Thais Meditation, violin piece, Nicholas Gand Violin

[mazzerness]

this is absolutely one of my favourites pieces to play on the violin and i have to say that it is rare, for me, to encounter a musician who plays both the violin and the viola so beautifully. a job well done :)

[violamast]

How nice of you to say that!

Thank you,

JK

[briantan]

where can i find sheet music for this piece?

[jazzyjellyjess95]

Beautiful

[CalerTube]

I have a question. I'm playing this Thais Meditation in March 2010 for my state competition, and I'm not too good playing the high notes, because they sound scratchy. What are some ways I can improve on my high notes?

Also, great playing, I really enjoyed it.

[violamast]

Hello,

Thank you for the nice comment. :) Regarding the scratchy E string, it's very hard to say why this is happening without seeing you play, but the main contributors to this, are:

1. Bow speed is not fast enough

2. Your too close to the bridge

3. Bow is bouncing a little bit on the string because your hand is tense.

4. You can also consider replacing your E string with one that is more forgiving. "Solid" E strings, tend to scratch more than "wound" E strings. I hope this helps!

[ussenterprisecaptian]

as a violinist i have to say that is one of the best renditions i have ever heard, i teach and preform violin. what is is you do? just curious. by the way i'd like to have heard the rest of it. cudos.!!!

[violamast]

Thank you very much for the kind comment! Regarding what I do, I am a professional violist in the Pacific Northwest. Playing on the violin is difficult for me because a violin seems so small compared to what I'm used to! :)

[violamast]

Hello, thank you for the nice comment. All of the bows I use in the videos, are the bows that come with the violin outfits as they are sold. It is basically a decent quality Brazilwood bow that gets the job done. Regarding the music, I have my own fingerings and there are quite a few of them. If you'd like, I can send you a JPG of the music with most of the fingerings, in yor email and you can print it. Just let me know. Good luck!

[eknbv10]

This is great!I had two quetsions.What kind of bow are you using and are you keepin all the original shifts and slurs?or have you changed them?Im learning this piece and I dont have a problem with the slurs but I am with some of the shifts and I was just curious.

[violamast]

Thank you for the nice comment. To improve bow control, you can practice long strokes from the frog to the tip using open strings. You should intentionally hold the note as long as you can, but keep good sound.  This will teach bow control. The trick to having best control when playing quietly, is to have a relaxed bow hand. Your wrist, fingers and expecially BENT pinky need to be very relaxed. Think of "guiding" the bow back and forth, not "holding/gripping" the bow. I Hope this helps!

[PopOmg]

dude ur super good ive been playing for three years, and right now im learning this song but whats my biggest problem is that when i play i dont have a nice flow like i cant get my bow to be nice a smooth got any suggestions