How hard is it to get "Boyd Tinsley Good" at the violin?

[JTRocks]

So i was watching that online concert from last summer of dmb and was just loving Boyd's solo on Bayou, then I thought about how sweet it would be if i could play violin that good, so i got to wondering just how hard is it to play the violin. I am very coordinated with some instruments like drums, bass, guitar, and piano and learned them pretty quickly, but violin just seems like it involves a whole different type of temperment. Has anyone on her been inspired by boyd tinsley to play violin and have gone on to be pretty good at it?

[aiistar21]

...not too hard. If you fuck up live, you can always go back to a studio release and dub that in instead.

[saxman1083]

...not too hard. If you fuck up live, you can always go back to a studio release and dub that in instead.

hahaha perfect answer...i was so bummed when i first heard that his chicago solo on liog was dubbed...damn near broke my heart.

man, all you have to do is play out of tune and you are "boyd tinsley good." i have players in my college that would kick the shit out of boyd in a "fiddleoff"

[whiteysax]

As far as learning to play the violin, it sounds like you have musical background and know what you're doing. With some dedicated practice time, learning the violin really wouldn't be too hard. One of the trickiest parts is coordinating the fingerings with the bowings.
To do what Boyd does really only takes a mastery of scales and scale exercises and knowing what key you're in. Most of his double stops are being fingered on one string and playing the open string next to it at the same time. Helps that a lot of DMB tunes are in the key of E and D.

[comerelaxnow]

this thread is just asking for people to make stupid out of tune jokes. you guys are nuts if you really think that going in and dubbing your parts for a live cd is an abnormal thing. it happens all the time!

boyd rocks and anyone with ears knows it

thats why its probably going to take a long time and alot of patience to get as good as Boyd Tinsley....but you could do it

[Crazy#41]

A long time.

But any dumb fuck can walk in a buy a fish-net shirt.

[rconverse]

hahaha perfect answer...i was so bummed when i first heard that his chicago solo on liog was dubbed...damn near broke my heart.

man, all you have to do is play out of tune and you are "boyd tinsley good." i have players in my college that would kick the shit out of boyd in a "fiddleoff"

et tu Brute!

I had no idea and now I am sad. :(

[scholarbri84]

this thread is just asking for people to make stupid out of tune jokes. you guys are nuts if you really think that going in and dubbing your parts for a live cd is an abnormal thing. it happens all the time!

boyd rocks and anyone with ears knows it

thats why its probably going to take a long time and alot of patience to get as good as Boyd Tinsley....but you could do it

I play. He's not very good. Anyone with a sense of pitch in said ears knows it.

Granted, he's good enough that it would take a new violinist at least a few years with lots of practice to get to that level. I had probably been playing and taking lessons for about 6 years when I reached the point where I could do what he does. I would not suggest that anyone pick up a violin solely based on an interest in playing like Boyd, it takes a lot more patience than say guitar to get to a 'moderate' skill level.

[rconverse]

I play. He's not very good. Anyone with a sense of pitch in said ears knows it.

Granted, he's good enough that it would take a new violinist at least a few years with lots of practice to get to that level. I had probably been playing and taking lessons for about 6 years when I reached the point where I could do what he does. I would not suggest that anyone pick up a violin solely based on an interest in playing like Boyd, it takes a lot more patience than say guitar to get to a 'moderate' skill level.

I have one. I can play very limited things on it and when I "play" it really doesn't sound that great. I do think it is a difficult instrument to learn.

[GeorgeJr.]

I play. He's not very good. Anyone with a sense of pitch in said ears knows it.

Granted, he's good enough that it would take a new violinist at least a few years with lots of practice to get to that level. I had probably been playing and taking lessons for about 6 years when I reached the point where I could do what he does. I would not suggest that anyone pick up a violin solely based on an interest in playing like Boyd, it takes a lot more patience than say guitar to get to a 'moderate' skill level.

yeah, do what he does in front of 15 thousand people night after night and be that damn entertaining..

..doubt you can pull it off

[scholarbri84]

yeah, do what he does in front of 15 thousand people night after night and be that damn entertaining..

..doubt you can pull it off

Musically speaking, yes. I don't think I could do it today, I have not been playing regularly while I've been in school, but I'll be back to that level (beyond BT) soon enough. Entertaining... eh to each his own, most people say I'm an entertaining player, a little more charismatic and not as stuffy as some. Night after night.. yeah I wouldn't like it, not to mention it's not what I like playing. 15 thousand... I've played on stage before hundreds... you get less nervous about audience size with time. I've played for very large audiences as a 'live recording.' I'm willing to bet that you have heard and/or seen me play... although you probably didn't give it a second thought, and neither did I until now.

Anyway enough tooting my own horn, the point is, yes it would take a lot of time to get to the level BT plays at, however anyone who thinks he is a stellar violin player simply doesn't know what they're talking about. he does what he does, and it's great, but not from a violin standpoint. I think Boyd is good enough to know his 'weaknesses' even if some fans don't want to see them.

[rconverse]

Do you think he is that bad or is just because of the rigors of playing live?

Again, I play a very, very little amount. I think with the way he is always bouncing around and everything, that is what creates bad sounds sometimes. I would like to think if he weren't playing to the crowd as much and just playing he would sound much better.

FYI - I love Boyd! He is probably the main reason I love DMB, but after getting on this website and then relistening to some shows, you can tell when he is off. So I am not just blanketly criticizing Boyd for the fun of it. All in all though, I still think he is on way more than off.

[scholarbri84]

Do you think he is that bad or is just because of the rigors of playing live?

Again, I play a very, very little amount. I think with the way he is always bouncing around and everything, that is what creates bad sounds sometimes. I would like to think if he weren't playing to the crowd as much and just playing he would sound much better.

FYI - I love Boyd! He is probably the main reason I love DMB, but after getting on this website and then relistening to some shows, you can tell when he is off. So I am not just blanketly criticizing Boyd for the fun of it. All in all though, I still think he is on way more than off.

It's certainly a challenge for me to really dance around while playing, but I move some and walking around isn't too bad. Some players move around so much it's more like writhing and it's almost comical.

Sometimes I suspect that he's suffered some hearing loss and simply can't hear himself playing as precisely as he maybe used to. It's a lot harder to play in tune in a loud setting.

I saw him a few years back from only a few feet away when he was promoting 'true reflections', as I recall it was all in all pretty sweet. For whatever reason, when he's on stage he usually misses enough notes so that he would be pretty detrimental to an orchestral performance. I wish I could hear him play a classical piece, without a rock band, to really give him a fair assessment.

[whiteysax]

Musically speaking, yes. I don't think I could do it today, I have not been playing regularly while I've been in school, but I'll be back to that level (beyond BT) soon enough. Entertaining... eh to each his own, most people say I'm an entertaining player, a little more charismatic and not as stuffy as some. Night after night.. yeah I wouldn't like it, not to mention it's not what I like playing. 15 thousand... I've played on stage before hundreds... you get less nervous about audience size with time. I've played for very large audiences as a 'live recording.' I'm willing to bet that you have heard and/or seen me play... although you probably didn't give it a second thought, and neither did I until now.

Anyway enough tooting my own horn, the point is, yes it would take a lot of time to get to the level BT plays at, however anyone who thinks he is a stellar violin player simply doesn't know what they're talking about. he does what he does, and it's great, but not from a violin standpoint. I think Boyd is good enough to know his 'weaknesses' even if some fans don't want to see them.
:thumbsup:thumbsup
and as for the crowd, if you love what you do and you're confident - 200 or 15,000 - it doesn't matter. It's you and the music. I'd be pumped as hell for a chance to play to that many people. I'd be a little nervous... but with tunes i've been playing for 15 years... you'd hope it isn't a problem. I, personally, would love to go on the road and play for thousands of people a nite. That's my dream. And Boyd goes to show you (hell, the whole band), that if you love what you do and are good at doing it, you can stand out. It just takes the right bit of networking, chemistry, and timing. It's been discussed at length before... but musically speaking, Dave, Boyd, Roi, and Stefan are not virtuosos or the best of the best. They are all good at what they do and add just what that band needs to be successful and make music that speaks to thousands. What helps set them apart is their ingenuity... they're good at taking sounds not associated with a rock setting and just exploit the hell out of it... and that's something that sucked me in... not Boyd's firey sawing away at the fiddle or Roi's frequent 6-finger ascending flourish so common to soprano solos and tenor Watchtower solos... how they mold all these sounds together.

If you want a technically sound rock violinist without having to search through lots of nameless bands... check out Yellowcard. I can't speak to his holistic ability... but the one album I have, he's very good. Live, not as much... but he definitely has fingers!

[saxman1083]

he is classically trained isn't he...i think i've heard him say that. now what that REALLY means is anybodys guess, but it would at least mean he can read and has probably played some of the violin solo literature. i'm sure he's probably a decent classical player...or at least was at some point, but who knows?

[whiteysax]

he is classically trained isn't he...i think i've heard him say that. now what that REALLY means is anybodys guess, but it would at least mean he can read and has probably played some of the violin solo literature. i'm sure he's probably a decent classical player...or at least was at some point, but who knows?from what i understand, when he started, he wanted to play rock, but at his school, his instructor would only train him classicly. So growing up and learning the instrument, he learned like any other kid. "Classicly." Which really means "normally". The only difference between "classicly" and "jazz" or "rock" is the style. The fingerings are still the same. The rhythms are still the same. Tempo and dynamics still apply. It's the nuances that change.
I guess a comparison for guys like us would be growing up and learning the sax while playing in concert bands.. then getting the high school and joining jazz band. The only big change is the style and its something you pick up as you go for the most part.
I suppose another larger difference would be how you approach the music. Classicly, you read it off the page... you understand where it should go harmonically and where it came from and how the chords are built. In a jazz sense... a lot of it has to do with hearing and your ear. You should know what you're playing, but when you throw all those extended chords and chromatic line contours...many players rely a lot on their ear to hear where a progression is going or coming from.

[John18142]

its not something that you can just take up. its a god given talent