Hi folks, I'm Tom from Nashville. I'm 66, a retired high school Spanish teacher and VERY amateur musician. Since retirement I have stayed busy doing the things I love - wood working, remodeling, carving ducks, painting pet portraits, travelling, tending to about 30 Bonsai trees and hanging out with my partner and our incredible dog. Many people assume that I'm probably into music because, after all, I do live in Nashville. But the truth is, although I play some guitar and a bit of piano, I am not accomplished in either. I've always done just enough to be able to entertain myself and at one time led a small gospel group. I've always said (didn't we all?) that I was going to learn to play the violin. It has always been my favorite of the orchestral instruments, but I also heard that it was nearly impossible to learn without dedicating every waking moment to it (that part might be true).   Anyway, I put it at the bottom of my bucket list. Now I'm scraping the bottom of the bucket and decided it was time. I've had my violin exactly 8 weeks. I've watched hours of videos and find myself practicing often 4-5 hours a day. Probably a bit obsessive but the years don't wait on us. I'm playing a few songs now and can almost get through a couple without glaring screeches or sour notes. I know we all have different goals and mine is simple. I am not shooting for becoming a "virtuoso" or playing with the local symphony. While I do enjoy classical music - especially when the violin is featured, I'm really just hoping to be able to play the popular Broadway tunes and my favorite hymns and even a few pop tunes. So I don't give a lot of time to the "drills" that push for rapid fire clear 32nd notes or the very dramatic bowing techniques. I just detache myself down "Moon River" and have a blast. Hey, nice to meet you all and happy "bowing".