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Hi Paul, and Welcome!
My story is similar to yours. Like you, I came to the fiddle from mandolin. I have been fiddling for two years now, working on building my skills bit by bit. Learning to play turned out to be more challenging than I imagined, especially bowing. I was certainly aware of the conventional wisdom that violin is the most difficult instrument to learn, but of course I figured that I could short-circuit the process through good attitude, hard work etc etc.
Well, I learned that there is a reason that the conventional wisdom is the conventional wisdom -- it’s true! Haha, the joke’s on me! Fiddle really is difficult, and improvement comes slowly. But once I recognized that, it was easy to adopt a “slow & steady” approach. I work on fiddle almost every day, making sure not to overdo it. I want to avoid frustration and potential burnout. And, lo and behold, every once in a while something wonderful pops out of my fiddle! And the longer I go, the more often that happens!
Along the way I have had a few lessons, some more useful than others. But I consider myself to be mainly self-taught, and that makes learning fiddle especially interesting and rewarding. If I’m becoming a better fiddler it’s because I made it happen!
This forum is a great resource. As you have already seen, the members are friendly and helpful; I enjoy their “company” very much. And I have learned a great deal from the people of this forum. The folks here have helped me think about numerous issues that come up as part of my fiddle project. I owe a debt of gratitude to everyone here, and especially to Fiddlerman, who sets the positive tone on this site.
I hope that your experience here is as productive and enjoyable as mine.
Strabo
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Thanks so much both Paul and Strabo. 😁
@Paul C - I've heard the Mel Gibson thing many times before. 🤣
This is me about 20-30 years ago at a celebrity costume party. I actually won first place out of like 100 people. lol
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Strabo said
Hi Paul, and Welcome!My story is similar to yours. Like you, I came to the fiddle from mandolin. I have been fiddling for two years now, working on building my skills bit by bit. Learning to play turned out to be more challenging than I imagined, especially bowing. I was certainly aware of the conventional wisdom that violin is the most difficult instrument to learn, but of course I figured that I could short-circuit the process through good attitude, hard work etc etc.
Well, I learned that there is a reason that the conventional wisdom is the conventional wisdom -- it’s true! Haha, the joke’s on me! Fiddle really is difficult, and improvement comes slowly. But once I recognized that, it was easy to adopt a “slow & steady” approach. I work on fiddle almost every day, making sure not to overdo it. I want to avoid frustration and potential burnout. And, lo and behold, every once in a while something wonderful pops out of my fiddle! And the longer I go, the more often that happens!
Along the way I have had a few lessons, some more useful than others. But I consider myself to be mainly self-taught, and that makes learning fiddle especially interesting and rewarding. If I’m becoming a better fiddler it’s because I made it happen!
This forum is a great resource. As you have already seen, the members are friendly and helpful; I enjoy their “company” very much. And I have learned a great deal from the people of this forum. The folks here have helped me think about numerous issues that come up as part of my fiddle project. I owe a debt of gratitude to everyone here, and especially to Fiddlerman, who sets the positive tone on this site.
I hope that your experience here is as productive and enjoyable as mine.
Strabo
Thank you Strabo. I can relate to every thing you're saying, including not overdoing it. That happens more than I care to admit. People on here have been very friendly for sure. Great site and great resources. I rehearse daily as well and one in awhile something wonderful emerges. I'll post more as I have more to post. Thanks again, Paul
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Fiddlerman said
Thanks so much both Paul and Strabo. 😁@Paul C - I've heard the Mel Gibson thing many times before. 🤣
This is me about 20-30 years ago at a celebrity costume party. I actually won first place out of like 100 people. lol
That's awesome!!! And I'm sure it had it's perks. Beats the heck out of being a Steve Buscemi look-a-like.
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Paul C said
That's awesome!!! And I'm sure it had it's perks. Beats the heck out of being a Steve Buscemi look-a-like.
I'm sure that Steve Buscemi does ok. 😁
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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I'm sure Mr Buscemi does very well.
I shouldn't have mentioned him in my earlier post. That was wrong.
He's actually one of my favorites from Adam Sandler's crew.
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Paul C, we joined at similar times 
My real name is Jo by the way.
I did learn a little bit the piano 10years ago up to grade 3 ABRMS (that is still beginner stages) and also the Double Bass but then as I work so many hours under the sun I felt I could not get really good at any of my instruments and I have a big personality trait where I like to 'give it all' and apply myself and have this goal of reaching top (or very near the top) capabilities in anything I do....so I dropped the piano and double bass and kept violin going, probably the wrong thing to do as violin is real monster of an instrument to become advanced on it!!!! I often think I will never achieve advaced stage but then I 'slap myself on the face' and remind myself of my old motto 'never give up' (as if you give up then it will certainly never happen), so here I am I keep trying, I am still 'very far' from liking how I play or being able to play well anything I like but I have to keep trying 
so let's keep trying
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Nobodysdriving said
Paul C, we joined at similar times
My real name is Jo by the way.
I did learn a little bit the piano 10years ago up to grade 3 ABRMS (that is still beginner stages) and also the Double Bass but then as I work so many hours under the sun I felt I could not get really good at any of my instruments and I have a big personality trait where I like to 'give it all' and apply myself and have this goal of reaching top (or very near the top) capabilities in anything I do....so I dropped the piano and double bass and kept violin going, probably the wrong thing to do as violin is real monster of an instrument to become advanced on it!!!! I often think I will never achieve advaced stage but then I 'slap myself on the face' and remind myself of my old motto 'never give up' (as if you give up then it will certainly never happen), so here I am I keep trying, I am still 'very far' from liking how I play or being able to play well anything I like but I have to keep trying
so let's keep trying
Hi Jo! Sounds like you've got all the right stuff to succeed! Just gotta keep on keepin on. I wish you all the luck with your violin journey. Nie to meet you! -Paul
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