Hi Everyone,

I discovered this forum a while back, and have been reading and getting to know you in secret.  I'm pretty convinced this is a nice group of people and would like to join in on the fun.

Many years ago, I played percussion in the high school concert band, but I secretly wanted to play a melody instrument (back then, strings was not an option in my school program).

In recent years, I discovered artists like Kate Rusby and Emily Smith--Celtic singers on Pandora radio--and through that, noticed that I was drawn not only to the vocals and lyrics, but also to the violin music.  

Two years ago, I went to the Annapolis Irish Festival and discovered The Gothard Sisters, a truely wonderful band of three sisters that play violin, and other instruments along with dance.  Over that year and the following year, I saw them perform about a dozen times at the Annapolis Irish Festival, Southern Maryland Celtic Festival, Maryland Irish Festival, and Kennedy Center (sadly, they haven't been to MD in 2017).  While I like all of their tunes, I'm especially found of Flying Sails.

I got a violin in March 2016, and gave up after 30 days.  It was too high pitched for me and hurt my ears, so I switched to viola for the next 6 months.  In November 2016, I switched back to violin, since it's more suited to Celtic music.  I now use a tourte mute between the A and E strings, switched from steel to synthetic strings, and use foam earplugs (and I'm still sensitive to the E string, but it's better).

I'm a self learner, and practice each day.  It's a combination of fun, enjoyable, and frustrating.  In my personal life, I like to walk in the forest, go kayaking, watch wildlife (I have foxes and deer in my yard), rest in my hammock and listen to the birds and insects. All this nature stuff helps me to feel good, and violin seems to be a part of that too.  Except, with violin, there are so many challenges, perhaps the most important challenge is to have patience and learn to enjoy the process of learning, and to stop being too hard on myself.  

In addition to the Gothard Sisters, I've discovered Hanneke Cassel, Natalie MacMaster, and Alasdair Fraser as musicians that I like.  In addition to this Celtic contra dance style music, I've also discovered that I like English Country Dance Music--folk dance music sort of renaissance and baroque sounding, as well as the more relaxed Irish slow airs and waltzes (I like Jay Ungar too).

Since I'm a beginner, well, I sound like a beginner, but it's all starting to make sense.  Between work and other activities, I don't see lessons in the near future, but maybe someday.

Right now, I have three used violins, an Eastman 80, a Yamaha v5, and Yamaha v7.  I really only need one instrument, but they were fairly inexpensive as used instruments, and I wanted to see if there was much difference between them.  Actually, with the same Corelli Crystal strings, and using the same bow and rosin, they sound pretty similar to me.

Well, that's enough for now.  I look forward to participating in the forums with you.