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Learn Itzhak Perlman’s Practice Schedule

Use Itzhak Perlman’s 3 hour practice schedule to improve your violin technique

Get fast progress and learn the most beautiful repertoire by practicing effectively

The secret to effective practice on the violin is a good balance in technique and repertoire

First hour: Scales

Scales are the laboratory for your violin technique. They mainly serve to get to know the fingerboard and the distances between the notes. Music is made out of scales and you should really have them in your fingers. Besides that you can use scales to practice particular bowing techniques.

Practice a different key every day, playing the scales, arpeggio’s and double stops. You can find those in the scale book Perlman used from a young age: Scale System by Carl Flesch.

In practicing scales it’s important to listen very carefully and go back when something is out of tune. Don’t just correct the note, but practice the transition from the previous note to that note. In that way you’ll learn the distance and how to get to that note.

Second hour: Etudes

In the second hour you practice etudes and technical exercises. In the first years you can start with Wohlfahrt etudes, move to Mazas and Fiorillo etudes later and practice more advanced etudes by Kreutzer, Dont and finally Paganini caprices.

Every etude is aimed at a certain technique. Think about the repertoire you’re playing and about which technique you want to improve on. Choose an etude that ‘teaches’ you that technique. You certainly don’t have to follow the sequence of the etude book you picked.

In addition to etudes you can do technical exercises by Dounis and Ševčík.

PS: You might not be familiar with all the name dropping here. The good news is that most etudes book are old and therefore right free. You can Google the names and download most books for free :).

So excited to learn Itzhak Perlman's practice schedule! #violinist #violin @perlmanofficial @masterclass Share on X

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Third hour: Repertoire

Yup, I know you actually want to start with repertoire right away, but practicing scales and etudes first gives you a great warm up. You’ll notice that practicing your repertoire will be so much easier and more effective. You have your ‘technical toolbox’ at hand and can focus much more on musicality.

Finding the right balance in your practice session

I know you might not have the time to practice three hours a day. Maybe you have just half an hour. Still you can use this practice schedule, just do 10 minutes each or have a ‘scale day’, ‘etude day’ and ‘repertoire day’.

It’s hard to find the right balance. In my conservatory days I played two hours of scales each day, two hours of etudes and technique and just one hour of repertoire. Later, when I had concerts and orchestra rehearsals, I had so much repertoire to practice that I hardly practiced scales and etudes.

However, try to find the right balance. Do you have a busy time learning a lot of repertoire, see if you can fit it some scales and technique even if it’s just a warming up. The results are so much better.

Do you want to learn from maestro Perlman yourself?

Masterclass.com has just launched a wonderful course by Itzhak Perlman. I binch watched it in one evening! It’s jam packed with about everything around violin basic technique, practicing, learning repertoire and performing.

What I admire about this course is that it’s suitable and understandble for so many levels: even it you’re just interested in the violin, it can be really insightful and inspiring. Beginner and intermediate violin players, professional violinists and violin teachers can take from the course what they need at that moment. You can always dive deeper into the concepts.

When you love the violin in any way, this course is an absolute must have. I recommend watching the lessons now and repeat it later, because depending on your level you can take away different gems from this course.

Yes, I want to learn from Itzhak Perlman!

PS: Sometimes I buy something I think is extremely valuable for other violin players. In this case this is the online course by Itzhak Perlman at Masterclass.com. I bought and followed the course myself and I’m happy to refer you. When you join the course through the above button, you pay exactly the same as that you find the masterclass yourself. However, using the above link Violin Lounge gets a small commission. This income is used to finance this website, the free articles and violin video lessons we put out there. Isn’t that a win-win-win deal for all of us?

PPS: Watch my video with the 3 violin hacks I learned from Itzhak Perlman.

19 Checks to Buy a Violin Bow

A good violin bow can make a big difference in the sound you make and the easy of bowing

Before dedicating my work to Violin Lounge and specializing in teaching bowing technique, I’ve owned a brick and mortar violin shop for over 12 years. What stood out to me most is that people focus on the violin and the bow ‘just comes with it’.

On a regular basis I surprised my clients what difference a bow can make to your sound and playing

Often they even decided to not buy new violin, but just upgrade their bow, because it makes playing easier and improves their tone quality.

2 Most important things to look for when buying a violin bow

Ok, hold your horse hair and just stop Googling frantically and endlessly. Just stop wondering if you should go for nickel, silver or gold mounting. Even stop worrying about wood versus carbon. What really matters is just this:

1) How does the bow sound?

2) How does the bow play?

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Well… unfortunately it’s easier said than done. That’s why I’m sharing some tips.

Here are checks not to miss when buying a violin bow:

1) What is the sound quality when you play?

Play a slow piece with a large and deep tone to discover this. As I mentioned in my article ‘What to play and look for when buying a violin bow’ you should be short fragments on every bow and keep the selection of bows small.

2) What is the projection and sound quality when you listen?

Have someone else, a friend or your teacher, play with the bow on your violin and listen how the bow sounds from a distance. This can be very different to the sound ‘under your ear’ when you’re playing yourself. Certainly when you’re performing, this is an important factor. You need to know how your audience will experience the sound and how far the sound can carry (projection).

3) How is the response?

Response is something that’s sometimes hard to explain. It means how fast you can get the sound you want. Do you have to do a lot of effort or is there a delay? Or do you feel like the bow reacts as the gas pedal of a Ferrari? (or a Porsche if you like German bows as I do)

4) How about the dynamics?

How soft and how loud can you play with the bow? Do you have to work hard to play forte? Can you easily play piano without sounding superficial? In a good bow you want to look for a large dynamic range.

Does the bow make things easier for you?

This is exactly why selecting a bow is SO personal. You might not like what I like, or what your teacher likes. For example I love a extremely light and stiff bow with a very fast response, like the Arcus S9 I play with. Others would call this ‘nervous’. So, let’s go on with some checks about how the bow plays:

5) What’s the feel of the bow when you pick it up?

Your first nudge… how does the frog feel? How does the balance feel? Do you like holding it or is it a struggle to find a good bow hold with this bow. Does it feel safe or weird?

6) Does the bow help you with different bowing techniques?

Test how the bow responds to different bowing techniques like spiccato and ricochet, accents, fast runs and about anything you could think of. In my article ‘What to play and look for when buying a violin bow’ I explain exactly WHAT you should play when selecting a bow, how you select and how you choose. Also you can download the variety of repertoire snippets I’ve used to buy hundreds of bows when running my violin shop.

Explore the character of the violin bow

While trying several bows, you want to look for:

7) Stiffness

Yes, you feel that while playing, but you can also tighten the bow and see if it bends quickly and test the ‘spring’ when the bow is on the string.

8) Balance

Try whole bow strokes with a deep sound as well as fast jumping bow techniques.

9) Weight

Ignore the number of grams…. how does the weight FEEL to you? A light bow can feel clumsy and heavy when it’s relatively heavy at the tip. What matters is the weight you experience. Will you get a tired right arm with this bow? Or does it feel light and easy?

A good violin bow can make a big difference in the sound you make and the easy of bowing. Here are checks not to miss: #violin #violinbow Share on X

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Let me help you find a great bow for your violin, so you can improve your bowing technique and sound quality:

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Hi! I'm Zlata

Classical violinist helping you overcome technical struggles and play with feeling by improving your bow technique.

READ MORE

Technical details to ignore if you want

If the bow feels good and makes a great sound it doesn’t matter AT ALL where it comes from, who made it, what type of tip plate it has etc. However, I’m adding these in just to give you some things to look and and see if your bow is technically ok.

Don’t worry too much what this stuff adds to the value of the bow. You’re buying it to play with it, perhaps your entire life. Don’t let your decision be muddled by worries about selling it in the future.

10) Is the bow absolutely straight?

Don’t ignore this one, because it can cause trouble in the future!

Put the bow in front of you like a Pinocchio nose and see if it’s straight from the screw to the tip. Don’t buy it if it isn’t.

11) Origine and maker

Where does the bow come from? Made in China or in Europe? It doesn’t have to matter, but in general the better bows are made in America or Europe and the simple bows are made in China. In a price range below $ 200, about everything is made in China even if the webshop description might suggest otherwise. Some very good and resonably priced pernambuco bows are made in Brazil… tip to check out. In my Ultimate Guide to Buying a Violin Bow concert violinist Giedre and I demonstrate and discuss all important and obsure brands of carbon bows.

12) Is the frog comfortable?

How is the finishing? What is it made of?

13) Leather

The leather must be in a good state and it must feel good to you. When it’s not in the place you want or too thick, you might have it changed when you buy the bow.

14) Horse hair quality

The bow must be new or have had a recent rehair when you try it, otherwise it can mess up the characteristics. There needs to be a sufficient quantity of good quality horse hair. Yes, there are synthetic alternatives, but in my experience they remain slippery no matter how much you rosin them, but this might change in the future.

15) Tip and tip plate

The finishing of the tip must be good and there shouldn’t be any damage there (or anywhere). The tip plate can be of plastic, nickel, silver or gold. It can make a little difference.

16) Mounting

A bow can be nickel, silver and gold mounted. Read all about what difference that makes (and doesn’t) in this article.

17) Winding

The winding can be of all sorts of materials. First check if it’s in a good state. Also check if it’s durable and you don’t have an allergy to the material. Also it must feel good when you hold the bow (if you play with your index finger on the winding).

18) Material of the stick

This can be roughly wood or carbon. If it’s wood, you should prefer pernambuco, which is relatively light and stiff. These trees may not be shopped down anymore, so the prices go up. In my opinion, don’t get a wooden bow under two thousand dollars, but you might be lucky and find a good one.

Carbon fiber mostly has a better price/quality ratio. Cheap bows are made of carbon composite and the better ones of carbon fiber. The higher percentage of carbon, the lower the percentage of ‘other stuff’, so in general the higher the quality of the bow. Arcus offers the highest percentage of carbon on the market.

19) Reviews

Most important is your personal preference. Of course if a cheap bow has a lot of bad reviews, you might want to skip that one. Reviews can be useful, but they can also lead you astray. Sometimes I see renowned orchestra violinists give unlikely good testimonials about very average or cheap bows. Hmm, would they really play with this bow in their daily orchestra work? Mainly look for real reviews on independent websites, not on the sales pages of the bow brands. Ignore the stars, but look at the descriptions: how do people describe the characteristics of the violin bow? Is that what you’re looking for in a bow?

Would you like to see the most expensive, cheapest, best and worst violin bows demonstrated and discussed by two professional violinists?

Together with concert violinist Giedre I’ve made an extensive video series where we play with and discuss many types and brands of violin bows to help you make a good choice.

Download the Ultimate Guide to Buying a Violin Bow

What kind of bow do you have?

I’d love to read all about your experiences with selecting a bow and am really curious to read what type of bow you have. Share it in the comments below!

Interested in my ‘bow story’? After years of saving I bought myself a $ 8.000 bow… what??? Yup, it’s worth every penny. Read all about it here.

Top 3 Violin Strings for a Warm Sound

You can color the tone of your violin by choosing a different set of violin strings

Try out these strings for a warmer sound

Strings are one of the factors that influence the sound quality of your violin. Others are the violin itself, it’s adjustments, your bow and of course your playing technique. Click here to learn more about how your violin technique can influence your tone quality. In this article, let’s talk strings…

1) Pirastro Obligato – most popular

The most popular warm sounding string. A lot of violin players are very enthusiastic about this type of strings. They create a beautiful deep warm and full tone. Certainly when you have a bright and large sounding violin, these strings could be a good match. Their tuning stability is very good, they break in easily and quickly and they last long.

Buy Pirastro Obligato violin strings!

2) Warchal Amber – my personal favorite

Not so well known as the Obligato’s, these strings are inspired by gut strings. They sound velvet like, smooth and warm. The low tension and thickness of the strings gives a nice soft feeling under your fingertips. These strings have been my favorite for years, until I started using Pirastro Evah Pirazzi Gold for a bit more power. It depends on your playing setting what you like best. I’d say that for solistic work and chamber music, use the Golds. For orchestra playing, use the Ambers.

Buy Warchal Amber violin strings!
Top 3 Violin Strings for a Warm Sound #violinstring #violinstrings #violinist #violin Share on X

Improve your violin bowing technique

Enjoy my FREE mini Masterclass 5 Bowing Secrets to Create a Professional Sound on the Violin

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Hi! I'm Zlata

Classical violinist helping you overcome technical struggles and play with feeling by improving your bow technique.

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3) D’Addario Pro Arte – affordable option

 These strings produce a warm mellow tone. For violin players in their first years of playing and students, I always recommend these as an alternative to the Thomastik Dominants. It’s quite easy to produce an acceptable sound on them as a beginner violinist. They are very forgiving and extremely affordable.

When you bought a factory violin with horrible steel strings and you want a better sound, this is a cheap way to upgrade your gear.

Buy D'Addario Pro Arte violin strings!

Doubting between gut strings and synthetic strings?

You’ve probably heard that gut strings tend to sound warmer than the synthetic core strings mentioned above. I’ve made a comparison between to warm sounding string types, one is gut and one is synethic. Click here and discover if you can hear the difference!

Guide to buying violin strings

If you’d like to read a lot more about violin strings, what they’re made of and see a lot more string reviews, check out this violin string buying guide.

What type of strings do you use?

Let me know in the comments!

How to Bow Straight on the Violin (without looking)

A lot of violin players think improving their sound quality lies in advanced techniques, while the solution for most of them lies in the basics

Bowing straight means that your bow and string are in a ninety degree angle throughout the whole bow stroke

You can ’round’ this a bit at the tip, but in general your bow must be straight during the whole bow stroke.

Many violin players who have years of experience, think they bow straight, but in fact they don’t

When you’re not bowing straight, your bow moves over various contact points and you are making different types of sound without wanting that. In this way you don’t have control over your sound quality. Also you can get weird noises like peeps, whistles, scratches or no sound at all.

You can check if you’re bowing straight by playing in front of a mirror

If you’re not, you can correct it by playing on open strings with whole bow. Do this from the extreme frog to the extreme tip and on each string. The position of your arm and the feeling will be different for every string. When you practice this for eight bow strokes a string right in the beginning of your practice session, you can solve many problems in tone production. It only costs you a couple of minutes.

Don’t feel like you’re ‘starting all over again’ by bowing on open strings: this is something even conservatory students have to do to perfect their basic technique.

A lot of #violin players think improving their sound quality lies in advanced techniques, while the solution for most of them lies in the basics: #violinist #violinbow #learnviolin Share on X

Improve your violin bowing technique

Enjoy my FREE mini Masterclass 5 Bowing Secrets to Create a Professional Sound on the Violin

Go to Mini Masterclass

Hi! I'm Zlata

Classical violinist helping you overcome technical struggles and play with feeling by improving your bow technique.

READ MORE

A couple of tips to bow straight:

When bowing your upper arm should be almost still

Only when bowing to the frog you slightly move it to the front and back at the bow change.

Don’t bow with just your lower arm, but mainly move your wrist and fingers

This will not only make it easier to bow straight, but will smoothen your bow changes and improve your sound quality in general. You might want to do the Thibaud exercise to practice the movement in your fingers and your bow control in general.

Your bow hold should be relaxed and flexible

Don’t think your bow hold just as to look like it’s correct. The way you move is so much more important than the way you hold it. Different violinists hold their bows in different ways, but the fluency and control is something you see in all great players.  Your bow hand (fingers and wrist) should move along the straight movement of the bow maintaining the resonance in your violin and bow and smoothening the bow changes.

I’d love to teach more in my free videos

Check out my free beginner course to polish up your basics, like your bow hold and movement. Even for people who play for years, this course has been helpful. Also check out my free video lessons about bowing technique.

Let me know in the comments below which tip or insight from this article was most useful to you!

What Chinrest and Shoulder Rest I Use and Why

Now I play the violin comfortably without pain!

How I picked and adjusted my current chinrest and shoulder rest and what you should look for when buying one

A lot of violin players have spend a lot of money on rests and have a collection just catching dust. Around 60 to 80 percent of violin players complains about pain or not being able to play relaxed and comfortably.

How to avoid endlessly buying chinrests and shoulder rests

1) Don’t do as I do!

Choosing the right chinrest and shoulder rest is something very personal. Don’t follow me, your teacher or your favorite soloist blindly! Yes, what others have can inspire you, but always look at the complete picture: How is the shape of their body, their length, the length of their arms? How do they hold and play the violin? Is it the same or very different than your body, posture and hold?

2) 80% of the solution lies in your body posture and violin hold, just 20% in the rests

Of course this is just a rough estimate. After owning a violin shop for over 10 years, I’ve seen so many people struggle endlessly with rests, while the problem was in their body posture and playing technique. Chinrests and shoulder rests can NEVER compensate a bad posture and technique. 

3) Don’t spend a fortune on different rest. Try different adjustments on the one you own.

Another experience from my violin shop: over 90% of players can be very happy and comfortable with a good old Wolf rest. You can adjust them in width and height, tilt them and bend them. There are other brands that offer the same flexibility. Before you buy a new rest, experiment with the adjustment of your current rest first.

How to avoid endlessly buying chinrests and shoulder rests for your #violin Share on X

From sponge to Wolf shoulder rest

sponge as violin shoulder restWhen I started playing the violin at the age of eight, I used a yellow bath sponge with an elastic band

Yup, were spoiled these days. My parents didn’t have the money for a ‘real’ shoulder rest. Also I played with my sheet music on the dinner table by lack of a music stand. However, I learned to play this way, so don’t worry too much about the things you should buy or not.

After some time I got a real shoulder rest, but the guy in the music store made a mistake and I played with a viola rest for years. My English was too limited those days to distinguish viola from violin.

So… it took years before I actually got a fitting normal Wolf violin shoulder rest and I played with that for over ten years.

For the chinrest I think I’ve always sticked to a Guarneri rest. I liked the ‘hump’ that goes behind your jaw bone, so the violin won’t slip away.

Now I play with more freedom of movement

Quite late, in the last years at the conservatory, I finally had a teacher who busted the myth that you have to hold the violin with your chin and shoulder

I learned a whole new left hand technique. It dramatically improved my intonation, my vibrato and made me play way more comfortable. It means that you let the violin rest on your collar bone, balance it between your collar bone and left arm and have an active left hand and fingers.

It completely releases the tension in your neck and shoulders. It makes your violin hold more flexibele and balanced opening up new possibilities of expression. Ok, enough about this as I teach it in Free your Vibrato and this article was meant to be just about my set up.

Learn a Beautiful Vibrato on the Violin

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Hi! I'm Zlata

Classical violinist helping you overcome technical struggles and play with feeling by improving your bow technique.

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My Stradivari chinrest

conrad gotz stradivari chinrest boxwood

I discovered that the hump in my Guarneri rest caused tension in my neck

The chinrest pulled my neck and I had to compensate with muscle power. I needed a smaller and flatter chinrest. As I owned a violin shop I could try out any chinrest I want. I did and with all rests I missed the Guarneri shape. What I like best now for years, is the Stradivari chinrest. You don’t see them often, but I find them REALLY comfortable.

However, mind my disclaimer: what’s good for me, isn’t necessarily good for you. Watch this video about adjusting your chinrest and playing comfortably.

My Viva la Musica Diamond shoulder rest

VLM augustin diamond shoulder rest

Now my violin sounds better and I have more freedom of movement

Did you know a shoulder rest mutes the sound of your violin?

You can try it out by playing with and without your shoulder rest. I found the VLM Augustin Diamond shoulder rest, because it’s light and doesn’t mute your violin. The feet have a special design and barely touch your violin.

With my new playing technique I wanted to have contact between the violin and my collar bone. Also I wanted to have a lot of freedom of movement. As I support the violin partially with my left arm, I don’t need so much stability as I have a better balance. The VLM rest allow me to adjust the feet in many ways and also make the rest very low.

What’s your story?

What chinrest and shoulder rest do you use? Or do you play without? Let me know in the comments!