# Help with writing for the violin



## chee_zee

I'm trying to become better at writing 'difficult' or 'virtuosic' passage for violin. pretty new at music, I started playing and writing just over a year ago. I just finished writing my first big orchestral work, a 25 minute piece of pooey, unfortunately. I began writing it on a whim, I had the idea to compose a song that went through all 24 keys, so I did. The melodies in it are pretty catchy but there is almost no virtuosic playing (except for the electric guitar parts I wrote, I'm pretty good with the guitar so it wasn't hard for me to write 'shred').

It's hard for me to get a firm grasp on an instrument if I don't have the option of physically playing it. I've been studying the fingerings and positions etc.I have read 2 orchestration textbooks, Samuel Adlers and Harry Walter Piston's. A good simple melody is fine and all, but I need some spice. A simple melody will only get me far in the world of pop music I'm afraid. So any other resources available online or what have you, to help me become better at writing for this instrument?

I'm afraid I know of no violin virtuosos in my area, just some high school kids :/. I have the Vienna Symphonic Library so I can get a decently realistic violin sound in my writing, so I'm covered on that part I guess (better than midi or nothing...). Any scores you recommend? I'm new to music and brand spankin' new to erudite music, so what are some violin concerti I should be studying? 

My favorite composer would be Beethoven. I have the complete score to the ninth symphony, so with enough study I can get a hang of the writing for sections/ensembles, but I'm a bit lost on the solos. I also have the sheets to paganini's 24, but I've heard those are just etudes,not actual pieces of music per se......and I'm kinda looking to write stuff that's still strongly based in melodic beauty, I just need some more dazzling stuff every now and then. Basically, idiomatic writing for the violin: what can I do to write more difficult stuff, how to familiarize myself with this instrument when I have never seen or touched one in real life?


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## MJTTOMB

imslp.org should supply you with sufficient access to the scores you need. look into paganini's caprices for solo violin.


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## chee_zee

holy cow. that place has scores. for free. It does make sense though, can't copyright something made before 1934. So I'm free to print this stuff out as well, or I can only have it as a pdf on my hard drive? thanks for the heads up man, I've got some score studying to do!


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## MJTTOMB

i print them off. i'm blissfully ignorant as far as the law goes.


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## Guidepost 42

if relatively new, maybe look at Samuel Adler, The Study of Orchestration. Plenty of help on how to write for strings. And for a look at how a non-violinist composed a masterpiece for the instrument ( with a little help from a friend) please see the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.


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## Frasier

If you want to study viruoso violin writing you could do worse than look at any or all of Paganini's Violin Concertos or the Caprices. This is fairly advanced virtuosity but is diatonic at least. Don't expect Paganini to give you any hints how it's done, though!


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