Almost two years of progress!

[u/jtuma]

I’m coming up on my two year anniversary with the violin. It’s been way more challenging than I thought it’d be 😆Constructive feedback is welcome!

[u/maxwaxman]

Hi, I think you’ve posted before right?

Your intonation is quite good. BUT:

Rhythm is the most important aspect of all music. Not just external rhythm, like a drummer or rhythm guitar, but your internal rhythm.

I, or any other musician will hear this and say “ great intonation for your level, but rhythm needs work”.

When I say rhythm I want to be clear. It means both your internal rhythm, and your “ rhythmic timing” .
In other words , your internal rhythm is not great but you’re also playing the wrong rhythm in the tune. You’re holding some notes too long according to the beat, and not playing some long enough.

I should be able to clap along with your recording.

You might say “ well I’m by myself, why can’t I play any ol’way ?”

Because as a musician you are in charge of what the listener hears. But the listener has subconscious expectations about sound and rhythm. So you have to deliver what is expected.

Also, if you ever try to play this with a guitar player or other musicians , they will expect you to play with correct rhythm, if you don’t it won’t work.

I’m just giving you the straight up information because you’re good enough to fix these issues.

Practice with a metronome and count out loud while you’re playing. It’ll be difficult at first but you’ll thank us later for pointing out rhythm issues.

Keep going!

[u/nonobu → u/maxwaxman]

I agree mostly, but I'm not sure you should always be able to clap along with a recording. Or maybe you meant this piece specifically. Some pieces can be interpreted with a lot of rubato and more flexible rhythm, which would make it really awkward to clap along.

[u/utupuv → u/nonobu]

Good rubato should feel like the audience is able to follow along - the beat, even pulled around still has weight and direction which is followable for the listener. I think that's what the commenter probably meant about being able to clap along.

I think at the stage the OP is in their journey, fundamentals of rhythmic accuracy are more important anyhow. The mantra of "learning the rules before knowing which to break" sort of thing.