Should you untune your violin after practicing?
Why would you want to untune the violin?
You do not want to do that! Maybe this sounds logical to do because you hear all the time that you have to untighten your bow. So maybe your thought was I need to untighten the violin too! There is around 25-35 kilos weight resting on your violin when the strings are tuned. But your violin is made for that, it can survive centuries with that tension! It is even better for your violin to leave it tuned and it saves you also a lot of work.
What I forgot to mention in this video…
The lifetime of strings will be longer if you take care that the tension on the strings doesn’t change too much. Change of tension will ruin your strings. Keep your violin tuned!
Thank you for your good question. Maybe a lot of beginners have the same question and can’t find the answer on the internet because you don’t untunte your violin but you need to know that.
Is this video useful to you? Please let me know in the comments!
Love,
Zlata
PS: Do you want to see YOUR question answered in a Violin Lounge TV episode? Post a comment below!
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Does one replace the bow strands , or just purchase a new bow!
Well, this depends how much your bow is worth. A good rehair is around $ 70.
Bow hair will last about 1-2 years before the playing will get to it (in 4- 6 months) of heavy playing, or just by dust mites that eat hair!! So you have to ask oneself, is the cost of a rehair ($60-90) greater than buying a new bow??? Nowadays with cheaper Chinese bows on the market, it can almost be better and cheaper to just buy another new bow. Obviously though, buying a good (and expensive) bow, for at least more than $300, you will want a re-hair.
Exactly, Stephen!
Hi Zlata! When playing fast detachè passages on the violin, I’ve always been struggling to move the forearm really fast and I always tense up a bit. I’ve recently noticed that you can use wrist movement to move the bow really fast instead of using your arm. I’m getting better and better at that, but how are you supposed to move the bow without making it jump and to keep it on the string? This is after all the same technique used for sautillè.
Best wishes, Adam
Yes, exactly, Adam, the trick is adding weight and pivoting your hand a bit in the direction of the tip. Also search for a good place on the bow. Does this help?
Thank you for answering this question! I had an instructor who told me to loosen the strings after playing so the strings would not be be stretched and then harder to tune. Thanks for setting me straight!
Wonderful!