Introduction To Violin Playing

This thesis is based on the current violin education in Zambia.Since the invention of the violin in the 16^th century till date,violinists have always faced huge challenges in violin performance.There are five noticeably prominent challenges/problems that every single violinist faces at one point.They can be categorized into three left hand challenges and two right hand challenges respectively.The problems associated with the left hand,are intonation,vibrato and shifting.This is due to the nature of the violin being a fretless instrument.In the right hand,the two most prominent problems are that of bowing techniques and good solid tone production.Intermediate level violinists are the ones in the most vulnerable position.This is because most of the famous and widely teaching materials used are aimed at those students who already have advanced level technique.The problem is these learning materials are way too advanced and too difficult to comprehend without the traditional method of teaching.This in turn creates a huge gab between intermediate and advanced violinists.Violin performance does not only rely on the skill that a player possesses.Instead,it fully relies and depends on the coordination of the body and the instrument,in order to form a bond between a violinist and the violin.For this reason,it is also vital to be aware that there are three other factors that supplement this bond and act as the foundation for solving each of the earlier mentioned challenges,and any other difficulties that one would come across.These three factors are:feeling,mental imagery and ear training.The problem is that feeling and mental imagery tend to lack in most students due to the traditional method or system of teaching that mainly relies on students assimilating all the strict contents given by the teacher with little or no room for self innovation.Therefore,this academic writing is meant to provide an introduction to violin mastery,equipped with both theoretical and practical approaches of how to solve these prominent challenges faced in violin performance,to show how to create a bond between a violinist and his/her instrument,and to discuss how to develop an innovative method or system of violin teaching that will cover the gap between intermediate level and advanced level in violin performance.