Enjoying free educational content and want to learn more? Join the practice community on Tonic: tonicmusic.app/join-in to receive feedback and motivation from others! 🎵
I don't know if you guys realize how lucky we all are to live in a universe where one of the best soloist in the world is also a TH-camr. It's like having Mozart streaming weekly stuff like 10 best tricks to write a catchy masterpiece. This is truly the best time to start learning the violin! Thanks so much Ray, also, Tonic is awesome.
I've played violin for 24 years and I never knew about violin placement! Teachers would sometimes remind me to hold up my violin, but that was it. Knowing WHERE to place your violin is vital for streamlining your playing and preventing injury. And yeah, one of my teachers (the best one, of course) had me spend quite a bit of time dropping my right shoulder in order to play string crossings cleanly and effectively. Thanks for such nuggets of wisdom!
It's worth starting at any age, indeed Id argue adults have it easier due to their cognitive maturation coupled with the free and unlimited guides online today.
I'm not a musician either but still play the piano😄 I love the time spent at the keyboard and focusing on little details. This is a safe zone - noone gets hurt😊 Why wouldn't you start the violin?🙂
I began at age 33, paused for 10 years, and here I am at age 43 doing scales and exercising to Laoureux and Schradieck. Don't compare yourself to anyone but your past self.
i used to have a very extremely bad bow hold, and tend to hold my violin a bit low, which was seriously difficult to correct since i don’t have a teacher 😂 But practicing with tonic and entering an orchestra was a game changer !!!!
It took me about a year, or so, to unlearn a stressed bow hold. Funny enough, my teacher actually took a whisk and a plastic bowl and made me whisk to relax my hand. That pointed out to me how stressed I was making my hand. It also took time for me to unlearn putting my pinky (on my left hand) straight up to change it to closer to the string to prepare for it to play.
I love how Ray has such a coherent, organized and precise way of conveying his thoughts and advices. This is so easy to follow and a lot to learn for a video this short! Thorough efforts on Ray, the camera and also the editing work
Ray, my kids (8 & 11) love you! We saw you on your birthday when you played with the BSO. They’ve been playing violin for 4 years and these are all key techniques that they practice constantly. Even if they ‘beat’ a bad habit, it can sneak back in a year later. We’re constantly tweaking our practice to address whatever we need to. We love practicing the same phrase or song that needs work, and using that to also focus on a given technique. The repetition really helps! 🎻
I’m loving these tip videos. I’m an adult learner and have been playing violin for two years. I definitely have a bad habit of holding my violin too low, when I adjusted it to where you said, it was so much easier to keep my bow where I want it. My daughter has been learning for almost a year now on a 1/8th violin, she is also benefiting from your tips. Also, she says, if she keeps practicing and practicing she’ll get better and better and when she’s older she can play as good as you and even Hillary Hahn.
Love that you featured your mom 😊 Thanks for the advice! Left shoulder and tension are something I'm often working on and falling back into bad habits when practicing lots.
I started using tonic almost a month ago and I am practicing piano and violin so much more! Also, a fake Ray Chen joined my studio and I thought it was u. Now I am just simply furious at that imposter! Thx so much for creating tonic! Everyone on there is so nice!
I’m proud to say that I’m guilty and still practicing all of these ten mistakes. Because I don’t go to any music school or proper training. I just learned to play Violin through hearing. Thanks for these professionals who share their knowledge and skills here in You tube University.
5:23 lol, I remember my violin teacher always used to say * "don't squash the peach" reffering to your palm as the peach and if you put pressure on it, you will eventually squish it
I've been learning the Guitar for a bit over a year now and am still finding so many mistakes in my playing. But those mistakes were the kind of thing you can just kind of work out (like finger pressure, posture, finger independence, thumb position) but these Violin mistakes just seem impossible to notice unless you're looking for them, like, there's so much detail in your posture, how to hold the bow and how to hold the violin itself. With the Guitar you just rest it on your leg (maybe using a stool/footrest) and angle it a bit so you're not straining your back lol, it's not nearly as rigid.
I dont even have my viola on me to practice right now, but I already learned so much from this video. And i will be watching the bow rosin video because im tired of my viola looking like a snow farm ☠️☠️ ive been playing for three years, and watching these tip videos makes me want to practice more
Hello, I had the issue of where my left shoulder was lower than the other shoulder because of not knowing about these issues when I first learned violin and I needed to go to orthopedic once a week, so this really helps explain now about positioning violin and tension and how affects the left shoulder and can cause pain too. Thank you. That part is important! Still slightly slanted shoulders though at the moment, almost there. It is one of those, I wish I knew that sooner things.
I don't play the Western scale I play the Indian Carnatic scale (sa-re-ga-ma instead of do-re-mi-fa) and we do things very different. We sit criss cross on the floor and keep the violin on our right heel and our chin on the right side of the violin instead of the left. I was struggling a ton with switching notes and a very shakey sound and when I watched this video I realized everything I had been doing was incorrect and that my posture was such a major problem as I was always hunched over with the bow sliding away from me. This way might work for my violin teacher but it certainly doesn't work for me....THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR VIDEOS 💖
So I mastered piano and decided I'd try another hard instrument, so I got a violin. Got it today for Christmas. I've gotten as far as rosin, tuning, and playing some simple stuff. Will I ever master it, or have I met my match after Bass, Drums, and Piano? also I find it funny how violin tuning is opposite from bass guitar. EADG vs GDAE.
Thanks Ray, I'm learning more and more why you play so well💖🎻and you give so much practical advice that everyone, musicians or non-musicians, is eagerly waiting for🫶
#5 was definitely the one I used to do when I did orchestral playing. I always practiced standing up. Not it’s irrelevant because I only practice solo repertoire.
Pratice in front of a mirror and use that mirror for about 5 min's a session to observe your violin placement and posture to 'get it right. It really does help. Mirrors aren't just for shaving or putting on makeup.
I got rid of Mistake #2 and #3 by getting rid of my shoulder rest entirely. I only truly learned how to hold the violin when I got rid of the shoulder rest.
Omg tysmm this helped so much 😅 I never relized i was making these mistakes my teacher always tells me to fix my posture but doesnt tell me how its supposed to be 🥲
Great content. Some of these things I need to check that I don't do. Today's practice. I am an adult learner. I started to learn Violin 18 months ago in my 50's. It's not easy but I am enjoying it. It was an instrument I always wanted to learn as a child but never had the opportunity, now as my kids have grown up, it was my time to start.
Might be just because I'm from the deep south but the concept of someone with your qualifications and capabilities doing an analysis of the Devil Went Down to Georgia or learning it like you did with the Polyphia song is really interesting to me haha. There's a giant population of people still around that hold that song in quite high regard and it would catch a nice bit of interest.
I really love the Tonic idea and found me lovely friends there. I just can't use it on my android these weeks. Currently I get the Bach challenge pop up and the Restart for an update pop every time I open it. I could probably start the app by going offline completely (worked on my kid's phone when she had the issue on another android phone a while ago) but since most pages didn't even load before I lack motivation to waste time. My kid has stopped using it altogether and ceased to be upset for crashing studios. Some Tonic friends stopped using it, too. As lovely as it is to offer it for free it's sad when it doesn't work even enough to join a studio to listen.
Another common mistake is lifting up the left hand's fingers when you lift the note. I'm a cello player and that's been something I got corrected a lot
Ray thank you for this, I have problem where I bend over when I play on the E and A string and I rarely ever notice it but my teacher always points it out. Do you have any tips to stop myself from doing this?
Do you have a recommended solution for “Mistake 3” - tension in the left shoulder, if my neck is longer and if I fully relax, my violin then becomes too low, and I’m back to mistake 1. I’ve tried taller chin rests but those just dig into my neck and it feels worse. I got a taller shoulder rest and longer screws but it is currently the tallest available option and still not tall enough. Is there something else I can try? Any advice on that? Thank you in advance🙏
Your nose should point at the F , not towards the fingerboard. No looking at your fingers, and you will have no neck pain. Never look at your fingers when playing.
I’m a returning violinist, my biggest struggle is maintaining bow control/balance. It comes out with a squeak at the end of each stop, and how do I relax my arm and shoulder cause I get tense when I want to try my hardest?
![How to Rosin your Bow 🎻 [Get the BEST sound]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ezvbHtbG0s4/mqdefault.jpg)
![How to Rosin your Bow 🎻 [Get the BEST sound]](/img/tr.png)
![Ranking ALL Violin TECHNIQUES [Difficulty Tier List]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_q9kGrjg5qI/mqdefault.jpg)
![How to have the BEST Vibrato 🎵 [4 Easy Steps]](/img/n.gif)
Enjoying free educational content and want to learn more? Join the practice community on Tonic: tonicmusic.app/join-in to receive feedback and motivation from others! 🎵
Traslate spanish please. We are rigths too
Wait a second one reply and 35 likes lemme fix this
@@lecidcampeador You bendejo!😡😠🤬😤
I don't know if you guys realize how lucky we all are to live in a universe where one of the best soloist in the world is also a TH-camr. It's like having Mozart streaming weekly stuff like 10 best tricks to write a catchy masterpiece. This is truly the best time to start learning the violin! Thanks so much Ray, also, Tonic is awesome.
Well said indeed!
And Mozart would SO have loved clowning about, improvising on social media!
I was about to write the same thing! I’m using tonic as a way to repay and support Rays lifetime hard work. 感谢陈锐
Agree !!!!
Not just that, but the internet (if you use it well) is an enormous gift. You can learn nearly anything from anywhere, mostly for free
Let me know what other things you're having trouble with and would like me to create videos!
Ray chen, can you do video about your normal day, what are you doing beside play violin or how many hours do you practice violin
Shaky bow arm!
Reading music notes hacks! ❤
Playing smooth legato bowing
Smooth transition between up and down bows and bariolage tips.
I've played violin for 24 years and I never knew about violin placement! Teachers would sometimes remind me to hold up my violin, but that was it. Knowing WHERE to place your violin is vital for streamlining your playing and preventing injury. And yeah, one of my teachers (the best one, of course) had me spend quite a bit of time dropping my right shoulder in order to play string crossings cleanly and effectively. Thanks for such nuggets of wisdom!
3:16
The greatest violinist at all time😂
15 “notes” per second
I was searching for this comment😂
6:28 "this is why I always encourage musicians to practice in front of others" *shows Ray practicing in front of a horse*
@@tygrtales6319Me twoooo
LOL I saw that too!
Me, a non-musician : I'm gonna need this for my next life
Never too late to start now! There's quite a few adult beginner groups on Tonic. Why not live the dream and make a few friends as well?
@@RayChenViolinist Yeah I'm thinking to learn the violin in the future. You inspired me so much!!
It's worth starting at any age, indeed Id argue adults have it easier due to their cognitive maturation coupled with the free and unlimited guides online today.
I'm not a musician either but still play the piano😄
I love the time spent at the keyboard and focusing on little details. This is a safe zone - noone gets hurt😊
Why wouldn't you start the violin?🙂
I began at age 33, paused for 10 years, and here I am at age 43 doing scales and exercising to Laoureux and Schradieck.
Don't compare yourself to anyone but your past self.
Including the World’s Fastest Violinist in the “eyes open” lineup cracked me up! Thanks for the valuable tips!!!
Let me know which of these 10 mistakes you've made and how many hours you needed to practice to undo them!
It took me 2 to 3 years before I reduced the tension in my left shoulder :( That was really tough to unlearn
i used to have a very extremely bad bow hold, and tend to hold my violin a bit low, which was seriously difficult to correct since i don’t have a teacher 😂
But practicing with tonic and entering an orchestra was a game changer !!!!
too many
It took me about a year, or so, to unlearn a stressed bow hold. Funny enough, my teacher actually took a whisk and a plastic bowl and made me whisk to relax my hand. That pointed out to me how stressed I was making my hand. It also took time for me to unlearn putting my pinky (on my left hand) straight up to change it to closer to the string to prepare for it to play.
@@leyna3501 Violin without a teacher???????? What's the point? There will be no result.
I love how Ray has such a coherent, organized and precise way of conveying his thoughts and advices. This is so easy to follow and a lot to learn for a video this short! Thorough efforts on Ray, the camera and also the editing work
Thanks Ray, 64 and my first lesson is this Sunday.
had my first lesson this past Saturday, in my 40s.
how's it going?
the left shoulder school bag was personal
Hey Ray,my daughter was very excited to try out Tonic.But she is too young…Instead,she just watches your videos!❤️
Ray, my kids (8 & 11) love you! We saw you on your birthday when you played with the BSO. They’ve been playing violin for 4 years and these are all key techniques that they practice constantly. Even if they ‘beat’ a bad habit, it can sneak back in a year later. We’re constantly tweaking our practice to address whatever we need to. We love practicing the same phrase or song that needs work, and using that to also focus on a given technique. The repetition really helps! 🎻
My husband got me a violin for Christmas, I can't wait to learn how to play.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge 🙏🏼
Please please please Ray we need more educational videos!!!
I feel more confident in my teaching! I teach all these things! ❤
Gotta love these educational videos, as a beginner I really appreciate them, thanks Ray ❤
I’m loving these tip videos. I’m an adult learner and have been playing violin for two years. I definitely have a bad habit of holding my violin too low, when I adjusted it to where you said, it was so much easier to keep my bow where I want it. My daughter has been learning for almost a year now on a 1/8th violin, she is also benefiting from your tips. Also, she says, if she keeps practicing and practicing she’ll get better and better and when she’s older she can play as good as you and even Hillary Hahn.
Love that you featured your mom 😊
Thanks for the advice!
Left shoulder and tension are something I'm often working on and falling back into bad habits when practicing lots.
3:16 "the greatest violinists of our time"...shows the 15 notes/second guy haha
😂
This was very enlightening and helpful. Thanks for helping a 68-year-old beginner.
Mama Chen is so beautiful!!! A super mom !
Thank you young Mr Chen for your time and HELP.
You re a GREAT violin player!🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤️❤️
I started using tonic almost a month ago and I am practicing piano and violin so much more! Also, a fake Ray Chen joined my studio and I thought it was u. Now I am just simply furious at that imposter! Thx so much for creating tonic! Everyone on there is so nice!
Ray, thank u so much for making tonic!
Thanks for this vid, even though I’m a cellist😅
Just downloaded Tonic though and so far I’m loving it!!
I’m in hs and a violinist of 6 years and this was still helpful. I might go and see about my shoulder because I have a similar problem.
I’m proud to say that I’m guilty and still practicing all of these ten mistakes. Because I don’t go to any music school or proper training. I just learned to play Violin through hearing. Thanks for these professionals who share their knowledge and skills here in You tube University.
Hi!! You alright? How is it going ? Are you still planning violin ?
Thank you so much for these tips! I didn’t know that I was doing these bad habits until you mentioned them! Your a life saver 🙏
What a sweet and silly shout-out to your mom! Love it ❤
I’m a long time violinist and I’m guilty of a few of these. I am aware of course and I’m working on fixing the problems. Thanks for the tips.
5:23 lol, I remember my violin teacher always used to say *
"don't squash the peach" reffering to your palm as the peach and if you put pressure on it, you will eventually squish it
I've been practicing the violin for about 20 years, and I still find that type of video super interesting ! Tried Tonic too and I love it !
Thanks so much, very helpful.
Thanks. Tips 1 and 7 made an immediate significant difference for me
Thank you so much Ray for these very valuable tips ,I am an adult beginner violinist and am very grateful for your valuable advice..Im so grateful
I have been playing violin for almost a year and you’re videos are a masiv help
Oh my God! Only one minute of video and I play better! I am from another country, and I never found better videos that yours! 🙏👏
after I held up my violin it sounds so much better. Thank you so much
I have done all of these. Nailed it.
Why am I watching this? I don't even play violin. But now I kind of want to...
Do it!!
did u?
I've been learning the Guitar for a bit over a year now and am still finding so many mistakes in my playing. But those mistakes were the kind of thing you can just kind of work out (like finger pressure, posture, finger independence, thumb position) but these Violin mistakes just seem impossible to notice unless you're looking for them, like, there's so much detail in your posture, how to hold the bow and how to hold the violin itself. With the Guitar you just rest it on your leg (maybe using a stool/footrest) and angle it a bit so you're not straining your back lol, it's not nearly as rigid.
Thank you now it’s much easier for me
Great video - really helpful, thank you!
Just downloaded tonic!! 🎉
From teaching me vibrato to waking up and playing Mendy with Brett, boi Ray has got it in with us.m
*.
I dont even have my viola on me to practice right now, but I already learned so much from this video. And i will be watching the bow rosin video because im tired of my viola looking like a snow farm ☠️☠️
ive been playing for three years, and watching these tip videos makes me want to practice more
i havent made it to 40 hours a day, thats why…
As my Muy Thai teacher told me: Practice makes Permanent. Perfect Practice makes Perfect.
Great suggestion! Thank you
You really helped me on my grade 6 AMEB Air Variation 1. Thank You❤
Hello, I had the issue of where my left shoulder was lower than the other shoulder because of not knowing about these issues when I first learned violin and I needed to go to orthopedic once a week, so this really helps explain now about positioning violin and tension and how affects the left shoulder and can cause pain too. Thank you. That part is important! Still slightly slanted shoulders though at the moment, almost there. It is one of those, I wish I knew that sooner things.
Oh my thank you, good reminders for my students and myself! ❤🎉
Thank you Ray!
I am an adult learner and these tips are quite relevant to me.
I don't play the Western scale I play the Indian Carnatic scale (sa-re-ga-ma instead of do-re-mi-fa) and we do things very different. We sit criss cross on the floor and keep the violin on our right heel and our chin on the right side of the violin instead of the left. I was struggling a ton with switching notes and a very shakey sound and when I watched this video I realized everything I had been doing was incorrect and that my posture was such a major problem as I was always hunched over with the bow sliding away from me. This way might work for my violin teacher but it certainly doesn't work for me....THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR VIDEOS 💖
thank you so much for these tips
Love this guy. Like seriously, how can you not?
I'm violinist and I'm still learning thank you
Enjoyed the subtle shout out to your teacher Aaron Rosand.
Thanks you! Greetings from England! I am playing violin since 6 years old:)
Excellent video! I am guilty of 2 thru 10 and will work on them.
So I mastered piano and decided I'd try another hard instrument, so I got a violin. Got it today for Christmas.
I've gotten as far as rosin, tuning, and playing some simple stuff.
Will I ever master it, or have I met my match after Bass, Drums, and Piano?
also I find it funny how violin tuning is opposite from bass guitar. EADG vs GDAE.
Thanks Ray, I'm learning more and more why you play so well💖🎻and you give so much practical advice that everyone, musicians or non-musicians, is eagerly waiting for🫶
This video Is very helpful for my daughter thank you ray chen😊
#5 was definitely the one I used to do when I did orchestral playing. I always practiced standing up. Not it’s irrelevant because I only practice solo repertoire.
Pratice in front of a mirror and use that mirror for about 5 min's a session to observe your violin placement and posture to 'get it right. It really does help.
Mirrors aren't just for shaving or putting on makeup.
Oh my gosh, this stuff is gold. Thank you Ray!!
I got rid of Mistake #2 and #3 by getting rid of my shoulder rest entirely. I only truly learned how to hold the violin when I got rid of the shoulder rest.
Ray is my favorite Violinist
Thank you Ray ..these series of videos that you're making are so HELPFUL 💙🙏
Omg tysmm this helped so much 😅 I never relized i was making these mistakes my teacher always tells me to fix my posture but doesnt tell me how its supposed to be 🥲
This is excellent advice. I’m going to watch it every day before I practice!
Thanks for the tips Ray.
I have learned a lot from this video and I will do my best to improve on them God helping 🙏
Great content. Some of these things I need to check that I don't do. Today's practice.
I am an adult learner. I started to learn Violin 18 months ago in my 50's. It's not easy but I am enjoying it. It was an instrument I always wanted to learn as a child but never had the opportunity, now as my kids have grown up, it was my time to start.
Might be just because I'm from the deep south but the concept of someone with your qualifications and capabilities doing an analysis of the Devil Went Down to Georgia or learning it like you did with the Polyphia song is really interesting to me haha. There's a giant population of people still around that hold that song in quite high regard and it would catch a nice bit of interest.
Concise, quick, and easy to follow. I like this video.
This also makes me happy that I don’t follow a majority of these habits
I really love the Tonic idea and found me lovely friends there. I just can't use it on my android these weeks. Currently I get the Bach challenge pop up and the Restart for an update pop every time I open it. I could probably start the app by going offline completely (worked on my kid's phone when she had the issue on another android phone a while ago) but since most pages didn't even load before I lack motivation to waste time. My kid has stopped using it altogether and ceased to be upset for crashing studios. Some Tonic friends stopped using it, too. As lovely as it is to offer it for free it's sad when it doesn't work even enough to join a studio to listen.
Thanks Ray, this video helps a lot!
Insanely high quality video!
Thanks Ray
Thank you so much, Ray. I am sharing this video with my students. I’ll also highly recommend Tonic to them!
Another common mistake is lifting up the left hand's fingers when you lift the note. I'm a cello player and that's been something I got corrected a lot
Thank you!❤
Ray thank you for this, I have problem where I bend over when I play on the E and A string and I rarely ever notice it but my teacher always points it out. Do you have any tips to stop myself from doing this?
This is a valuable video, thank you 😊
How about a series on bowing techniques?
Do you have a recommended solution for “Mistake 3” - tension in the left shoulder, if my neck is longer and if I fully relax, my violin then becomes too low, and I’m back to mistake 1. I’ve tried taller chin rests but those just dig into my neck and it feels worse. I got a taller shoulder rest and longer screws but it is currently the tallest available option and still not tall enough. Is there something else I can try? Any advice on that? Thank you in advance🙏
Lately I sometimes felt some pain in my neck after playing a bit. I hope this will help...❤
Your nose should point at the F , not towards the fingerboard. No looking at your fingers, and you will have no neck pain. Never look at your fingers when playing.
I already know what to do but I still have a look if it is right and it is
OMG, THANKS SO MUCH, IT SAVED MY LIFE ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Excellent vid, Ray. Most helpful. Crucial to fix bad habits early on. Raised right shoulder is mine!
So true! Been happening to me and still doing my best to rectify. Great tips! Thanks a lot!
These days Ray keeps making videos that I really need, and it's helped me a lot, keep it up Ray.
Thank you!
Thank you Ray! I'm from Brazil
I have my grandmother she used to play violin and piano
first tip was a logical but never thought of thanks so much let’s hear the rest now !
You, sir, are an excellent business man
2:37 how can i not grip it hard??! Lile fr i played for good 12 years now and my left shoulder is a bit higher
I’m a returning violinist, my biggest struggle is maintaining bow control/balance. It comes out with a squeak at the end of each stop, and how do I relax my arm and shoulder cause I get tense when I want to try my hardest?
Thanks Ray!
ray chen never fails to fill me up with this delicious content!!
Thanks for these tips! It's been years since I've taken a violin lesson so all of this was a good reminder.