Instructions For Proper

Care Of a Violin

Owning a violin is a serious decision, not unlike the decision to own a pet. You must take care of your violin every day. This doesn't just mean playing on it; although playing on your violin definitely helps the sound stay open and free, violins need a certain amount of maintenance to stay in good condition. Also, you have to keep in mind how you treat your violin when you take it to and from your lesson, and when you store it at home.

Violins sound better with age. This is true of both hand-made and machine-made instruments. Pianos are worth the most when they're new; instruments such as violins and guitars are worth more when they're older. Keeping your violin in good condition over the years will not only protect your resale value, but it will allow the sound to open up and develop as you practice on it day by day. This will make you sound even better to your audience!

Violins can go out of tune for a variety of reasons. One is, obviously, if the violin gets bumped and the tuning pegs slip. Also, the violin is naturally under tension, as the strings need to be taut, and this tension can slowly pull the strings out of tune. But, in most instances, violins go out of tune for reasons that don't involve the pegs at all. Because violins are made of wood, and because wood reacts surprisingly quickly to changes in temperature and humidity (almost as if it's still alive), walking from the car through the parking lot to the lesson room can involve enough changes to make the pitch of the strings go down a half step or more. So, be careful of where you leave your violin and how long you keep it in certain places.

I have to tell a story here, because it's important for us all to realize this can happen. A friend of mine was practicing his cello by an open window, because he liked to look out and see the trees and birds while he played. After he was done, he set the cello down by the open window and walked away. Later on, it rained...and the cello few apart into a hundred pieces! He never practiced by an open widow again.

Don't be scared by that, however. It's easy to take care of your violin if you follow a few simple principles. Most of all, the best thing you can do for your violin is to play on it! This will make it sound better and better over time.

Basic Principles:

Keep your violin clean and safe. This will keep it sounding good for years and years. The build-up of dust and rosin can, over time, diminish the vibrations of the instrument; a clean violin will resonate to its full potential. So...

● Don't touch the bow hair. We all have oil on our fingers, and that can get into the bow hairs and make them brown and gunky. This will make it hard for the bow hair to grip the string, and you'll end up with a slippery sound. Keep the bow hair clean of any dirt as well.

● Don’t touch the bridge. The bridge of the violin is not held down by any glue, screws, etc. It's only held in place by the pressure of the strings from above. So, the smallest amount of pressure can make it move, or even fall down. If anything happens to the bridge, I can most likely fix it for you at the lesson.
        If the bridge falls down, the sound post inside may also fall down. I can't help you with that problem. A slipped or fallen sound post should be fixed by the person you got your violin from.

● Never let your violin get wet. This can damage the varnish, which protects the violin.

● Never bump your violin, even while it’s in the case. Not only are violins very fragile and easy to break, but they can go out of tune if they’re bumped even a little bit. Remember, the case is not as safe as it looks like it is. Be careful when going through doorways, or going around corners in the hall.

● it's not a toy! Do not use your violin or bow to help you stand up. Do not use your bow as a cane. Do not use your bow as a sword, as a pointer, or as a back scratcher. Definitely do not put the tip of the bow between your toes.

Every Day:

● Keep your violin in tune as often as possible, constantly if you can manage it. (See the section on tuning.) I will tune the violin at the beginning of each lesson. However, violins need to be tuned every time they're played! Practicing on a violin that's not in tune makes it hard to learn how to play.

● tighten the bow before you use it. Be careful not to make it too tight.  The bow has a natural curve toward the hair that should always be there, even while we play. If the bow is too tight (straight) for too long, it can be ruined. The wood has to have a certain amount of elasticity.
        If you're not sure how much is too much, ask me at the lesson. A good way to estimate is to make the distance between the stick and the hair the same as the width of the stick. Another way is to put the bow on the violin and press it down on the strings. If you can make the stick touch the hair (easily), it's probably not too tight.

● Rosin your bow every time you use it. Cover every inch of the bow hair with rosin! There is no real detriment to using too much rosin, except that you might waste some; but, hey, rosin is cheap. Better too much than too little.
        The rosin helps the bow hair grip the string. Without it, the bow can slip and sound squeaky. This can also happen when the hair gets old and needs to be changed, so talk to me if you think your bow hair just isn't sticky enough even with rosin.

● Wipe off your violin and strings after you use it. After all, that rosin has to go somewhere, and it usually ends up covering the strings and violin in a white powder. Keep a clean, dry cloth inside your violin case to use after every time you play.
        When you wipe off your violin, you should scrub each string with the cloth. This will make a horrible squeaking sound that makes fingernails on a chalkboard sound like a chorus of angels by comparison. However, you need to scrub it until that sound completely goes away. Only then are your strings really clean!
        Cleaning the top of the violin can be done with the same clean, dry cloth. Sometimes, though, the cloth just doesn't seem to get everything off. In that case, use some violin polish to cut through the grease and make everything shine again.
        If you remember to clean the violin every time you use it, you'll only have to make a simple swipe with the cloth. It's when we let things go for too long that cleaning the violin can become a chore.

● Loosen the bow after you use it. Turn the screw until there's no more tension in the hair.

● Latch the bow properly before closing the case. If the bow is free, it can bounce around inside the case and damage the violin.

● Keep the velcro “seat belt” around the neck when the case is closed. This is to keep the bridge from bumping against the top of the case.

● Take off your shoulder pad before closing the case unless you’re absolutely sure beyond a doubt that the bridge isn’t under pressure.

Storing the Violin:

Violins are affected to a surprising amount by temperature and humidity. Extreme changes in either can cause the violin to go out of tune, or--even worse--develop cracks. Also, sudden changes, even if they're not extreme, can shock the instrument.
        Central heat and central air conditioning, while we love them so much, can dry out the air in your house and make an unsuitable environment for the violin. So, keep your violin away from heating/cooling vents. Windows can be a source of sudden changes in humidity (especially when it rains), and sunbeams can get very hot very quickly. Look around in your house for a place that is safe from these three things. The optimum humidity level for a violin is 40-60%. The optimum temperature is 50-80 degrees.

 ● Never let your violin get too hot or too cold, and never let it change temperature suddenly. Even leaving it in a sunbeam for too long can damage it. Performers always re-tune once they walk out on stage because the hot lights make their violins go out of tune within a few seconds!

 ● Don’t leave your violin in the car. Not only is this a security risk, but cars change temperature faster than we realize when we’re not in them. More than 10 minutes is dangerous in the summer or winter. Definitely never leave your violin in the trunk. It shouldn't be able to bounce around, and it shouldn't be exposed to outside temperatures for too long; and, in terms of temperature, the trunk is basically "outside."

Regular Maintenance:

Believe it or not, there are things we have to do with our violins at regular intervals, almost like a car! Just as we change our oil every three months or 3,000 miles, so violin owners have to...

● Change the strings once every 4-5 months. When strings get old, their tone becomes unpleasant, and eventually the pitch starts to become vague as well. If you have questions about where and how to get them, ask me or see the section on places to go. Strings can be purchased anywhere. I recommend not buying the cheapest varieties, because they sometimes sound just as bad brand new as your old ones did when they needed to be changed.
        I will change the strings for you if you don’t know how. For Westminster students, there is a page in your Suzuki Violin Handbook that shows you how to change a string. It's a fairly simple process, and once you see me do it in the lesson, you'll have the confidence to do it yourself.

● Re-hair the bow every 4-5 months as well. If the bow hair gets too old and slick, it won’t even hold rosin and can sound harsh. Unlike changing the strings, this is something that should be done by the person who sold you your violin, or another violin maker/dealer that you trust. (See the section on violin dealers.) This should not be done by anyone at a big rock-music store such as Sam Ash or George's, and it shouldn't be done by anyone who needs to mail the bow somewhere to have it re-haired. The actual process takes about twenty minutes, so a reputable shop will have your bow back to you within two days.

 Tuning the Violin

           The violin should be kept in tune all the time. It should be kept to the same pitch as much as possible, so it’s good to have a device that plays a standard A (440 Hz) to tune to. A piano that has been recently tuned is good. There are also a lot of gadgets for sale that will do this. Some of them even help you with tuning the instrument by telling you how far away you are from the right pitch. I am a big fan of these things for beginning parents and students. Once you get to a certain level, though, you should learn to trust your ears.

          The strings are tuned to the notes G, D, A, and E. The middle C on the piano is the note right below the D string note. The strings are kept a perfect fifth apart—from G to D is a fifth, from D to A is a fifth, and from A to E is a fifth. The first notes of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star are also a fifth apart, so two strings that are in tune should sound like Twinkle.

          Learning how to tune the violin is part of learning to play the instrument, and we will work on it in the lessons.

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