I am really coming to appreciate just how amazing the violin is as an instrument.  The range of dynamics, timbres, everything on it is pretty phenomenal.  Equally amazing, is just how much work and practice it takes to make one actually sound like a violin!

But, thanks to some welcome tips and feedback, and some practicing, I am finding that I can occasionally make is sound like I am expecting it to sound, or at least closer in that direction.

This is a piece I started working on a couple of days ago, and it's gotten me thinking and noticing a few things.   The biggest one is, just how many things I have to think of and focus on right now when learning a new song.  Comparing how I feel playing this one, vs one I have been at a week or so, I find I am concentrating on so much more it's impossible to relax.   Is my bow straight?  Oops, using shoulder too much, more from elbow.  Oops, wrist too stiff.  Ugh, why am I gripping the neck again?  Silly thumb, get back down there, you're not playing Hendrix riffs on a strat!

And then of course, I can expect that it will still feel and sound a bit 'jerky' instead of 'light and bouncy' for a few weeks more of practice.