Keep a cool head as you wait for the traffic lights to turn green! You can use the time to practise rhythms and string crossings with this quirky open-strings piece.
Keep a cool head as you wait for the traffic lights to turn green! You can use the time to practise rhythms and string crossings with this quirky open-strings piece.
Oo-er! Who goes there?! Make sure you get all the rhythms right or Hobnob the Goblin will chide you! There’s nothing Hobnob loves more than chiding!
Take a trip on the London Underground … and Mind the Gap! Use the station names to play the rhythms on an open string, and then try it with different stations!
Whisk together lots of scrumptious 8th notes (quavers) and 16th notes (semiquavers) to create a delicious performance of this sweet treat of a piece!
Title: The Long and Short of It Description: Level: Open Strings Topics: Quavers, Eighth Notes, Semiquavers, Sixteenth Notes, Quaver Rests, Eighth Note Rests [wcm_restrict] Click here to download it! HKZVc [/wcm_restrict] [wcm_nonmember] Join ViolinSchool today for instant access! This download is for ViolinSchool members only! Click here to become a Member of ViolinSchool and get instant access […]
This classic football rhythm is chanted at matches by fans all over the world. Use it to practise your ‘pizzicato’ technique, then try playing it with the bow as well!
Chop up the semibreves into minims, crotchets and quavers (whole notes into halves, quarters, and eighths). Watch out for your fingers … eek … you’ll need those!
Play with whole bows and then, during the rests, make nice big circles with the bow in the air. This will really help you to get used to the feel of the bow.
A piece for long, slow bows featuring long, slow whole notes (semibreves). Try to use the whole bow for a smoooooooth, resonant sound!
Time for a nice friendly game of Rock-Paper-Scissors! Cross the strings from low to high, high to low, and then find out who wins! One … Two … Three … ??????!!
Time to cast some spells! Your bow becomes a magic wand to conjure up some wondrous sounds in this bedazzling little open string piece. Abracadabra!!
Meet George, a giant tortoise who really really loves ice cream! Find out what his favourite flavours are in this fun little piece for open strings!
Here’s a set of three short pieces for beginner violinists to try out the pizzicato (string-plucking) technique, using a selection of different rhythms!
Time is of the essence! Keep a steady pulse as you practise your pizzicato (plucking). Try it first with a real metronome, then use your ‘inner metronome’ to stay in time!
In this piece, we get used to playing nice long minims (half notes) using the whole of the bow!
Don’t worry … you don’t need to know about particle physics for this one! Just the names of each string – G, D, A, & E – where they are, and how they sound!
Pluck along with Bach and make music using just the A and D strings of the violin!
Never forget the names of the violin’s strings with our favourite mnemonic – Good Dogs Always Eat. From lowest to highest, thickest to thinnest: G, D, A, E!
It's time to pull some strings! In 'Pull Some Strings', we learn about the technique of plucking the string, which is called pizzicato or Pizz. for short.
If you're just starting to read music for the first time, you might come across these symbols which are especially for string instruments... This is called a down-bow ... ... and this is called an up-bow: Here's a newly updated lesson from our Starter / Musical Fundamentals courses, which explains everything you need to know:
Here's a clapping game that will help you to stop rushing when using a metronome by 'subdividing' the notes ... follow along with Simon from ViolinSchool as you clap and play the notes ... exactly in time with the beat!
We've added the Digital Notation player to this uplifting track for Beginner Violinists ... As you get to know the names of the open strings (G, D, A and E), play along with the track to hear and see the letters for the first time!
Here's the digital notation to Tick-Tock, Tock-Tick, a beginner piece for first-time players to practise moving between strings on the violin.
We've just added the digital notation player to 'Pull Some Strings', a useful set of introductory exercises to help first-time players recognise the notes for the first time.
