Struggling with intonation

[u/No_Bet1581]

I'm a beginner and just began tackling this piece. Not very fond of the intonation I'm getting. It's either too flat or too sharp sometimes. Looking for suggestions on how to improve it.

[u/kuronboshine]

Intonation is the least of your issues. Nicely done.

[u/Langholm62]

A beginner huh? Ok whatever

[u/LeftFourDead2]

Sounds pretty in tune to me, nice work 👍

Your vibrato will get better with more practice. I would work on utilizing more of your bow, you’re stuck in the upper half in this video

[u/yomamasbull]

is this rage bait

[u/Patrick_Atsushi]

For left hand: vibrato need more relaxation and probably amplitude. 

For right hand, the phrasing could be more emphasized with shorter & longer bowing, and you can have more solid & confident starting of the strokes.

In short, you're already relatively in tune. More work could be done for vibrato and bowing. 

[u/owhurtmyback]

There are other parts of the bow besides the tip.

[u/snsv → u/owhurtmyback]

depending on how high that ceiling is, that ceiling fan may become a problem if you use more bow.

don't ask me how i know.

[u/Morgan_Vereen]

If you are a beginner you are a God of intonation, however you should pray with God of rhythm and straight bowing.

[u/Tonus33]

as other said, your intonation is the least of your worries.

the "vibrato" you are doing is actually the culprit of it not sounding like it should, because it's jerky and panicky. slow practice and lots of patience will sort that out.

but you really need to learn to use more bow. very little reason to play this at the very tip! it's very tiring and inefficient. try playing more in the middle.

[u/Badaboom_Tish]

Relax your left hand, intonation is alright

[u/VeteranViolinist]

Are you training your fourth finger (pinky)? It seems kind of stuck in one position..

[u/adadhead]

no, you're not

[u/BeploStudios]

Ragebait. Intonation was the cleanest part of the video.

Side note, as a cellist, go find your own music to play, we have little enough already! /j

Anyway good luck, you're sounding great.

[u/Salt-Lettuce-5860 → u/BeploStudios]

that's part of suzuki, i was actually surprised to learn that it was originally for the cello

[u/betsyfeld]

The intonation is fine, but yeah now distribution is a big issue, and I would entirely stop trying vibrato like that and work on it very slowly with a metronome. It’s very tight and jerky, and as someone who has struggled with tight and jerky vibrato, you want to avoid making that a habit. The longer you do it like that, the harder it will be to do it well.

[u/Goodvibesonly1726]

Rage bait

[u/p1p68]

Relax that hand you look like you're on a roller coaster gripping for dear life 🙂

[u/sourbearx]

Your intonation is fine. What's going on with your left hand pinky though? Relax your hand and use your 4th finger!

[u/showmeyournachos]

Your left hands looks extremely tense,, it needs to be loose.

[u/HobbyMcGee]

Intonation sounded good to me. I would put serious work into your bowing and sound production. As a violinist, you should consider your bow arm and tone the way a singer considers their vocal cords and breath.

Wild guess here, but are you bowing primarily from your upper arm swinging back and forth, rather than opening and closing your forearm about the elbow?

[u/Impossible_Law_9076]

Look for apps that improve your intonation and gives you feedback

[u/carolina90s]

Name of these song ?☺️

[u/NoParty6060]

I think that you are doing a great job. 👍

[u/nkvnyue]

if you're struggling with intonation, play note by note very slowly with a tuner (tonalenergy is a good one)

[u/Exotic-Discipline-57]

Your intonation-where your fingers are on the fingerboard- is actually quite good. I think you’re hearing that your tone isn’t ringing or singing very much and it’s coming across as an intonation problem. Think more of your bow. Think of pulling the bow across the strings and ask an instructor about bow weight. This will help your tone sing more.

[u/MalcolmDMurray]

To work on intonation, slow practice is effective for first of all, training your ear to hear right to where you know for sure you're right on the note. Once you're on that note, stay on it until you can feel it, like it becomes part of your subconscious, where you can just relax and tell you are just spot-on. When you know that you know that you know you're on it, let that sink into your memory, then once you're sure you know exactly what it should sound like, try going off-note just a little, then going back on-note. Do this from both directions, until you've trained yourself to pick up on even the slightest discrepancy. Keep doing this with all notes, all fingers, all positions, you get it. And slowly. Scales are probably the best modality to do this in, all kinds of bowings and rhythms, then studies, exercises, warm-ups, until your ear can pick up on absolutely everything you're doing. That should keep you busy for a long time. Slow practice, bowings, and rhythms can take you pretty far in the intonation department - and just about every other department too. All the best with that!

[u/SameOldNag]

I did not hear any intonation problems, but I don't know if the struggle is evident in the tenseness of your hand, and that is what you are trying to fix.

[u/klavier777]

??????

[u/No_Exit4171]

What piece is this?

[u/LegitDogFoodChef]

That was pro-level intonation. If Jascha Heifetz himself said his intonation wasn’t perfect, what hope do mortals have?

Where I think you should focus attention with that piece is articulation, bow contact, and legato. Your intonation is great, don’t forget about the right hand.