How do you improve your rhythm?

I agree with the above. Try listening to some simple melodies and feel the rhythm they give you.

For sight-reading, I’d recommend getting a sight reading book of some description and playing through them EXTREMELY slowly while counting OUT LOUD.

Start by checking the SMALLEST note value in the extract and work your way up from there. Let’s say for example you’ve got a short piece in 2/4 time. the smallest rhythm in the piece is a semi-quaver, or 16th note. Then you make the semi-quaver the basis of your counting. Let’s say our first bar is two crotchets or quarter beats. We’ll play them really slowly counting 1-a-and-a 2-a-and-a…in this pattern, each semi-quaver beat is represented and you know you have to move on the “1” and the “2”, because you know four semi-quavers fit into a quaver. If you do this, when you come to a dotted quaver followed by a semi-quaver, you’ll have no problem, because you know to hold the first note for “1-a-and” and to place the semi-quaver on the last “a” of the group. If your smallest note is a quaver, “1 - and- 2- and” will represent the quaver beats.

Basically, if you have trouble with a rhythm, break it down and play it really slowly, slowly, slowly, until you are comfortable with it. The more you do this, the more naturally rhythms will come to you. It takes a bit of practice - but as a violin player, going to audition for a youth orchestra, I’m sure you’re no stranger to that!

I hope this helps. If you want me to rephrase it let me know, I’m not sure I explained what I meant very well.

Sorry, MISTAKE in the second paragraph - Four semi-quavers fit into a crotchet, of course, not a quaver. Sorry!

i play an instrument and i use an intelli digital metronome tuner. it is very good set it on maybe 80 BPM {beats per minute} it helps with quarter notes. there are ways you can clap your hands and say one and two and three and four and. clap your hands on the numbers. keep trying until you get it right! Practice makes perfect!! :)