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OK, all of you newbies to the instrument. How long have you been doin it and how old are ya.
I've been wondering how many 'old farts' like me are out there, how long have you been doing it, and where you are.
I suppose that I should go first. I'm 62 in a few days, have been learning for about five months, and I'm in Byron Bay, Australia.
And you. ????
(please excuse any Colloquialisms that I use in a post that offends. I'm an Aussie and don't know any better) 
Seen it all. Done it all. Can't remember most of ..... What was I saying???? 
@ Ferret, I think I answered this in a different thread, two days ago. I'll be 69 in September, started playing when I was 4, played for 6 years then mom couldn't afford lesson's anymore. I then bought a guitar with money from selling flower seed's door to door, I paid $ 7.00 for it at the time, shipping included.
Somewhere in here is the "Meet Fiddlestix" profile,,, I don't know where though. There's a whole lot more to my musical excursion in there.
I'm in, Michigan, USA, born and raised here. There's more but I'll cut it short, not into loooooooooong post's.
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Fiddlestix said
@ Ferret, I think I answered this in a different thread, two days ago. I'll be 69 in September, started playing when I was 4, played for 6 years then mom couldn't afford lesson's anymore. I then bought a guitar with money from selling flower seed's door to door, I paid $ 7.00 for it at the time, shipping included.
Somewhere in here is the "Meet Fiddlestix" profile,,, I don't know where though. There's a whole lot more to my musical excursion in there.
I'm in, Michigan, USA, born and raised here. There's more but I'll cut it short, not into loooooooooong post's.
Thanks for that 'Stix'. It's great to hear more about you. Its great to hear about the guitar and the flowers. It makes it 'real' if you know what i mean. I hope more will do the same. It helps to know more about our fellow fiddlers. A good thing I reckon
Seen it all. Done it all. Can't remember most of ..... What was I saying????
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I've been in possession of an old German violin for over 50 yrs. It laid in it's black wooden coffin case for decades in the rafters of our garage and never was touched that I know of. Nobody in my family ever played anything but the radio or TV.
Fast forward to this last January when I decided to clean the garage... I opened that case and looked at the disaster and thought to myself... hmmm... wonder if this thing is any good?
Well. I had a luthier I found locally repair the seperation of the top and bottom at the tailpiece peg hole area and then I proceeded to restore the rest of it myself. It is now one of my favorites. At that point I got to see David Garrett in Reno at concert live and something just clicked and here I am... learning to play the violin!
I had a 10 yr old chinese VSO that ended up stored in the closet but never motivated to play, that I bought years and years ago on e-bay thinking I guess that the mere fact of possessing a violin made you capable of playing it... lol
I recently bought a Kohr K500 from fiddlerman and love it. I dabble in acoustic sound analysis to set up and refine the violins to sound their best and now work part time for that same luthier that repaired my old fiddle for me doing bridges, installing strings, cleaning, etc...
I'm 57 in a month and feel almost cheated that I waited so long to learn to play. If it weren't for this site I would still be admiring the dusty case in the rafters.
Oh well... better late than never. I'm on the left coast of California USA. Same house for the past 52 yrs. now. 
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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Ive been playing since july 3rd and i gotta tell ya man having a blast. Im not an old fart but a fresh fart lol....Im 22 from IN and have a long ways to go but totally enjoying every day playing!! Look forward to the many days to come on this journey.
By the way my names kris and gotta say greatful for this forum, bunch of great things on here and awsome people.
Im with ya to cdennyb, I wish i would have started playing a while ago but I dont think theres a wrong time to start.
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I have not been playing that long but i am 29. the violin was something i wanted to do for a long time and then just one day i woke up and said screw it i can do this! and here i am...... learning the violin.... it has become something of an obsession and i practice all the time... but i love it.... i feel free when i play..... 
~Grofica
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Im a 41 year old male intermediate player from the central east space coast of Florida, that is not a beginner but not able to perform on stage yet either.
My goal is to be good enough to teach suzuki lessons one day, and play in my churches orchestra. Ive tinkered off and on many years but serious persuit started a year or so ago. Im diggin it so far, am floating between classical and fiddle styles.
The equipment Im playin is a hand me down from my great grandma on my moms side. Its of German make and is a little over a hundred years old. I am fortunate to have it, its a family heirloom. I dont think itd be worth much to anyone else. Part of its charm is that the nut is made of bone or ivory and not the traditional ebony.
Ive just started this past month attending a weekly on saturday old time jam in Titusville. It goes from 2 pm till 5:30 under a giant oak tree at a park. ALOT of guitar players, one dobro, one bass, one banjo, two mandos, and me on my fiddle. I have yet to contribute but they have taken me in and are kindly bringing me along.
I was asked what constitutes an intermediate player. I feel if you can play some tunes that are not two bars long and can get some good tempo goin then you are probably not a beginner. A beginner to me is someone who isnt yet comfortable enough with the instrument to be playing real good. An advanced player is someone who just jams right along and makes it seem effortless and a pro gets paid. I think I shift through the different levels since Im a beginner at old time style for instance. Of course I feel that these categories apply only in my mind so dont get all puffy at me, thanks.
fiddle on- the pfish.
"Please play some wrong notes, so that we know that you are human" - said to Jascha Heifetz.
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G'day Ferret
I'm in Cairns, another old fart. Or fartess maybe.
I've been on this site about a year, best site I've found. I'm not near a teacher, so the net is my best friend. Sad really, but I feel like I belong with this mob.
They're a great bunch, lots of fun.
If you think you can, or you think you can't, you're probably right.
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Hey, Ferret. I just turned 50 last month. I'd like to think that that does not qualify me as old, but I'm sure the younger members would beg to differ.
I'm almost at my sixth month-iversary for playing the violin and fifth month-iversary on this site. I wish that I had started decades ago. I have lots of catching up to do.
I've played the guitar since I was 11 or so, and a few other instruments over the years. I've always loved violin and fiiddle music but only got interested in playing it recently. My husband gave me my violin for Valentine's Day.
I live in Massachusetts, U.S.A.
That's me.
When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.
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30yrs old, Amarillo, Tx, USA.
Been playing for a little over or under three months! I forget the date i got my violin...never touched a violin before that. I have destroyed Twinkle, Twinkle...(it is no longer able to be played in my house...so says my wife, kids and dogs!!)
But I have gotten really good at Ode to Joy. Next step...In the Hall of the Mountain King...!!!
"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its entire life believing that it is stupid." -Albert Einstein
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i'm 15, recently started(about a month) before that, my only hobbies are electronics, robotics, and quantum physics, i have a very very cheap violin, and currently practicing paganini's caprice # 24. i have been dabbling in music before i met my first violin, i play the piano...and that's it...the rest is history.
cheers! - ⁰ℨ
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Less than 4 months, and I am 51 yrs old. I'm in the USA.
"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
I'm 29 y.o. Learning for about 16 months =). Live in Russia. 
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I'm 46, in the USA...Minnesota even....been playing for 8 months, with serious focus the last 3 months. Making connections and finding awesome sites like this one to help me along the way.
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I don't know if you introduced yourself in the "Introduce Yourself" forum but, Welcome to the forum. 
We love having the new connections here.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Fiddlerman said
I don't know if you introduced yourself in the "Introduce Yourself" forum but, Welcome to the forum.
that is NOT a correct answer Pierre...
try again...
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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True Dennis, but neither was yours 
I was referring to CMHug... Always nice to get an intro from our new comers.
And the Topic is "All you 'newbies' to the violin/fiddle"
I no longer consider myself a newbie....
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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46 years old,
playing about 4 years, but been exposed to the music all my life thru family.
From northwest minnesota.
having a ball!!!
Paul
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but pierre we want to know when you were a beginner how long you practiced before you consider yourself a professional.
and I did to answer the question I just added a little more info
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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I was so sporadic in my practice that it's not funny. When there were auditions or competitions I could practice every spare moment in my day and when there was nothing planned I could go without playing at all for long periods. I really became professional when I began working on the violin more than studying.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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