Three Simple Hacks You Should Do Daily (other than practicing, of course)

Lady hugging a violin close to her chest

As a player and teacher I have seen it all! Some players are fastidious in their care of their instruments, treating them like delicate babies and wiping them down cautiously after every use. Other players chuck their axe in the case and unceremoniously throw the lot into the trunk of their car after a gig.

No judgement here. Everyone has their own style. But in this brief article I hope to give some very basic and easy guidelines to follow in caring for your little fiddle friend.

 

Rosin buildup on violin and strings

Clean Your Violin

Do as I say, not as I do! I am terrible about remembering to clean my fiddle. But I also know how to remove rosin that has built-up and have my own luthier for the trickier varnish work, so maybe I have been spoiled!

Yes, rosin is sticky and acific. It will EAT away at your varnish, so make sure to clean it off so the violin's always nice and shiny.

Rule of thumb: Always clean the violin off after playing. Use a dry soft cloth and dust it off the violin, around the bridge, the fingerboard and the strings.

Every so often you can use rubbing alcohol and a different cloth to clean the strings (and only the strings). Do not get the alcohol on anything but the strings and only on the part of the string where you play (between the bridge and fingerboard is where you should play). The rosin will otherwise build up and weigh the string down and make it vibrate unevenly and sound yucky!

Save the violin polish for application every six months at least, and couple it with changing your strings. Using polish too often is akin to using too much hair conditioner: it can build up and attract more dust if used too often.

 

Violin laying in a case

Keep Your Violin Safe

Now that I admitted to being a slob with my fiddle's rosin removal, I will further debase myself. I also tend to leave my fiddle lying around on chairs, the floor, etc.

Don't do that!

Sadly, I speak from experience here and am more sheepish to say I even SAT on my violin. My excuse is that I was pregnant with spawn number two and had a VERY LARGE RUMP which obscured my view as I closed in on the trembling chair.

You should have heard the sound the violin made as it broke! Oh my.

At least it was only the bridge snapping before I realised what my backside had done and I waddled clumsily back to standing before more damage was done. Worse was that I was teaching a lesson but thankfully th estudent was another adult who had just had a baby, so she understood how hard it is to practice finesse with a wide load.)

If you want to leave your violin out where you will remember to practice, designate a fiddle spot on the top of a dresser or a bookshelf where it will not be sat upon, or, even better, use a violin stand. Of course, your quality violin case is the safest place to keep your instrument.

[More on safe storage of instruments in this article]

 

Hands replacing strings on a violin

Replace Your Strings

Change your strings once per year (I can make suggestions for various strings depending on what sound you want when the time comes). Or more often if you play a lot. You can get away with every 2 years, but when you do change them you will wonder why the heck you waited so long.

Strings make a big difference in sound. I imagine they are like tires on a car. A Pinto with bald summer tires offers slightly worse performance, but bald tired on a Ferrari would mean a HUGE drop to performance and why bother having a sports car with crummy tires.

Strings will make a bad violin stink and a GOOD violin will suffer even more as it has more potential to sound good and deserves nice strings.bow (and re-hairing it every 2 years or less), replenishing the water in your dampit or humidifier (for older violins), and tidying up your sheet music and storage pockets in your case. All to be discussed in a future article.