I too just started learning violin with no musical background whatsoever. I guess I don't really know if the intonation is perfect as long as it sounds right. The intonation will also depend on how perfectly tuned the violin is as well.

For tuning the violin I haave to rely on a tuner. While playing... well there is always my pretty teacher there to guide me

what you're trying to achieve is to acquire "perfect pitch". seriously, that is not something that can be trained. i don't have perfect pitch, and i don't find myself missing anything. heck, even perfect pitch can play out of tune without even knowing they did so.

do NOT practice with a tuner. practice with the markings on the fingerboard first. then learn to get fimilar with the sound you hear, in a way how a note is related to another.

oops, i was answering BelowAverage's post wrongly.

if you're talking about string heights, sometimes it's just as simple as reshape the bridge. but sometimes it's more than that - neck angle drop which require a neck reset, maybe as expensive as buying a new student violin. it might be a bad fingerboard shaping too, a new fingerboard is also not cheap.

so have a lutheir to check it, best bring it down to singapore if yours is expensive violin (RM5000 and above). if not, maybe luthiers in KL should do a good job on fixing it.
PS: don't worry about perfect pitch. many musicians and composers in the past didn't have perfect pitch, including Paganini (if my guess is correct, based on how he tune his violin). so why bother if you have or not?

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i dont understand of why i feel pain on my arm , after i have finished practising violin, and i ever asked my violin teacher if my bowing technique is correct, she said yes, but i feel my muscle feel sore when i make a down bow to the head of the violin bow, this will be the major problem that i am facing now, wish to get some guidelines here from sifu

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Try using a proper shoulder rest by adjusting the height and the position of the shoulder rest. There are many brands and types of shoulder rest in the market, always try out as many shoulder rest as you can and then you can determine which is comfortable for you. Hope this works.

that is very encouraging that you pay attention to intonation, because without that you cannot play at a higher level...good:)

the best advice is to ask your teacher, because no one here can see and hear how you play. And you will receive many advices from experienced users with the best intention. THe problem is this is not something that can be teached by words on a computer screen. A good teacher should be able to train you, help you identify the problem, and even hold your hands and fingers to show you how it is done....

talk to your teacher, or change your teacher if she/he cannot tell you how to improve.

Based on the response given to ilovestitch's teacher, I think you should change to another teacher who is more experience. Otherwise, you are wasting your time and money.

I think you better ask Little Ice to teach you. He is at least a Professionnal Violinist with a solid foundation in Piano and Keyboard too.

well, i'm not ready for private teaching, coming to my house, or going to the student's house. just that simple.
as i said, there's no such thing is 100% in tune. it's a completely wrong impression that world class players can play with intonation that the tuner will agree with.

i'm not saying some slight randomization, sometimes you want a sharper note, but the same note will sound better by playing it flatter on certain phrase.

i'm not ready to teach private yet, regardless of your house or my house far or near...
but there's a great danger of using tuner, you're listening with your eyes, not with your ears. i know you can always look, then listen, but then you're only listening to one single note, not one note related to the other.

if there's a need to practice intonation, play with pianist often, or with CD. if you can find books with CD/demostration with violin recorded, play along with it. you can always follow the violin track guide, so you know if you're off or not. learn how to reference the "in tune" playing by listening.

you have to rely on your ears. no other way. play along with a CD if possible, because playing with pianist or another violinist is definitely not possible i'm supposed.

it's not difficult to tell if you're in tune or not, when you have the exact same pitch for reference. when you play a note, pay attention if the sound is "fighting" with the reference, or sounds like cluster and frequency clashing. if you're in tune, you'll hear smooth sound or minimum cluster.

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Added on January 21, 2010, 12:59 am
ask the professional musicians. almost all, if not, everybody will tell you that the tuning used on the piano is what regarded as "out of tune". all of the notes are tuned equally bad so they won't sound funny or totally off when you play all 12 keys.

do this simple math - 440Hz and 880Hz are the note "A" and they're one octave apart. so the difference is 440Hz, and try devide by 12 and see if you can get whole number.

To have good intonation, it is not necessary to use the tuner to check and in fact, this way will not bring any beneficial to your listening skills. A good way to improve your intonation, try play lots of scales on your violin. In this way, you will improve your listening skills. On the otherhand, try playing the whole Suzuki twinkle variations and you will be able to internalize the tone in a matter of time. Again, I think ilovestitch should spend more time listening to good music.

One should always take note that learning to play violin is extremely difficult and it takes lots of practice to be able to master the instrument. Otherwise, happy learning.

Hello.

I've learnt violin for more than 1 year, almost 2 years. I feel I have not made much progress with my current tutor. I'm still struggling to support my violin comfortably(maybe it's my shoulder rest's problem). I'm not saying my current tutor's bad but I feel he ignores my obvious mistakes.

So can anyone recommend me a good tutor? I live in Old Klang Road, KL.

Thanks!

Hello, i'm new to string world. just bought cheap violin (for beginner) last year's November from Amadeus Violin, PJ. my violin brand is China made called Synwyn. then i straightly changed to new string n the brand is Vision (euro string) which recommended by the owner there. i was seldomly practicing since i bought the violin due to busy-ness during college time. now i wnt to start practice back n wanted to chnge new strings since the old strings already torn away. now i wud like to ask ur opinion what brand of string is good?

oh really? then i got someone hav the same violin brand here. 

but mine is the cheapest one. RM3++ i think. i just learned frm the book which i bought the same time i bought the violin. cant afford to hire a tutor though. n i kept referring to youtube video for smthing that i dnt understand in the book. the tutor in the youtube is ProfessorV.

last time i bought it for RM120...

dnt scold me... how wud i know.  i'm an ultra beginner. wanna start violin at the age of 21 now 22. love violin since i was 13 but i came frm a standard fmly so i dnt hav money to buy during that time.

so in my college's life, i collect money n my budget was RM500. since i especially reserved the money just to buy violin then i settled all the money

for violin, chin rest, new strings n a book+cd to learn by myself. the instructor recommended me a new string then i just agreed since still got money.