Explain differences between playing violin and guitar?

Question

So I’m not a master violinist of any sorts but I played in school and am lucky enough to own one to play for fun every now and then- which my friends think is pretty cool (a plus). Well one of them is pretty musically inclined (they play guitar) and wanted to jam out together. I told them I do t really do that- it’s hard to just break out a violin, like you need space for the bow and if your on the couch you sink in and it’s hard to play etc etc. I’m also not the most confident in my abilities. Anyways we end up kind of doing it but they got increasingly frustrated I wasn’t able to “go with the flow” and saying as long as it’s in the same key it’ll be fine.
Anyways my question is: is there really a difference in approaching playing guitar vs violin? I feel like violinist are expected to play more complicated melodies and guitar (especially acoustic) is meant more so to accompany- which is probably where the disparity came from. Though I’m sure my barely average playing abilities contributed. Still I found it very interesting. Thoughts?

Answer 1

I played the Violin in 5th grade. I have know idea how to play a Guitar. The part of the Villon where you put your bow onto, your not suppose to touch with your hands. The main thing is that you play the violin on your arm and it is a lot smaller then a guitar. Also violins are higher pitched then a guitar.

Answer 2

You don't blow into a violin the way you do a guitar, plus there are more strings on the guitar to allow to notes that sound nice together. Violins are played standing up while you can play the guitar in a chair if you have the required approval and certifications from the Guitar Authority. A violin can also be used as a fiddle with a few minor adjustments such as loosening one's tie and putting a henway across the bridge.

Answer 3

The violin can certainly be played sitting down but sinking into a sofa isn't a good idea. Using a violin to accompany requires a lot of knowledge, skill and experience. The obvios role for a violin is to play "the tune" or to improvise. Again though, improvisation isn't easy with violin although it's something every guitar player things they can do even if they've been playing only for a few months.



If a guitarst or bass player was told, "This one's a twelve bar in A" they'd be able to jam. They would know what was expected/needed. That's not the case with violin though.



Maybe you could practice playing along to recordings? Maybe you could try to agree on some kind of outline of what you were going to play in advance?

Answer 4

you can play a violin sitting down "cognito"



There are violist who play it vertically with the bit that goes under the cheek resting on the knee

Answer 5

They're totally different instruments - and you can't play a violin sitting down on a sofa!

It's even not a good idea to sit on a dining-chair. You need to stand.

The violin is far harder to master.

Answer 6

It's massively different. Violin is far more difficult. Setting aside the fact that violin requires you to know how to use a bow, violins have no frets. Simply pressing a string within an inch or so of the right place on a tuned instrument isn't going to result in the played note being on key. The frets on a guitar make it so that all you have to do is press your finger to the finger board at any point between the fret for that note and the next fret up in order to get the exact right note every time. On violins, though, because there are no frets, you have to press the string in EXACTLY the right place every time, not just within an inch or so, something that is made even more difficult because the finger board on a violin is way shorter than it is for a guitar, so all the exact right spots you have to hit are extremely close to one another. Even being a fraction of an inch off in either direction makes a much huger difference in the note that plays than if the violin had a neck the length of a guitar's. These reasons, along with some others, are why guitar is one of the easiest instruments to learn and violin is one of the hardest, arguably even the hardest.

Answer 7

The instruments Violin and Guitar are very similar in many ways, but they are ultimately different in a way the Violin has a stick and a Guitar does not. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.