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Hello! i have a question, Ive been playing for almost 3yrs now and never bothered learning alot of the basics like learning the notes, different bow strokes, positions and so on. Mostly I play what I hear, like currently im learning Master of Puppets however I feel i would progress alot fast in learning anything if I went back and learned the basics, however I lack the focus when i open my skills book. My question is what tips would anyone have for going backwards if you will, and learning this? I really want to learn double stops but without knowing the individual notes i spend alot of time just making noise.
The violin is an odd instrument which requires that you pay the piper.
If you can do it all without the effort then by all means, skip the newbee stuff but you probably won't get away with that.
There is little you get from a violin for free.
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haha yeah, i try to get away with alot. i put a video in the share a video forum, check it out if you're interested, i'm always open for critique, tips and suggestions
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Hi Carnell
Welcome from 'down under' 
We have a few 'by ear' players here. We pay the piper using our 'credit cards' 
Seen it all. Done it all. Can't remember most of 
..... What was I saying???? 
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Thanks! playing by ear seems to work pretty well, i had 4 real lessons....30 min each.....half the time was idle chatter...he got paid though! lol, never knew there was such a large community of violinists this is pretty cool
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Welcome HotHands. Going back to the basics can be beneficial but could be boring too. Your best bet would be to continue as you are doing now half the time and basics the other half.
I think you'll accelerate much quicker but I give no guarantees
Look forward to hearing you.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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thanks a bunch, ill begin adding fundamentals to my daily lessons. i know how to read music, ive played the piano all through childhood but for some reason i decided to skip all of that on the violin, ive another question ill be in the market for a new violin however finding lefty friendly instruments is a bit of a challenge, any ideas?
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I don't really have suggestions but we can have many of our violins ordered as left hand violins. The main problem is for me to test them. LOL
I tried the other day and I really felt the difficulty of learning an instrument. I was going to record it as a joke but I was too embarrassed.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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yes i noticed theres a few here on the site, i was turned down at Yamaha and NS, I've never played acoustic and would love to give it a try but electric would be best so as not to disturb the neighbors haha. I saw your video on zyex strings and thinking about getting some, i've had the prelude strings for over a year now so i figured its time to change, i dont know anything about bows though, the cecilio bow is the only one i have experience with.
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The Cecilio bows are junk. Try the Fiddlerman Carbon Fiber bow. For the price it's in my opinion, unbeatable. I use it on all my gigs.
http://fiddlershop.com/fiddler.....iolin.html
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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wow, so ive spent the last couple of days utilizing all the advice and let me tell you, such a big difference. not only is learning the notes easier than i thought, keeping my fingers close to the strings makes life so much easier. i read your advice on string crossing which also helped a ton. my big problem is intonation, i'll figure it out though!
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Intonation is EVERYONES problem 
In any case, strive for improvement rather than absolute perfection. Listen to every interval while fixing and playing slowly, but take time to enjoy a piece as well by playing it your way.... If you focus too much on the problems you could miss out on some enjoyment. Intonation is one thing while wrong notes are another. Recording and analyzing your playing is super beneficial.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Great convo going on here. I also have to squeeze in some beginner basics too. I actually do not mind and it does seem easier to do now years later.
In the beginning it was overwhelming. Now I can set out to do some "flat bowing" practice. and I think ..'Oh I am going do this for five minutes.." the next thing I know 12 - 14 minutes have gone by.
Thanks to a tip from Juan Fiddler I am working on a scale or two now a days... and I get into it.. and find it fun.
A lot of the little tips and advice is coming back to me and I am putting it to use in my practice sessions. I haven't yet written down my goal for each session, but I make a mental not of what to work on and I do it.
IS it working? Time will tell.
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
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yes i try to work on various scales, for some reason i like playing metal haha, so i work on pentatonic scales, which led me to finding a blues riff and also sort of a erhu chinese violin sound which is pretty cool. Ive been taking Pierre's advice and not using my effects as much so i can hear more of the natural notes which is helping out alot. the funny thing is now that im learning what the notes are, all those years of piano music theory are coming back which unlocks alot of mystery about my violin such as keys and positions which i didnt know what they were, i was just able to play them. idk i would say ive discovered more in the last week or so than i have in a couple months so far.
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