Playing the violin – only for the persistent?

In classical music, violins take pride of place. But the violin has also found its way into pop music, and in styles such as folk rock it’s practically indispensable. How do you play this bowed instrument, and how difficult is it? And what should you watch out for if you want to combine violin and pop? A closer look at a legendary instrument!

A rare breed

Many musicians personify their instruments, and violinist Matthijs Barnhoorn is no exception. “For me, the violin is a ‘she’. I always talk about ‘her’ when I’m talking about my violin. It feels completely natural—I don’t even think about it.”

Matthijs Barnhoorn is a violinist, but not a classical violinist. His roots are in folk rock. He has played, among others, with the acclaimed British folk-rock band Fairport Convention. He also played with Magna Carta and numerous other line-ups. These days he plays with, among others, Sue the Night and Knalland, and he also does a lot of freelance work on stage and in the studio.

Pop violinists are a rare breed—and Matthijs is one of them. “That has its advantages. For a start, I still get quite a lot of work as a violinist. And as a violinist you always add something distinctive to a band’s sound. That’s usually really appreciated, both by the audience and by the other band members. And they basically leave you free to do what you do, because most of the time nobody really knows anything about playing the violin. Normally, instrumentalists can end up getting involved in each other’s parts, but as a violinist I don’t have that as much. Honestly, it’s quite nice.”

A warm sound

Matthijs’ violin is a Straduarius (not to be confused with a priceless Stradivarius) that’s 200 years old. “She sounds very warm. And with a violin, that’s what you want. A violin with a sharper sound might cut through the other instruments in pop music more easily, but after a while it can start to get irritating.”

A lot of musicians treat their instruments almost like loved ones. That certainly goes for violinists—Matthijs included. That’s also why he recently bought an electric violin, for the “rougher” work. By “rough”, he mainly means the conditions he sometimes has to perform in. “I end up in all sorts of places with my violin. This spring I played at a huge outdoor bonfire festival. Those are risky places for such a fragile instrument. I also once played at an art event where someone stepped on a tube of blue paint. It shot out and hit my violin case—which luckily was closed at the time. The blue splatters are still on my case. I hate to think what would’ve happened if it had been open…”

No low E

Nobody knows who made the first violin. It’s generally assumed that the violin originated around 1550 in Italy, in the violin-making centres of Brescia and Cremona. In the Middle Ages, there were many different string instruments. Some were plucked, like the lute; others were bowed, like the vielle and the rebec. The lira da braccio, which already had the shape of the modern violin, can also be seen as a predecessor.

The violin has four strings. The intervals between the strings are always a perfect fifth. That’s different from the guitar and bass guitar, where the intervals are a perfect fourth. The tuning is G-D-A-E. The lowest string is a G, which in pitch corresponds to the third fret on the low E string of a guitar. So the violin lacks the low E, F and F sharp that you do have on a guitar. “That’s something to bear in mind if you add violin to your band,” Matthijs notes. “The violin doesn’t go as low as the guitar. As a violinist, I sometimes run into that. Then they ask me to play a note that simply doesn’t exist on the violin.”

All the emotions

On a violin, sound is produced by setting the strings vibrating with a bow. This technique is called arco. Plucking with the fingers is also possible; that’s called pizzicato. The violin is usually played by holding the instrument between chin and shoulder and using the fingers of the left hand to press the strings down onto the ebony fingerboard, shortening the string and making it sound higher.

The violin is the smallest daughter in the bowed-string family, with bigger sisters (from small to large) the viola, cello and double bass. Bowed string instruments play a major role in classical music. Most classical compositions include parts for strings. As a solo instrument, the violin is perfect for expression and virtuosity. “The violin is my great love,” says Matthijs. “It’s an instrument you can pour all your emotions into—the whole range, from angry to happy.”

Persistence

“No musical instrument is easy,” says Matthijs, as a multi-instrumentalist. “But the violin has a tough learning curve. It takes years of practice before you can get a good tone out of a violin. In the beginning, it’s painful to listen to. Learning the violin takes a lot of persistence—from you and from the people around you. For many young violinists, puberty is killing. That’s often the period when they put the instrument aside, because it’s not seen as a ‘cool’ instrument. A few carry on—me included. I’ve loved the sound of the violin since I was young, and that’s never changed.”

Violin playing involves several aspects that make it a difficult instrument. Matthijs lists them: “The right pressure of the bow on the strings. Keeping that pressure consistent along the full length of the bow, so you can use that full length. The right bowing speed. Playing the right pitch by pressing the string with the fingers of your left hand in exactly the right place.”

A violin has no frets, like a guitar. “You have to do everything by ear,” he explains. “With practice, you develop muscle memory, so your fingers learn where to find the right spot on the string. But even then, you still need your ear to get it spot on and correct as needed. That’s why a violinist always needs to be able to hear themselves clearly. If not, there’s a good chance you’ll get out-of-tune notes creeping in.”

Hearing yourself clearly can be a problem. “In live situations I sometimes struggle with that. That’s why I almost always bring my own monitor. But even then: if you’ve got a violinist in the band, you often need to rein it in a bit—otherwise it’s just not doable for the violinist.”

Injuries

As well as being difficult, the violin is physically demanding. Violinists are among the most injury-prone musicians: a neck that gradually pulls to the left, overcompensating with the shoulder, wrist injuries, and hearing problems in the left ear are all complaints violinists can run into. “But with the right precautions, a lot of problems can be prevented,” says Matthijs. “Although I’m aware that I play with a bent wrist, which you’re not really supposed to do. I do it automatically. It doesn’t cause me injuries, but that kind of technique could get in the way of a career in classical music. There, technical perfection is required.”

In that respect, Matthijs admires Dutch pop violinists such as Sietse van Gorkom and Camilla van der Kooij, whom he regularly runs into on the circuit. “I played with them in The Kyteman Orchestra. They have phenomenal technique, with lots of position changes. You have to study hard—and a lot—for that.”

A violinist in the band

So, you want to add a violinist to your band. What should you take into account? We already mentioned that a violinist needs to be able to hear themselves well, similar to singers. “What you really need to be aware of is that you’re bringing in another solo instrument,” Matthijs points out. “Maybe you already have a guitarist who plays solos, and perhaps a keyboard player or brass section too. Those players then need to make space for a new solo instrument: the violin. The other soloists have to be willing to do that.”

And what about the violin as a backing ‘pad’, like keyboards can do? “You need at least four string instruments to create a proper pad. Two can just about work, but four is better. With just one violin, you can’t do it. With one violin it’s, by definition, a solo instrument—though it can play the occasional supporting line, for example in a ballad.”

Putting a classically trained violinist (which most of them are) into a band often causes problems. “Classical violinists speak the ‘classical language’, not the ‘pop language’. In pop you might say, ‘it needs a bit more bite’. A classical violinist would talk about staccato, for example,” Matthijs illustrates.

Violinists in pop music often have to come up with their own parts. “I usually get carte blanche when I join a band,” says Matthijs. “Then I compose or improvise a part myself. So a pop violinist has to be creative, know the different scales used in pop music, be able to build tension where it’s needed, and so on. Most classically trained violinists can’t do that—they’re used to playing from sheet music.”

As mentioned, pop violinists are a rare breed. If you want to hear truly great pop violinists, check out Matthijs’ big influences: folk-rock violinists Dave Swarbrick and Chris Leslie, and jazz violinist Ric Sanders. “Of course there are also amazing classical violinists with phenomenal technique,” says Matthijs. “But my heart doesn’t beat faster for technique. It’s that warm tone and the emotion you can put into the instrument—that’s what it’s about for me.”

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