How Not to Play Scratchy, Squeaky, Screechy on the Violin

Are you tired of scratching and squeaking on the violin? You don’t know how to fix it?

Let’s troubleshoot your tone together and give you tips on how not to play scratchy on the violin.

Perfect combination of weight and speed

Tip 1 – How Not to Play Scratchy on the Violin

One of the first places I see violinists get squeaky is if they are playing too hard and too slow.

In order to eliminate that, we need to find a beautiful combination of speed and weight.

We don’t want to have what I call the case of the crunchies. In the case of the crunchies there is too much weight and too slow of a bow. This results in a horrible sound.

Take that same amount of weight combined with speed, you will create a completely different sound. Experiment with different combinations of weight and speed to find that beautiful tone you are looking for.

This combination of speed and weight will also depend on the dynamic you are creating. If you are supposed to play piano, we alleviate the amount of weight. You also want to explore what part of the bow to play in. For pianos, you want to be at the tip of the bow, most likely, if it is possible so you can have a more quiet sound. The frog is a heavier part of the bow and the sound will be louder.

No matter where you are, you want to explore the combination of weight and speed to avoid the case of the crunchies.

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Crooked Bows

Tip 2 – How Not to Play Scratchy on the Violin

The next most common problem I see with violinists that are playing scratchy and squeaky on the violin is because their bows are not straight. When you have crooked bows, you can get really scratchy and really squeaky and very surfacey sounding because the bow is sliding around. We don’t want the bow to slide around. We want to have a nice straight bow at all times.

How to play with straight bows? Practice playing with straight bows.

An exercise for you to practice straight bows is to take about 3 minutes a day and focus on playing straight whole bows on open strings from frog to tip. Once you have achieved that, add in your left hand. For example, practice G string on Monday, D string on Tuesday, A string on Wednesday. Just adding the left hand in will create a challenge for your right arm to continue to behave and play with straight bows.

If you find yourself going crooked, investigate why? Most likely there is something going on with your bow arm that is causing that to go crooked.

Tense bow hold

Tip 3 – How Not to Play Scratchy on the Violin

Now, the next place I see violinists getting scratchy and squeaky tone is when they have a tense bow hold. Perhaps you are familiar with the “claw” bow hold?

If we have something like “the claw,” you will play really scratchy and really squeaky. If their is tension in the bow hold it will be hard to control the sound.

You want to think of your fingers in your right hand as shock absorbers. If they aren’t relaxed you will not be able to be responsive to the bow which will cause problems for you and create a bad tone.

Spend time nourishing a really nice relaxed bow hold, bent thumb. You can get more personalized training in my 12 week online Gorgeous Tone Academy, discover more here. Make sure your fingers are relaxed and not tense at all times in your bow hold.

Incorrect finger placement

Tip 4 – How Not to Play Scratchy on the Violin

Another place I get to hear a lot of squeakiness and scratchiness on the violin is when a violinist is playing doublestops and their fingers are not clearing the strings.

If you ever find that you are playing doublestops and you get really the case of the screechies, not just scratchies and squeakies but screechies, your left hand is a place to investigate.

When you play your doublestops with an open string, do make sure that your fingers are actually clearing the other string.

You want to create a beautiful bridge with your finger and the open string. Set up your finger so that it is not touching the open string at all. If that fleshy part of the finger is touching the open string, it is going to cause some really weird sounds. You want to make sure your fingers clear the string.

An exercise for you to work on that is just to play open E string with your fingers on the A string. You can do the same with open A and D. Then go ahead and take it to the G and D strings.

When you are working on double-stops, you also want to make sure your bow is balanced on two strings without pushing. When the bow is pushing into the string that will also create a scratchy, squeaky, crunchy sound.

Always be balanced and practice playing your doublestops quietly.

Clean string crossings

Tip 5 – How Not to Play Scratchy on the Violin

And our final little troubleshooting tone to not scratch and squeak on the violin is investigating your string crossings.

Many violinists hit other strings while playing and the main reason is because their elbow elevator is not operating correctly.

The elbow elevator is what controls the bow arm going up and down and what string we are on.

A great way to practice your string crossings is with scales. Play the moving fingers on the D string with an open A. You can reverse it and have an open D with the moving fingers on the A.

Have fun exploring how not to scratch and squeak on the violin.

I would love to hear from you in the comments below, what tip will you implememt to eliminate your scratchy, squeaky, and screechy tone?

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