rather than continuing on as an outside observer/wallflower, i've decided to take the plunge and become a part of the Fiddlerman world!

i must, first of all, begin by saying that over the course of the past month or two of browsing over the site i am more and more impressed by what i see.  Pierre, you provide an outstanding service which, i'm convinced, will leave an enduring legacy in the lives/families of so many thanks to your unselfish sharing of knowledge and expertise!  also, to the rest of you who seem to have created a thriving community of encouragement, that's what it's all about!  ~it's what makes learning fun and takes the edge off putting yourself out there as a fledgling and gaining experience and confidence as a budding musician (or, artist may be a kinder term for those of us whose music may still at best be labelled 'impressionistic' at this point!).

i am brand new to the violin, tho, not new to music.  i, like many, spent several begrudging years at the piano bench in my youth studying classically until all the love of the instrument was hammered out of me.  ~at least my love of the piano.  i taught myself to play the saxophone & trumpet in my early teens which led to playing those and other relatable instruments as needed in highschool bands and pretty much any other opportunity that fell into my lap over the next few years.

into my adult years, however, i became a bit out of touch with my musical side.  it usually being limited to singing to the babies or helping my husband out with guitar questions from time to time or stopping at a piano and seeing how much rustier i became since the last time i sat at the bench!

more recently, since my young ones are now at school band age, i have found myself catching the bug again!  it's been really great to pull that practical knowledge and theory out of my head and use it to help my girls.  there's something about seeing the light go on when your explaining or demonstrating something that i find so rewarding.  ~also, there are not many i could find now that would categorise my playing as 'expert', but to my girls, i'm still great!  haha!  who wouldn't be encouraged to pick up the old hat after hearing a bit of that!

anyway, i have always been a strong believer that people are best ready to learn when they are the ones taking the interest/initiative on their own without the pushing/prodding of another party.  ~so when, a couple of months ago after i had shown them one of Lindsey Stirling's amazing youtube videos, my eldest daughter (who can already hold her own quite well on the flute) came to me and said how cool she thought the electric violin was and how she'd love to learn how to play, it took very little thought to decide my course of action.  WE are going to learn to play the violin!! 

oh.... and not to be outdone, the younger (just starting out with the trumpet and having successfully performed her very first trumpet solo at the 2012 christmas eve service at gramma & grandpa's small community church) decided her new project would be to learn the cello!  ~we might hold off on that one for a few months as mummy needs to sell a bit more homemade jam in order to save up enough pennies for yet another instrument!  lol!  until then, plunking away at the digital piano we just set up in their room seems to be keeping the dream alive! 

looking forward to learning from/getting to know many of you as the journey goes on!

~michelle

ps.  the 'great white north' in this case, is saskatchewan, canada.  and how we came to land here is an entirely different story!    ~m