From the category archives:

Your Instrument

Buying a first violin

by Lia ZitoJune 21, 2009

I sometimes get sent Craigslist postings from students asking me whether they should buy an instrument based on the label information provided in the seller’s post.

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So you’re left-handed…

by Lia ZitoMay 29, 2009

If you’re left-handed, should you learn to play an instrument left-handed? Well, no. And I’m a lefty. Being a violin teacher, I come across this idea pretty regularly, since the left & right hands do very different things on the violin (unlike, say, piano). Guitar players also will ask the left-handed question. It’s not quite [...]

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Why won’t my instrument stay in tune?

by Lia ZitoMay 22, 2009

Instruments aren’t built to stay in tune perfectly, and they shouldn’t. Here’s why: all materials change size with changing temperature, and wood is also quite sensitive to changes in humidity. To survive in Alaska, instruments must be able to respond to the changing weather, and this necessarily changes their tuning. Ask any carpenter: wood moves. [...]

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