Online violin learning works great for adults, but I’ve gotta say… there’s one thing that remains the most difficult to troubleshoot online:
Equipment!
Some days the sound is great, and other days it can be likened unto a dying cat…
How do you know when it’s your technique vs an equipment issue? A great place to look first is at your strings.
These two things are often overlooked:
1) Strings need to be changed about once a year
2) Quality matters a TON
If it’s been more than a year since you’ve changed your strings, order a new set or bring it in to your luthier for a fresh set. If you’re practicing or playing several hours per day consistently then you may be ready in as few as 4 months, but most hobbyists can go a year.
If you’ve passed the “one year test” and still aren’t sure about your strings, answer this quick quiz.
1) Do you see any wear or corrosion?
2) Have you been sweating on the strings without wiping them off?
3) Do you have a hunch they are dead?
4) Do your five-note rolls lack crispness?
5) Do you feel like you’re pressing harder than you used to to get a good sound?
If you answer yes to any 2 questions, then give new strings a shot.
There are so many types of strings and each one has strengths and weaknesses. Here are my top 3 favorite strings!
Helicore
I really like these affordable strings. The price is good, so they are a go-to for me on tour when I’m going to blow through a bunch of sets.
They are steel so they work really well with electronic pickups such as my fave the Baggs Bridge.
That said, they are kinda bright sounding. This makes them perfect for fiddle music, but maybe lacking for drama and long slow notes. They still sound good enough for smoother darker stuff, but it’s not their strong area.
Vision
At about the same price point, Vision strings have a more balanced sound. I wouldn’t quite call it dark, but leaning more that way. If you’re more into playing moody sweeping melodies and not so much into fiddle ornaments and tunes, this could be a great choice for you.
Evah Pirazzi
Now here’s where I become a bit of a bad influence. These are my all time favorite strings.
The Evah’s are considerably more investment, but they will pull the richest tones from your violin. They have a sort of impossible balance of depth and sparkle.
One possible downside is they are higher tension. It’s never bothered me but some players find these harder on the left hand.
—
I hope you’ll use this as a starting point to have fun and experiment with strings.
If you purchase strings using the links above, a small commission will go to thehotviolinist.com at no extra cost to you. I always recommend supporting your local shop whenever possible.
Please post a comment below with your favorite type of strings and why!
If you want more than fiddle try best gut core strings: Pirastro Passione give a warm rich ‘human’ sound and powerful sound. And they don’t get old like plastic or steel strings, they keep the sound. Only disadvantage. Few broke inside the peg box.
Hi!
I used evah pirazzi for three years. I found they had wonderful tonal qualities and lasted for quite a long time compared to their similarly priced counterparts on the market. However, i live in west of brittany on the coast and the weather here goes through some drastic changes, direction and streangth of wind, extremely high humidity, high dry temperatures and random icy cold days. I found the high tension of these strings made my violin almost impossible to play for many days of the year! So i searched a sollution which was peter infield strings by thomastic infeld, they are on the lighter side of medium tension. I found them much more pleasurable to play on and they didnt change too much except on rediculously humid days, thay also held their own for longer and didnt unwind on the A string as quickly as the evah pirazzis.
I have also tried the Warchal amber set recently which are a very beautiful gut like synthetic string with the best e string i have ever played on. They remained pretty stable in the above mentioned conditions which was great but the a string did not last as long as the latter, 4 months i think which is still good for the amont of hours i play for.
So i am about to try a new string set from Warchal called tambre, from reading the specs they look like they may well be just what the doctor ordered !!
Cheers
Dylan
Evahs are my favorite. Warmest sound. Don’t slip out of tune very often. Quick to stretch. Love them!
Thomastic Dominant medium. I’ve tried a bunch of others but whenever I come back to these it’s like I have a new violin (I have six violins…). Cost is reasonable, too. BTW, buyers be aware of counterfeit strings at the higher-cost end.
I use Visions on my violin and a mixed set (Vision CGD, Larsen A) on my viola. I think of Visions as being a little brighter than average for classical playing. They project really well in a large space, which is great for solos. They seem to take longer than average to play in and lose the metallic sound you hear when you first put them on, so if you don’t like them at first, give them at least another week.
Dominant is a good neutral string to start with when first trying to figure out what strings work best on an instrument. It’s dead-center of all the charts of string characteristics that I’ve seen, so from there it’s easy to tell how you want to adjust your string sound. I used Dominants on both violin and viola for years.
If you want to try the dark, rich-sounding end of the spectrum, Obligato is a good choice. Obligatos aren’t as loud as other strings, but produce enough volume for anyone who isn’t a concert-hall soloist. (Note: they’re in the same price range as Evah Pirazzi, at least for viola strings.)
It’s worthwhile to experiment with using a different top string (E on violin, A on viola) from the rest of your string set. Many violinists use Gold Label or Goldbrokat E strings for a bit of extra brilliance in the upper range. Gold Label is about average price, Goldbrokat is actually one of the cheapest strings on the market. I’m thinking about trying one of those E strings the next time I change my violin strings. On the viola, Larsen is by far the most popular A string. I find it has a nice full sound, removes some of the nasal tone that violas have in the upper register, and matches well with many other string brands.