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but I'm really joining the community in 2015. My first violin is a CVN-EAV (CVN-300 with a fancy finish) I picked up for $79.00 + free shipping and it arrived Wednesday, May 13th. I have named her Stella.
I know that sounded really haughty, but I'm hoping a few years from now I'll have come a long way and maybe I'll want to remember those specifics!
My name is Kiki. I'm 20 years old and haven't decided what to major in in college. Atm, I am on a self-imposed break for probably all of next year. I'd wanted to maybe do world design for video games, but since that's a bit out of reach, I'm considering doing international studies or politics. I enjoy learning foreign languages and have always loved exploring (fictional) cultures, so why not?
Anyway, at the moment, I'm a waittress for a sushi and general asian restaurant. I like it a lot more than the boring repetitive jobs I've had in the past... and the money being better than any of them doesn't hurt either!
As for musical experience, I played recorder in 4th and 5th grade (oh god, is that really 10-11 years ago now?) and alto saxophone for one year in 6th (ew, a decade?!). I'm excited to return to music!
I look forward to getting to know all of you as I get to know the violin. I've attached an MP3 of the first part of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which I practiced for the first time for about half an hour today. My biggest challenge is finding the notes, honestly. Tomorrow I will keep working on that and try part #2!
EDIT: I ended up having another hour, so I practiced part 2. I have now included the best video I have of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I will hopefully have some time to practice it more tomorrow. Specifically, I want to work on the notes on the D string a lot more. I know they're wrong.
Question for people who've played for a bit have some life hacks: my left shoulder, upper arm, and forearm sure are achey after playing for an hour. It's pretty difficult for me to maintain the correct posture of the instrument, to not collapse my wrist, and reach the notes with my shorter fingers. What exercises or stretches (beyond daily practice) do you recommend to relieve some of this?
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Welcome to the madness, Kiki!
Not sure what might sound "haughty" anywhere in your post. It sounded fine to me, and a lot of us name our instruments.
You're 20?? Wow, that was a long time ago, for me. LOL I'm 54, played guitar since I was about 15, only have played violin for 3 years so far. My major in college was music. It can be good to take a year or few off in college to think through what they have that may help you with things you may want to do.
Bravo on the Twinkle, sounds good. It sounds like you're having fun.
So far shoulder, forearm, etc.. Yeah, especially at first, muscles can ache that you may not even have known you had before. LOL Taking a break now and then and doing a few basic stretches can help. Here's a video that's pretty good with a few basic ones.
So far as "shorter fingers", well.. Most musicians don't actually have fingers that are longer than anyone else's. But as you play, over time the "webbing", the skin between the fingers, gets reduced and the fingers get used to reaching more to the sides than maybe most people's do. It gives the impression that the fingers are longer and thinner after a while. Oh, some musicians *do* have long fingers, but most don't really. Most music is written for and played by people with pretty average shaped hands. There are some exceptions, of course.
But for your collection of things you may want to have to look back on a few years from now, you may want to keep some pics of your hands as they are now, both relaxed and stretched as wide as you can now. The change that happen as the webbing reduces and the fingers get more flexible and parts of the hand muscle up are gradual enough that you may not notice it, otherwise.
And again, welcome to the delightful madness that is the violin!
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
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Welcome Kiki!! Hope you enjoy your new violin journey. 
Regarding your other studies, if I may offer a bit of advice - a wide variety of skills are valued in the video games industry, so don't dismiss anything as out of reach, and think out of the box with regards to your studies 
Good luck with everything!!
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Kiki said
but I'm really joining the community in 2015.........
Any idea why that is? Did you join and not post in 2011?
I know that sounded really haughty, but I'm hoping a few years from now I'll have come a long way and maybe I'll want to remember those specifics!
My name is Kiki. I'm 20 years old and haven't decided what to major in in college. Atm, I am on a self-imposed break for probably all of next year. I'd wanted to maybe do world design for video games, but since that's a bit out of reach, I'm considering doing international studies or politics. I enjoy learning foreign languages and have always loved exploring (fictional) cultures, so why not?
Anyway, at the moment, I'm a waittress for a sushi and general asian restaurant. I like it a lot more than the boring repetitive jobs I've had in the past... and the money being better than any of them doesn't hurt either!
As for musical experience, I played recorder in 4th and 5th grade (oh god, is that really 10-11 years ago now?) and alto saxophone for one year in 6th (ew, a decade?!). I'm excited to return to music!
I look forward to getting to know all of you as I get to know the violin. I've attached an MP3 of the first part of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which I practiced for the first time for about half an hour today. My biggest challenge is finding the notes, honestly. Tomorrow I will keep working on that and try part #2!
EDIT: I ended up having another hour, so I practiced part 2. I have now included the best video I have of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I will hopefully have some time to practice it more tomorrow. Specifically, I want to work on the notes on the D string a lot more. I know they're wrong.
Great job on Twinkle for such a short time on the violin.
Question for people who've played for a bit have some life hacks: my left shoulder, upper arm, and forearm sure are achey after playing for an hour. It's pretty difficult for me to maintain the correct posture of the instrument, to not collapse my wrist, and reach the notes with my shorter fingers. What exercises or stretches (beyond daily practice) do you recommend to relieve some of this?
It's crucial that you take it easy in the beginning. You can still play an hour but make sure you don't stress any of the body parts that you mentioned more than just a little. Keep in mind at all times that it's easy to tense up and work way more than really necessary. It's possible to relax when playing but a conscious effort is required to do so. The learning stages are the most important.
Good luck!!!
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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