It’s true! As a student these days, YouTube can be a fantastic resource of good modelling, practice techniques, and even extended instruction. I want to stress the importance, however, of choosing wisely which videos you take to heart. Some folks putting out videos provide great content, while others… Well, it’s not necessarily bad content, but it won’t provide the enrichment opportunities you’re seeking. If you find something other than what’s listed here and believe it to be helpful to you, that’s great- this is just a short list for today’s purpose of getting started. Most of these links are for technique and practice, rather than listening to examples of performance. Enjoy!
This teacher has some fabulous advanced technique strategies, and does a great job explaining/ demonstrating the finer points of each.
Ms. Emily has great explanations for beginners’ questions surrounding all the housekeeping of playing an instrument: “How do I hold my bow?” “How do I take care of my violin?” “Why do I need a shoulder rest?” All good questions, answered with wisdom. While I cover all these items in my private studio, it’s awfully nice to have some backup from an outside source. 🙂
YouTube user bozzzu’s videos:
I love this guy’s approach to jazz methods on violin. If you’re one of those students who plays by ear, these would be a fun challenge.
Play like Miles Davis!
Play like Clark Terry!
This channel, the String Pedagogy Online Community, contains several useful practice technique videos- for double-stops, fast passages, varying vibrato, and much more. They also include a few videos on how to unpack and re-pack a bass in a soft case. (website:
http://stringtechnique.com)
This professor does a thorough job of explaining, in this sequence of videos, the proper holding of a bow, starting out with a pencil.
Enjoy his performance when you click on the link to all his videos!
This by no means comprises an exhaustive list of the quality videos to be had on YouTube for violin and viola instruction, but I’ll end here for today. I hope you enjoy watching and practicing!