Comments on: Developing Speed

By: Violin Music School

Violin Music School — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 06:31:32 +0000

Another great tips on how to play the violin faster. This post is really detailed on how violinists can practice to develop speed in their playing.

By: fritz

fritz — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 02:15:00 +0000

Interesting exercises and worth a try. I was always told to play as slowly as possible, so when we formed an orchestra it quickly became apparent that a lot of the classical fast movements are set at about mm=132. They sound like funeral marches much under 120.
I have tried the cliche “set the metronome and increase the speed slowly method”. The problem is I always top out at about mm=110 for a lot of passages. The “scale” like notes are OK at 132 but my stumbling point is always when the string crossings alternate (e.g. see measure 44 in the 4th movement of the Haydn Surpirse Symphony). Spending a lot of time with hand position, posture etc helps but I still have a barrier at about 110. Not sure if others experience this after a lot of practice. I have written out some of my own exercises for this problem but am always seeking others.

Thanks,
Fritz

By: Steve Maus

Steve Maus — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 08:34:11 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Rob.
Better give it more shots… It’s a longer process that will take it’s time and it can be pretty frustrating in the beginning. But on the long run you’ll definitely increase your speed and precision.
When you focus mainly on tone the upcoming series about vibrato might be interesting for you. As soon as I finished the shifts I’ll start with it.
Have fun!

By: Rob

Rob — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 02:12:24 +0000

Great tips here– I am a slow player and mostly focus on tone rather than technical “noodles,” so I can never really play anything very fast. However, thanks for the advice, I will give it a shot!