How to Play the Electric Violin

Electric violins take the traditional concept of a violin but use electrical pulses to generate sound. For this reason the electric violin is able to produce stylized sounds that are easy to manipulate and innovate with.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Plug the violin into a suitable preamp (preferably one recommended by the maker of the electric violin) that connects the instrument to an amplifier. Play around with the amplifier's settings to get the right sound and volume. Place the violin under your chin and hold its end with your hand. Hold the violin's bow in your other hand.

2. Play the violin by holding down a string or combination of strings on the fingerboard. Draw the bow across the strings just above the bridge of the violin to create notes.

3. Use the pedal controls of the electric violin to change the volume control, which is usually the largest control pedal, and to use different sound filters to create effects as you play the violin.

4. Press the bass function pedal to drop the electric violin an octave to play the violin in a way similar to a cello or bass.

5. Blend sounds and effects and use play along with CDs to improve your electric violin playing.

6. Connect your violin to a reverb processor to take advantage of one of the most important (and widely used) musical effects available—reverberation. Find a good reverb processor and start to experiment with parameters such as reverb time, the type of room you play in and predelay and decay to further craft your sound.