@damfino I'm expecting to talk to my surgeon soon. After new years I'm assuming. I need time to gain weight beforehand since I'll hardly be able to eat after. I'm really hoping I'll be able to get some kind of practice in, I'll have a lot of time for it. 

I wouldn't really be able to learn something like the violin on my own. I'm too unorganized and would give up simply because I'd get overwhelmed.

Charles said

If you pick Fiddlerman, it will change it to "admin". If you leave that alone, it will show as "Fiddlerman" in the final post. "fiddlerguy" is actually somebody else's ID, who hasn't done anything on the forum in several years.

 

Bella86 said
I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed it in the beginning, just doing open strings. Those short 10-15 minutes the first couple of weeks passed so fast. I still feel like it's a waste of time some days, but that is probably my depression talking to me. Because I do really enjoy it when I'm practicing, and find myself wishing I could practice more often.

My teacher saying she's never had anyone progress this fast helps motivate me too.  Just yesterday she said I must be born to play the violin. I can't quit if I'm a natural right?? ;D But I'm not sure why she says it, I don't feel like I'm doing THAT great. But I am my own worst critic. Maybe she's just not used to having students that practice every day? I did spend a half year watching videos and instructions and whatnot so being aware of what you should and shouldn't do might have given me a headstart.

 

Especially if you're prone to depression (which lies to you almost constantly), trust other people's opinion more than your own on the subject of progress. Your teacher, especially, may be looking for things that are not at all obvious to you, but indicate real, solid progress that will show up in forms you can hear it further on down the line.

I suspect all the work you did before picking up the violin did help. Knowing before you ever touch one what NOT to do is a great way to avoid ever forming bad habits that you later have to break.

Bella86 said
Now I'm only struggling with deciding if I can keep putting money on lessons or not. I can't stop though, I've already ordered and paid for a violin outfit from FM so I better keep at it Not that it's that much fun to keep at it with the rented one. I'm positive it gave me bad pain in my upper back, because it went away during this last week when using a trial violin. But now it's all I've got until the new one arrives. I've got a long neck so I'm pretty sure it's the pretty-much-flat-chinrest that causes me trouble. But just a couple of weeks or 3 more hopefully! Depending on how fast Pierre can satisfy my pickyness. ;P

I also worry about the fact that I will be having double jaw surgery in a few months, which means 6 weeks with fixed jaws. And I don't know how soon after surgery I can't start putting pressure on it to hold the violin properly. So I'm afraid of going backwards when it comes to progress and that I will have to start over from the beginning. But not much to do about it. I'll get to where I want to be sooner or later, just do it, right?   

 

I suspect the problem was less the violin than the accessories (chinrest, shoulder rest) not fitting you.  One of the more dangerous myths about violins is that everybody should be playing them with the stuff that came with them (usually a Guarneri chinrest, and no shoulder rest). At most, some people might add a shoulder rest.

The truth is that everybody's body is different. You will probably have to do quite a bit of experimenting to find a shoulder rest/chinrest combo that works well for you.

Take a pillow, fold it in half, and then lay it on your shoulder. Lay your head down on it. That's about as much as your head should lean to the side when playing. If you have a long neck and were using a "standard" chinrest (most likely a Guarneri style), your head was leant over WAY too far. That's a guaranteed source of pain, and you could even give yourself long-term injuries if you were stubborn about it.

There are taller chinrests, and a shoulder rest will also help lift things up closer to a proper position (for you). Your teacher should be able to help you with finding equipment that works.

And, if you're doing everything in 1st position (almost certain, if you're a beginner), you don't need a chinrest at all. And not only do you not need to press down with your cheek or chin to hold the violin in place, you shouldn't. Exerting pressure down is another good way to hurt yourself. It also creates tension, which will show up in non-obvious ways in your playing.

Try this experiment:  Use a shoulder rest, a rubber pad, or anything that will keep the violin from slipping off your shoulder. (This isn't essential, but it will probably make you less nervous about the second step.)  Step 2, don't lean your head down at all.  You can turn it some, if you want to watch your fingers or your bowing, but don't even attempt to touch the top of the violin with any part of your head.  Play for a while.  Everything will sound normal, and the violin will not jump up and run away. (If it does, get pictures - they'll be worth a fortune. )

My teacher, in fact, is adamant that people lift there heads up off the violin periodically. If you don't, there's a danger you can start clamping the violin with your head/jaw/chin, and the tension involved is not good for your playing (and tends to be painful, eventually).

So the entire time that your jaw is healing, don't put any part of your jaw on the violin. That should handle any issues with potential pain/injury from doing it while recovering from the surgery. (Good luck with the surgery, by the way.)

You can spend that six weeks or so researching things that will get the chinrest up to where your jaw/chin is, and when you do go back to touching (not pushing/pressing down!) the violin with your head, you can hopefully do it painlessly. (If you can't, keep looking for answers.)

And finally, happy birthday!   

Thank you!

I do know about all the discussion (or war?? lol) on equipment surrounding violins. I've read a whole ton of stuff the last 8 months.

I actually don't really use my jaw to hold the violin right now as I'm back to the rental, and it's just too low and I don't want to raise the shoulder rest as that causes issues too. Plus with my dodgy jaws right now, I can't clamp down on the instrument anyway, any kind of excessive tension makes my joint scream at me. So I keep it loose.

I've also got problems with lock-ups in my upper back which doesn't really help with pain in this position. (yes I do see a physio regularily) But I'll get this all sorted once I've got my own instrument.