How to Improve Intonation on the Violin - Intonation Post Part 2

How to Improve Intonation - Intonation Part 2

Hi violin students (and other music students) reading this article! Today I wanted to discuss some tips on how to improve intonation. Good intonation can be developed from the moment you start learning the violin, in fact it is much easier to develop good intonation from day 1 then to go back and correct/develop it at a later stage.

Good intonation comes from inside the player's head, how they "pitch" the sound. If the student is not pitching the notes in their mind as they play, then their intonation will not be secured, and they will not be able to make a good sound on their instrument. So hearing the notes in your head before you play them is the first step to developing good intonation.

Here are some other tips suggested in an article by M.E. Martin (Jump Right In: The Instrumental Series—for Strings (GIA Publications, 2004)):

1. Sing everything before you play.
2. Relate all the other notes to the tonic (most notes will want to gravitate to this note)
3. Hear the music in your head before playing
4. Find the notes by ear and correct your intonation on your own.
5. Avoid relying on tapes and dots (I generally don't use these with my students unless they're very young)
6. Play alone in the lesson
7. Learn both major and minor keys at the same time including their modes
8. Develop a vocabulary of scales and tonal patterns that you can sing, play, and recognize.
9. Develop proper instrument position and a good, flexible left-hand position.
10. Play music by ear rather than focusing on the notation.
11. Spend lesson time playing scales and pieces by ear
12. Play the same song in many different keys.
13. Play the same song in different tonalities (major, minor, Dorian, Mixolydian, and so on) - for more advanced students.
14. Improvise.

So there you have it. 14 ways to improve your intonation.

Thanks for reading!

Sydney Violin Studios

Intonation Part 1

INTONATION - Part 1

 

Hi Everyone! Hope you are trying to stay cool in this heatwave we've been having here in Sydney. Now before I get started on today's lesson about intonation, please take a minute to subscribe to this blog. 

So intonation.  This is one of the most difficult areas of music that I found in my experience as a teacher.  The information given below, is not only applicable to violinists or other string players, but to all musicians who play an instrument that requires them to play in tune.

Why is intonation so difficult?

It is difficult for many students to listen to the sound that they're making, especially young children. When we start to play, we tend to imagine the sound we want to make rather than focus on the actual sound that we're making.  As the years progress, this method of 'listening' becomes a habit, and our brain falls into imagining the sound we want to make all the time.  This is one of the first difficulties with intonation.  I will discuss more on how to train the brain into listening to the actual sound you produce with your instrument further below.

The second reason why intonation is difficult, and this mainly happens in the case of younger children, is that they focus on reading the notes in front of them and do not pay attention to things like the sound their making, whether their bows are straight, or whether their left hand is free and detached from the violin.  But because of this distraction, focusing on intonation is hard.

The last difficulty with intonation is that some people cannot hear when they play in or out of tune, and they cannot tell when someone else plays in or out of tune.  This is quite common in students of all ages, and is very common in adult beginners.  

So how do we deal with these difficulties?

There are few ways to overcome intonation difficulties.  The first method is to encourage the student to listen to their playing.  This may be difficult the first few times, especially if the student is hearing the sound they would like to be making (psychological). One of the easiest ways to help the student realise that their intonation is not as it should be is to record them playing a passage and play it back to them.  Ask the student what they thought of their playing before you play back the recording and them ask them the same question after they've listened to themselves play.

The second method is to encourage students to play each note of the passage slowly, listening to the sound of the note.  If the note is in tune, the instrument will generally let you know, as you'll be able to hear a strong resonance from the note.  Or if you are unsure, you can always check with a tuner.  Try Cleartune, only $5.99 from the App Store, and set the tuner in the settings to A441.

The final method is to spend time with the student doing aural and other intonation listening exercises during the lesson.

So I hope this article was helpful in understanding the difficulties with intonation and provided some simple ways in overcoming this difficulty.  Over the coming weeks, I will go into this topic in a little more depth for teachers and music practioners alike. 

If you have any questions feel free to contact me at sydneyviolinstudios@gmail.com

Why Playing in an Ensemble is an Essential Part of Being a Musician.

Why Playing in an Ensemble is an Essential Part of Being a Musician.

First of all, we play music together! So it is very important to play with others.  It also helps us develop our ears so we learn to improve our pitch, our sense of rhythm and our expression.

But most of all it is fun!

There are also less obvious benefits:

• Time management skills:
• This is developed through scheduling rehearsals, planning what sections of the music will be rehearsed and to make sure this is all done in time before our performance.
• People skills:
• Helps develop our communication skills.
• We learn to collaborate with others.
• We learn to cooperate with others.
• We learn to resolve problems with others (in actual fact studies show that musicians tend to be better at handling crisis situations).
• Ensemble playing helps us to think on our feet.
• Share ideas.
• Listen to others.
• Respect one another.
• Team-building skills.
• Creative skills:
• Thinking outside the square.
• Working on a creative project with others.
• Expressing yourself through music.

Plus it is a great social activity!

Thanks for Reading:

Sydney Violin Studios

www.sydneyviolinstudios.com.au/

What to look for in a Violin Teacher

What to Look for in a Violin Teacher?      

There is always lots of controversy over working out which violin teacher will be right to teach your child.  One view is that if the teacher can perform really well, he or she will make a good teacher.

However, this view is changing in modern day society.

Every child is different.  Every child has different learning needs. So being able to teach and use different teaching strategies is becoming more and more important.  Therefore, it is really important to find a teacher who can not only play the violin well, but has learnt how to teach the violin to students of all ages and ability.  Not many teachers have this quality, and in fact, only teachers who complete a specialist degree in music such as a Bachelor of Music from a reputable institution or university will have undergone a compulsory unit in pedagogy (the art of teaching) for the instrument.

For example, the University of Sydney offers the Bachelor of Music (Performance) through their specialist faculty, the Sydney Conservatorium ("the Con"). All string players (violin, viola, cello and double bass) undergo a compulsory unit called String Pedagogy 1 (with an additional pedagogy subject for more advanced teaching techniques and concepts).  Within the string pedagogy unit, string players learn to teach their instruments.  This includes the basic principles of teaching and learning string instruments, teaching and developing posture, psychology, motivation, and different methodologies for different ages, abilities or needs.

Because you want to have the best violin teacher for your child, here a some things to consider when looking for a violin teacher to begin teaching your child or to continue teaching your child:

• Qualifications. Ask them about their qualifications.  Does the teacher have a specialist music degree or do they simply have an arts degree with a major in music?  This is a very big difference.  Majoring in music means that the teacher has only done electives relating to music.  It may in relation to performing, writing music, or even critiquing music.  A teacher who has a specialist degree in music i.e. a Bachelor of Music, would have received training in performing, aural, harmony, music history, pedagogy as well as electives related to the instrument or major.
• Experience.  The experience of a teacher is also important.  Ask the teacher how many students they have, how many years they have been teaching, and ask them to show you recent Exam results of students.  If they are reluctant to show this to you, then see this as an alarm bell.
• Costs: Violin teachers charge anywhere between $20/hr to $200+/hr.  Usually, teachers who charge a little more than the average ($60/hr) tend to either have greater experience, or better qualifications than other teachers.  Prices will also depend on whether the teacher travels to your home or whether you go to their studio, as well as where the teacher is based.  Again, ask the teacher about the qualifications and experience.  If the price doesn't reflect this, then think again.
• Levels they teach. A great teacher should be able to teach students of all ages, abilities, grades and levels.  If a teacher tells you they can only teach up to 4th grade, this is a sign that they are not qualified, nor can they perform well.
• Can they play? Ask your violin teacher to play a piece at your first lesson.  
• Methodology. Teachers should be able to explain to you the different methodologies available.  Most good teachers will combine several of these to give the student a well-rounded music education.
• Inspiration and Motivation. A violin teacher will inspire and motivate students.  They will also help students break down difficult problems and help students overcome barriers to playing.  This can be determined after several lessons, so our advice to parents is to monitor the progress of the lessons and your child.  If your child is still learning the same thing 10 weeks later, it could be because either your child is not interested in learning the violin, or the teacher is not the right one for your child.
• Other important things. In NSW, all music teachers need to have a valid Working With Children's Check.  This check cross-references the teacher with the police database to ensure that your teacher is able to work around children.

So I hope this guide helps you in your journey to finding the best violin teacher.  If you do have questions about choosing a violin teacher, please feel free to contact us at www.sydneyviolinstudios.com.au/contact 

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Sydney Violin Studios is one of the premier violin studios across the Sydney metropolitan area. We offer lessons at our studio in the Hills District as well as we have teachers travel to your home at a day that is more convenient to you. 

Our music teachers are qualified and receive ongoing training in string pedagogy (the art of how to teach music), teaching methods, examination requirements; and our teachers regularly perform in many orchestras and ensembles across Australia.

We offer a lesson experience like no other school or teacher.  All our students pass AMEB exams with 75% or more students attaining A's or A+'s in their exams.  We also prepare students for competitions and scholarship into top private and selective schools across Sydney.  Our teachers are also highly experienced in preparing students for HSC Music examinations.

For more information please visit our website: www.sydneyviolinstudios.com.au