When a friend or family member asks you to ‘just play something’… does this scare you? Do you doubt what to play and how to play it? Do you have no clue what to answer to that question or what to do?

Maybe there is a piece you know that you haven’t quite mastered yet, or a piece you can only play with someone else. Because of this you now have no answer to the question and you might feel like a failure because you are playing the violin for quite some time now.

Even if you are playing for some friends in the living room you have to have something prepared. You can’t just pick up the violin and improvise a beautiful piece (unless you are a uniquely talented violin player). Because usually when you’re practicing you are playing unfinished pieces or pieces that don’t sound good without piano. A good solution is to pick a few pieces that are a bit below your current level, and learn them by heart so you can play them of the top of your head for friends and family.

To give you some inspiration you can find the violin gig books I recommend here! And you can watch my video about what to play at a solo gig here!

I hope this video was useful to you. If it was, 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!