I just came across this amazing Polish jazz violinist - Michal Urbaniak - Michal Urbaniak Kind Of Blues in Chicago Chopin Theatre What a guy!!

OK - just having practiced a bit and then watched Matt's 'quick start' video - I started with blues and bebop scales in all keys, and then worked through a bit of Usher Abell's 'Jazz violin studies'.

I think this was the first video I ever saw of Stuff playing. I remember being super excited to hear some things I was always looking for in a jazz violinist. Groove, grit and jazz melody.

We will be doing our practise club this week on Tuesday at 5.30 UK time. I just got back from a great weekend teaching in Malaga and I’m raring to go! If you want a free try, just comment on this post or send me a direct message on here and il set you up!

Over the years I’ve gone through a lot of different stages in my amplification journey as a jazz violinist. In an ideal world, I wouldn’t amplify the violin at all. We spend so much time practising to get our sound from the instrument itself, and when we practise, we’re not plugged in. So it can feel weird when we have to amplify, like it’s not quite the sound we’re used to. I went through a phase of always using a microphone, trying to find a way to get the most natural sound possible. But as we all know, you just end up feeding back all the time and struggling to play. It only really works in the right setting. Nowadays, when I do a gig where a microphone is going to work well, like a concert with a sound engineer and a decent PA, they usually have something for me anyway, like a DPA or a live condenser mic on a stand in front of me. If I’m not in that kind of setting, I use my pickup instead. I set it so the amp is just a bit quieter than my acoustic sound. That way I can still play how I play, without having to change my bow pressure to suit the pickup sound. If I’m in a really loud environment, with a loud drummer, a big band, or playing background in a busy bar, I just embrace the pickup sound and turn it up. I’ve spent a long time working on playing in these situations, practising at home using less bow and getting used to that sound and feel. With that said, these are the current products that I have: - Schertler Stat V - Thomann Violin Microphone What’s your current setup?