Don`t take it that these tips are for the really really starting out people for the violin, this topic is directed at all of you who have been playing for about 2-4 years and never had a private lesson, here are some tips for you, they aren`t specific to anything except the violin, and technique to play, this topic will be updated as I get more:

How do I effectively use whole bows? I do pretty well until I reach the frog on the up-bow.

Have you ever been told something like, "Use your whole bow" and yet it is difficult to get the bow running all the way up to the Frog, the solution to this which will make it 2x easier to reach the Frog to the tip is to raise your elbow while you`re going toward the frog, I have heard the saying, "Wasting bow is like wasting money" and at first I didn`t beleive it, but I have found out as I have played along with Violin music CDs that using the whole bow gets the gain of a much more beautiful tone, you might need to drag your bow slow at first but as time goes by you will be able to move much faster of raising your elbow while coming up close to the frog, you should be able to easily take advantage of your whole bow.

How do I play in tune? I try to play while hitting the right notes but I am most of the time a little flat (b) or sharp (#)

First of all, do you know what the true pitch is for the notes? If you know the pitches then listen keenly and if you are playing a song that you have heard before then listen to hear if there is anything different or odd with the way you are producing its sound. One of the ways where your pitch my be b or # might be because you have a piano that is out of tune that you hear frequently and therefore comprimising (not permanently) your ear for the correct pitch. One suggestion, although it might cost you, is to buy a chromatic tuner, tune your instrument to the best of your ability and see how far you were off key. If your problem isn`t realavent to anything said above then your problem might be that you need taping on your instrument, they serve the same basic purpose as frets on a guitar, if you accidentally hit short of the tape then don`t worry, practice will get you as far as you`re willing to go with the violin.

Every time I slur onto my E string it always seems to make a high pitched squeek.

I have this same problem, the main way that I try to cure it is simply not using open E to begin with, I always try to use the 4th finger on the A string so I don`t need to worry about it, however this would be a bad suggestion becuase there are lots of times that the E string can be a good choice. My private lesson teacher told me that it had to do with my posture of the violin, but I have doubts once again as another teacher says that it has to do with the idea that the sting is not wound, all of your other strings (G D A) are a metal core with a metal strip wound around it, try finding an E string that has winding.

That`s all I have for now, if you have any questions or feedback then they are much welcomed here and I hope that you found this helpful.
[color=red] happy posting [/color]

You are very helpful. But sorry,( as this website may be helpful to beginners ) I have to state that some of yr points are wrong.

Don`t raise yr elbow to stabilise the bow. It comes with practice of long, slow bowing. Opening the elbow/ moving it anyway is not supposed to help. You are in fact altering yr `weight placement`, and can result in uneven tone production.
A squeaky sound on the E string is dued to numerous reason. But if yr always getting it , no matter what kind of string, rosin or bow yr using, then it has got to do with the bowing itself.
Look at a full length mirror and try bowing straight on the E string. It would feel like yr arm is going in( nearer to yr body ) when it`s upbow and `out` away from u when it`s down. Extend the arm straight down away from u when it`s down bow. It may also be that yr playing too near the bridge, which is really unlikely, or that u are not getting a good bite with yr second rh finger.

Playing out of tune- There can be alot of reasons why a passage is played out of tune...but if yr always out of tune..Then it has got to do with yr hand shape.
A white tape will only help u to get the first note in the relavant position correct, but if u`re still out of tune by then...it has got to be with the shape and your fingers placement. For a start: Make sure u`re holding yr instrument properly..don`t clench, and wrist away from the neck. Then check yr thumb and finger 1...yr thumb should always be parallel to yr finger1( if u`ve got small hands ). And thirdly...( most importantly )..u have to have a good feel of finger placement. Practice scales with the finger tapping ex. Lift and strike the fingerboard so that u get a `thump` sound with each note. This will help u to strike each note with precision(esp. in faster passages) and enhance articulation, esp. so if u play Baroque/earlier music. And lastly ( perhaps too advanced for beginners ): Yr hand must be able to feel/prepare the placement of every different `shape` for every different key in every position. This is what makes sure that yr always on tune.

Good job. Too bad you can`t sticky.

Thanks for your clarification DW. My violin teacher has been playing for 60 years and he told me to play the violin for him to see what kind of bad habits I am producing. Before he told me to raise my elbow while going to the last 5 inches of the frog, it was always difficult, I lots my grip of balance or something <--- really don`t know, but what I am saying is, when you`re playing toward the frog and you have a habit of keeping your elbow low, it is more difficult, raise your elbow in that it isn`t going over your head, only that it is generally even with the lenth of the bow, try this for yourself and see what results you get, I know that I have tried it both ways and raising my elbow makes it a lot easier, if you have tried it with your elbow low, then tried it with your elbow raised, tell me what differences you have seen.

The reason you raise the elbow as you get nearer the frog is to retain the shape of your right hand. Without raising your elbow, you`d have a sharply bent wrist and a not-bent-enough thumb; and that would create something very destructive: tension.

what is `the frog`?