Intonation is probably one of the most difficult elements in playing the violin or string instruments for that matter. It's a constant work in progress, a hit or miss (many misses sometimes), a precision in tone and outstanding listening skills, a constant correction and a desire to reach the perfect pitch. In other words: you're in tone or you're not!
My teacher once said, check the tone with the third interval when possible, playing double-stops should sound like ONE NOTE! That's really hard even in simple passages but nerveless, it's a good exercise.
I find orchestra rehearsals to hurt intonation more than helping it. Your sound gets mixed with the zillion decibels around you if it doesn't get totally buried by the brass section clashes or an alarming flute ensemble. Divisions in the violin sections can also be tricky; suddenly, you're not 2 violin voices (violin I & violin II) but you're multiplied by 2 so you are actually 4 voices. This requires focus in the midst of a crowded polyphony.
Individual work requires a concentration and a hassle free environment. It's like writing a news article, you go over your spell-checker, grammar guides and dictionaries to ensure you're writing well... It's the self-proofreading in music in my opinion.
Music theory and especially ear training is crucial for a violinist or any musician for that matter. Recognizing the intervals helps a lot in adjusting the tone. I'd like to read more about the physical mechanism behind it. From the moment you play a note and how your ears and brain interpret the whole thing to how you correct yourself. Human brain is astonishing in learning so much. Sight-reading in music is one of those examples where your brain understands a whole set of notes; in a way, you don't read each note one by one. Same with reading, you read words and phrases and not a letter by letter.
My plan is to review more often my tone and going back to basics is essential to put things in place. When I have so much music on my music stand, I tend to go through the pages and miss the details.
Below is a funny and strange TOYOTA robot playing the violin. That thing is in tone but mind the interpretation and feelings you need to put in music. And I'm wondering WHY does a robot need to look like an alien (especially those eyes!). Well, maybe better than an inflated doll looking :)
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