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My name is Paula. I am not a student, adult already, but I always loved the violin, and now decided that's the moment in my life to start learning
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Welcome to the friendliest fiddle forum, Paula.
Feel free to ask any question: there's a lot of experience on-hand here, and we're all keen to take the bumps out of your learning-curve. Have you acquired / selected a violin yet?
Check out Fiddlerman's tuition videos, and feel free to plunder the sheet music and study guides available from the menu down the right-hand side.
Peter
"It is vain to do with more that which can be done with less" - William of Ockham
"A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in" - Frederick the Great
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I think we are all students of something all our lives. You don’t have to be young to be a student. I started learning at 64, I am now 65. I am taking cello,lessons, and doing violin and viola on my own. I love the strings and can’t decide. Nothing worse than an indecisive senior citizen! Some of us, like you, are fairly new. Others, have played for a while. We all have something to learn and something to offer. Even a little off string instrument talk in the Breakroom, and completely off topic conversation in the Off Topic Room provides relief and sometimes a source for humor. All of this helps our journey. We all hope to hear from you. No question or tip is too small.
Enjoy your journey and welcome to the form.
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MellowMoon
Welcome to the forum and learning the fiddle. Enjoy the learning process it has lots of ups and downs in learning how to play, but very rewarding as we go along.
Mark
Master the Frog and you have mastered the bow.
Albert Sammons
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Well, thanks. I have only two questions for now. Is there a significant difference between an electric violin and a usual one (I found a list (here, I'd also appreciate if you advised which one is better) of some electric violins, and I thought that it would be better to start with something not expensive to understand and be sure that this is what I want. And the second question about tutorials on this site? Everything is free? Is it important to start with a personal tutor?
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Hi @MellowMoon -
I'm not qualified to give a full answer on the first question, but I do have an opinion: if you have the situation wherein you can play a regular, acoustic violin without upsetting neighbours / family / pets, then that is preferable. An electric is useful if you have to practice in near-silence, and I found that to be a confidence-booster in my very early stages. You can listen at concert level in earphones, or just listen to the quiet strings.
Your second question has two parts:
(1) All the material on the site is free, even the sheet music. There's lots of varied tunes, and many have extra mark-up showing how to bow and which fingers to use for each note. For even more material (studies, song collections, scores...) try IMSLP , which is a public-domain repository. There are lots of old classical scores there.
(2) Most people would advocate the use of a one-to-one teacher, but even may of them would accept that this is not always possible, or indeed desirable. I am self-taught so far, but I've recently accepted that I could do with being knocked into shape by a teacher from time to time to correct some of my faults, those which I'm unaware of.
Peter
"It is vain to do with more that which can be done with less" - William of Ockham
"A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in" - Frederick the Great
I believe that the Mendini 300 is the best value for a beginner. Your family will hear you learning your scales. It sells for $60. The best electric value is the Cecilio, which sells for $120. Your family will not hear you learning your scales.
I have a Fiddlerman Soloist and seldom play it. It is too loud for me while I practice. It will be perfect if I ever play out. I have a $30 plywood violin that I use for practice that is perfect for my practice time.
The electric violin I have is junk. You can buy them on ebay for $40. The body is made from basswood which can be a good thing because it is light weight, but on this violin the neck is attached with three staple legs into the basswood and through use will eventually fail. The Cecilio is a good choice because of this. The electrics do a good job but the best part of the electric violins is that you can play without plugging in to an amp and no one will be able to hear you play except yourself.
For either or both violins, I would also put on a set of Prelude strings, which are steel and will last for at least two years. Changing strings will waste a lot of time and money, better to spend your time practicing.
I do hope you enjoy your violin journey. It will be both enjoyable and frustrating. It will evoke a sense of pride and also humility. All of us have been there and we think the journey is worth it.
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Welcome to the forum Paula.
Peter answered your questions well though I think you would enjoy an acoustical violin more than an electric violin. The difference isn't so much in the technique as it is in the response and joy of playing an acoustical violin as well as the quality of sound. Obviously finding a great sounding instrument is part of the battle.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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