Ways to Maintain Your Violin Strings

Before you purchase an instrument, specifically a violin, you need to know that it would be a long-term commitment. You need to take care of it just like how you maintain every appliance in your home. If you look at the violin, the most crucial and important part is its strings. Consequently, you might need to regularly check and maintain it for a longer life. You can learn about the most effective way of learning musical instruments, on this website: www.shunarthawaii.com

If you don’t know how to properly maintain your violin strings, this is the perfect time to learn the right ways in doing so.

Ways to Maintain Violin Strings

Save the strings of your violin through the following ways.

Proper storage

To keep your violin strings in good condition you need to store your instrument in a hard case. This is the perfect and most secure place for your instrument to avoid accumulating dust and other particles that can ruin the strings. If you plan to store your instrument for a long time, you might want to loosen the strings, put in a silky bag and some bubble wrap. You might also need to monitor the room temperature because humidity can damage your strings.

Regularly cleaning the strings

Practice cleaning your strings regularly to wipe off particles. You can get a soft dry cloth and wipe it on your strings right after you play it. If you have a microfiber type of cloth, that would be better. Likewise, don’t forget to wipe its body underneath as protection from rosin accumulation.

Proper handling when you’re using your violin

Proper violin handling is essential in producing good tunes and preserving your strings as well. You need to ensure that your instrument is parallel to the floor, make use of the shoulder and chin rest, and your left hand is supported. One wrong handling or slip of your instrument could damage your strings.

Know when it’s time to change your violin strings

Every violinist has different time frames for changing their strings. However, every 9 to 12 months is the minimum and it is still relative to every instrument. If your strings are already 3 months old and you notice that it looks grimy, then you need a replacement. Likewise, if you played for more than 300 hours, realized that the sound quality has diminished, or it requires tuning every now and then, well, take these as signs to grab a new set of strings. Note that the two main enemies of violin strings are sweat and oil, so if you perspire a lot while playing, there’s a chance that you need to change strings as soon as possible.

Conclusion

String instruments like a violin highly depend on the strings themselves. If you have a poor quality of strings, expect that you’ll also have lousy sounds. While it may seem costly to replace your strings, note that it would serve its purpose long term and would save you from negative consequences. It would be better to anticipate and take the initiative to maintain your strings properly to extend the life of your instrument. Make sure to check each way mentioned above on maintaining your violin strings.