brand, and you can read loads of crowd sourced reviews of strings here as well. To help you decide to drop you $$ on. It can feed your confirmation bias on what you think you want , or help you discover something new.
Violin Strings Brisbane – a guide : Image courtesy of ViolinStringGuide.com
Hear loads of strings being played on the same instrument and discussed (Courtesy of whitehorsemusic.com.au in Sydney)
Chances are if you’re reading this then you are in the market for a secondhand violin maybe on facebook or gumtree and why not a secondhand violin can be better than new . While I hope you’ll come and checkout what I have on offer ( and why you might buy a preloved violin from me), here is a dozen or so tips if your going to get one yourself on gumtree or facebook!
Chances are you’ll do OK, most people are pretty straight-up and honest about what they have, but they don’t actually know themselves and there is the odd bit of firewood out there masquerading as a violin. So here is my dozen or so tips on what to look out for
1. Bow – does it have more hair than me – these guys wear out. does it have the reverse curve
2. Case – scruffy is OK, structurally unsound..not Ok.
3. Open seams – fixable..but probably not by you
4. Body cracks – likely needs opening up…an expensive fix and probably not worth it
5. Endpin cracks – might be superficial…might not
6. peg action and cracks – sticky or sloppy pegs, eliptical pegs, cracks in the peg box
7. Bridge – bent? at the wrong height, badly fitted
8. Action – strings low enough to be easy to play – but not buzzing
9. Chips – cosmetic usually – but can lead to splitting down the track…get them seen too!
10. Strings – only last a year, still work after than but might be fuzzy, nt hold a note and sound not very good
11. Brand – google the brand (inside the f hole) give you an idea of if its reputable
12. Price when new. How much do you need to spend well google it. I recon about $300 + $100 per year of playing I recon is about right.
If you can have play it, and bring along another similar violin for comparison of sound (acoustics can change the sound dramatically) that will help too.
Finally don’t be afraid to ask the seller about the provenance, that is where they got it and how long they have had it . They might be embarrassed to say its third hand (but shouldn’t be), if it hasn’t seen the inside of a violin shop in a while though make sure to give it some love.
Here’s a one take video version of the above, if you have 5min or so of your life to lose. Its not fancey but you might find it helpful.
