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I’m often asked if I prefer playing violin or piano. I don’t think I could choose between them; they’re simply different. I enjoy the freedom to create vastly diverse atmospheres between the two instruments as well as the endless possibilities of a MIDI keyboard.
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That said, where piano affords me the possibility of playing several notes simultaneously, it’s violin that allows me to express my voice more uniquely - there are more variables to manipulate sound through bowing techniques, vibrato, slides, harmonics, subtle inflections, and much more.
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Before pianists come for me, I do think piano is just an expressive of an instrument. Though when you look at the fundamental sound production techniques of both instruments, you’ll notice a piano’s hammers are set to hit the piano’s strings in one direction and pitch is preset. With the violin, there are more variables involved in simply producing a note: your left hand sets the intonation (pitch), and vibrato, and your right hand is open to multiple ways of pulling the bow across the violin’s strings. I like to think of the violin as my singing voice.
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Pictured: me performing a number at my solo concert ‘Relentless’, with guest singer @adriewong
