Here I follow up on

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31903157

post in this thread about Kanopy.

Here I give an introduction to how to
start with violin.

Why violin? Classical solo music is
written mostly for piano or violin, and
the ensemble music is heavily dependent on
a section of violins. So, violin is very
important in music.

Now a lot of music can be generated by
software on computers, but generating all
the expressiveness of a good violin with
a good violinist would be a big challenge.
So, violins are not likely to be fully
replaced by computer generated music.

I learned to play violin, enough to make
it through parts of some of the most
important pieces, the Bach Chaconne,
etc.

Bach wrote that piece originally for solo
violin. E.g., as in:

Hilary Hahn

1,458,170 views Aug 15, 2020

Johann Sebastian Bach - Partita for
solo violin Nº 2 in D minor, BWV
1004.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngjEVKxQCWs

A version arranged for piano by Busoni is:

Bach, Busoni - Chaconne in D minor
BWV 1004 - Helene Grimaud (piano)

3,785,361 views

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw9DlMNnpPM

After hear the piano version, that the
piece in its original form was for violin
is a bit amazing.

One version of an arrangement for
orchestra is:

Boston Symphony Orchestra - J.S.Bach
Partita in D Minor, Chaconne BWV 1004

124,435 views Apr 4, 2013
Orchestration by Hideo Saito

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WpzfAd5gXk

That here an orchestra keeps itself busy
playing a piece written just for solo
violin is even more amazing.

Another version for orchestra is:

Bach - Stokowski. Chaconne (1950)

214,972 views Jun 4, 2012
L'orchestration de la Chaconne de
J.S.Bach par Leopold Stokowski.

Enregistré en 1950.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEUYq5t-cCM

There are also solo organ performances.

For more violin music there is:

Antonio Vivaldi - The Four Seasons - Julia
Fischer - Performance Edit (Full HD 1080p)

3,567,731 views Jan 17, 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS-W3lfcVvY

with just excellent, world class, nearly
uniquely good, cases of (A) what violin
can and basically should sound like, (B)
violin tone quality and intonation
accuracy, (C) musical expression, and (D)
from the soloist Julia Fischer examples of
how to hold the violin and bow and nearly
everything about the left hand, tone
quality, intonation, etc. Just excellent.
For beginners I would mention that
sometimes she has less curve in her left
thumb than is usually recommended.

For a more modern view of what can be done
with violin music there is:

Sibelius / Jascha Heifetz, 1960:
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 -
Walter Hendl, CSO - Complete

184,884 views Jun 1, 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpPYat2aRB4

The CD of that music, played directly, not
through YouTube, has significantly better
sound quality and a convincing example of
some of the reasons for the fame of
Heifetz. What he does with his violin is
beyond any simple explanation. A piano
player can hit a key, maybe with a pedal,
on a good piano, and that is about all;
not at all so for a violinist with a good
violin: There are the violin itself, the
strings and rosin selected by the
violinist, the bow itself and then the
tension, adjustable, on the bow hairs, the
bow contact area on the strings, the bow
pressure and speed, and then the effect of
the fingers of the left hand on the
strings. It all can make significant
differences.

Here are some good ways to start to learn
to play violin:

(1) Listen to some famous violin music,
say, on YouTube. So from this, get some
understanding of what sounds and music a
violin is good for. Sure, concentrate on
some of the best violin music by Vivaldi,
Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Sibelius played
by famous violinists, Heifetz, Hahn,
Fischer, etc. Get the sheet music, learn
the basics of how to read sheet music, and
follow along with the YouTube
performances.

(2) Look carefully at still images of
famous violinists holding their violin,
e.g., Heifetz, Hahn, especially the
Fischer perforamance of The Four Seasons
as above.

The goal here is to learn how to hold the
violin and the bow. This learning is
important, crucial, etc. Nearly all good
violinists of the last 50 years use a
special shoulder rest that clips onto
the back of the violin. The one I got was
from Sweden. An excellent view is the
Fischer video above.

(3) Get a few in-person one-on-one
beginner lessons in violin. A music
school or maybe a music shop should be
able to recommend good teachers.
Generally you can get really good lessons
from a really good professional violinist
for not much money. The early lessons are
on (a) how to hold the violin and bow, (b)
how to change strings, (c) how to tune the
violin, (d) how to use the rosin on the
bow, (e) how to play in some of the major
scales.

Below is a "Music Theory 101 for Beginning
Violinists".

After that and some lessons, the main need
is practice. Occasionally return for
lessons with a good violinist to check
that what you are practicing and learning
are correct. You might find, as I did,
that it takes 1000+ hours of practice
alone to make good use of one lesson of
one hour.

I recommend the book

Ivan Galamian, Principles of Violin
Playing & Teaching, Prentice-Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, 1962.

I give more in

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31903272