I like those Violinists who can play by ear and improvise 'on the spot'. I've had the pleasure of perfroming with them many times.

Too many times Violinists, Celiist and Violists rely on notes. That's not good.

I play Erhu. Is that considered a string instrument?

Reu-CH...true. Electric Violins sound terrible! Unless you are willing to pay A LOT like vanessa Mae's electric Violin then it's different la.

I've searched for a good violin pickup for many months before I finally bought 2 excellent Piezo pikups for Violin from NZ. Fishman and those found in Malaysia are VERY mahal (more than RM400 and above)....and it doesn not make your violin sound like a violin....but more like scratching sound.

This NZ pickup sounds very natural and is only RM160+ including shipping! It's the best kept secret now.

That's common la.

There are some violinists in town who dont know how to use guitar effects but still insist on playing with it on stage. Err...guess we better educate them how to use it properly.

Paramore, these cheap electric violins do not sound good...unless you are willing to pay A LOT more.

Cheap Electric Violins leaves much to be desired...with its fake violin tone. You'll need a really good acoustic amp
to sound good. Chance are the amp itself will cost more than the violin!

Paramore, i can show you how to amplify your acoustic violin to sound like electric. PM me. I am doing that now.

ladyvelvet, you can pm me. Not smart to put my phone no here.

Little ice,true. There are both bright and also mellow sounding violins. I prefer the mellow as its not harsh like bright violins. There are bright violas too! So it doesnt mean that all violas are mellow sounding!

It's better to learn Violin 1st and then move on to viola. I love Viola's rich bassy tone more than violin. Viola deserves more recognition here.

People in general dont learn violin from yamaha. yamaha is good for only kids' courses, not for other instruments. So many good music teachers are teaching privately. Why bother with the old recycled yamaha school anymore? :-)

I can recommend you a good teacher...but that depends where you stay. PM me if you keen.

Mine has no brand..but it sounds better than many violins with brand. :-0

kerazul, surprisingly...many Chinese violins sound so good nowadays.

grade 8 or what is not important. I've seen many violin/piano diploma holders play like hopeless idiots without the book. They are so dependant on the book that they became instant retards without any book.

Each time someone tells me they have grade 8 or higher, I make them play something without book. Sure they will behave like retards!.Hahaha...

below average, you are such a sissy!. Did I say anything bad about you?? No wonder your name is 'below average'!hehehe....

MPO musicians are world class, that's for sure. Funny thing is...there are many arrogant Malaysian violinists, Cellists, Pianists etc who think they themselves are very good. LOL!

I know one world class MPO violinist personally. He makes all the best local violinists sound like kids. The best Malaysian Violinists whom I perform professionally with all were dumbfounded and almost speechless after he played in front of them unaccompanied. It was funny indeed to see their facial reaction in disbelief. After that encounter, a few of them were rather depressed...and had to accept that though they are among malaysia's best violinists...their standard is not anywhere close at all to him.

Sigh....such is the standard of world class musicians. The best of Malaysian orchestra musicians are still lagging so many light years away...which is sad.

icyhawkes...I always tell people that the arrogant ones will never learn or improve! The humble ones however will learn and improve cos they dont have fat egos to feed...and are willing to ask those better than them to teach.

I always ask my mpo friend to give me tips on violin playing...cos 5 minutes from him is better than 5 hours from local teachers.

paramore...so many piano teachers struggle to play even 'Happy birthday to you' without making mistakes. Why? cos their excuse is that they dont have the score for this simple song! LOL!

Theory is theory...but people are not gonna hire you to perform if your theory is super strong but your playing is nowhere near your super theory.

icy... it is very common disease for many piano, violin, cello, flute etc teachers. They are hopeless without scores. They can play those super terror hard classical pieces but cant even play simple songs by ear! That's what amazes me. LOL!

Sure...some of them can play by ear too....but the number is very much lower comparatively....perhaps like 1%! Plus...even if they can play by ear, it's nowhere close to the level they produce when playing classcial piece with a book in front of them. That's reality.

Mr 'below average' is so sensitive...and immediately took offence that I called him a retard. Well, I didnt. Show me any of my post that said so. You may think you are no retard cos you can do this and do that. That's fine. I'm happy 4u. Keep it up!

This post has been edited by empire: Oct 16 2008, 01:22 PM

A gathering is good. It's good to learn from each other, yes? Regardless of your level, we can all benefit.

Paramore...isnt it confusing at 1st to play cello after playing violin for so long d? The fingering is so much different. Gotta stretch so much more on cello LOL!