# Violin



## playpiano

I want to know how long it takes to learn the violin to a grade 5 standard? considering im already grade 6 in piano and know all the basics in music


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## Taggart

OK what are your aural skills like? Playing piano is awkward because you have to co-ordinate the hands but easy because all the notes are there. Playing violin you need to a) create the right note b) get a decent tone to it c) manage the dynamics and d) manage the tempo and then change to the next note and the next. 

If you have good aural skills, you could get there in about 3 years but that would take time away from the piano. What is your basic aim?


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## playpiano

I just want to be really good at it, the dream would be to get to a professional level & as a beginner to the violin im aware that im a long long way of this goal. What exactly do you mean by aural skills?


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## Taggart

playpiano said:


> I just want to be really good at it, the dream would be to get to a professional level & as a beginner to the violin im aware that im a long long way of this goal. What exactly do you mean by aural skills?


The tests you do as part of the grade exams where you sight sing, sing or play back a phrase played on the piano, sing the top (or bottom) line after hearing the two parts together and an idea of the key, identify cadences. Those are the aural tests which means they test how well you can hear and reproduce a tune. If you can't do them very well, then you're going to have difficulty making the basic notes on a violin. All though there are finger positions, there are no frets, so you have to learn them by how well the notes you play sound and how accurate your scales are.


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## playpiano

Yeah I'm usually quite good at them and don't find them too difficult


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## Kat

I'm not sure if you do grade levels differently than my orchestra does, but I've played for seven years and I'm grade five (must be noted that I started at age seven so the first year was kind of a trial before I fel in love)


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