@RossTiger: Well, if holiday music is one of your goals, no harm in thinking about what ones might be possibilities and giving them a try this soon.  I usually start adding holiday tunes in to my practices a little around the middle of summer. 

10 min a day, well, my concern on that would be you don't sound like you have the typical "kid with a new toy" stage going yet.  Having taught myself a few instruments to at least some degree over the course of the years, I feel that the "noob fever", where you want to obsess over the instrument and play it a lot is a useful thing.  A lot of the basic skills for any instrument at least get roughed out during that time, and usually it will be enough to start having some fun and adding new songs and etc to what you play.  What I'd worry about is you might be approaching the instrument too much lijke a "grown-up" and not enough like a little kid would.  LOL 

But if 10 min is what you know you can manage at first, it is what you work with.

Goals.  Hmm.  Here's one for you.  To still be playing a month from now.  Most of the people that wash out on learning to play an instrument, it happens in the first month or two.  That's how those real cheap prices on used student violins on ebay and shopgoodwill.com happen.   If you make it through, say, the first three months without becoming  "statistic" like that?  Then you'll be past at least a few of the first hurdles.

@Composer:  "It requires 10 hours each day."   For what?  LOL  Surely not to be able to play a holiday song or a few of them, about 10 months from now, at a level of expertise that will be reasonable for a beginner who has played that long. 

I think that part of the problem here may be that some of the context of your statements may appear to be missing for some folks.  I, for example, would wonder what you feel can be achieved with 10 hours of practice/playing a day, how long a time you are suggesting that level of work for, and how it applies to a beginner who wants to be able to be able to play an xmas song several months from now.

In all honesty, I have to agree that I can see where some goals could take that level of work.  There have been times in my younger years when I played that much some days, although 8 hours was more my usual.  There were some years early on, and some years when I was playing out in bands where I did around 8 hrs of practice and playing a day.  Even with schoolwork or later with a job.  The trick to that is you pick up the instrument when you get home and you don't put it back down until time to sleep.  You learn to do almost everything without having to put down the instrument, and you play through almost every moment that you don't need a hand for something else.  My older children can recall some years when they didn't see me without a guitar on.  Even changing diapers or cooking.  I do play violin/fiddle a good bit when cooking, which as I recall is a notion that amused some folks here. LOL

So I can't actually disagree with you, that there are some elements of progress that can be achieved by that level of practice/play.  I have at least bordered on it myself at some points in life, so it would be hypocritical of me to ridicule it.  But it is not typical, and I would be surprised to hear of anyone in this forum doing it.  A young person in something like a music school environment where practices and music classes are part of their required schedule for every day would be more likely to be where one would actually see it.

It seems to me sometimes that you may be assuming that everyone on this forum is (or should be) working towards a certain level of proficiency (or even virtuosity), when most probably actually are not.  I doubt many (if any) here expect to become the next Nathan Milstein or Itzhak Perlman.  I know that I don't.  So I think sometimes your advice seems perhaps not quite appropriate for the context of the question or topic.  I would have to say that a beginner who wants to be able to play a holiday song in time for xmas 2013 is stating a reasonable goal, but that telling them it will require 10 hours of practice a day is not likely to be helpful and may even be discouraging.  I personally see no point to that.

Please bear in mind, that I do consider it obvious that you know more than a bit about music, from your comments in many topics here.  But when you say something like "It requires 10 hours each day", I always end up wondering what you feel that is a minimum requirement for achieving and how you know this personally.

@Composer:  Ok, I see what you are talking about now.  Thank you for clarifying.

Agreed, that just adding and playing more repertoire will only improve some points of a person's playing and then only to a certain point.  However, for an adult beginner whose current goal is to be able to play one or a few holiday songs, it will improve their beginner playing and start to work on some skills.  If they find sufficient encouragement in that to perhaps get more serious later, or become more committed to the idea of playing even just for their own enjoyment, it could still be worthwhile for them. 

To me, with any musical instrument, practice is practice, and playing is playing.  My practice is not playing songs, it is exercises and activities so I sound better when I *do* play songs.  One might also practice one or more songs, if one has a particular need for those songs at a certain level of competency, but that would be another matter.

There are different levels of seriousness that different people may approach an instrument (or music itself) from.  For some, being able to play a few tunes now and then is all they want.  Others may decide to put in more work to get more results.  Young folks, their course is often decided by parents and educators.  They are more likely to be actually required to put in a certain amount of time a day practising and playing.  But the average adult is unlikely to block out hours of time every day for practice, and will only perhaps engage in actual practice if they find sufficient pleasure in learning a few songs and sufficient support from a community like this one or from some non-online group in their local area. 

Since the original poster definitely indicated that at this point he has a limited amount of time to put into violin on a daily basis, suggesting 10 hours a day for practice maybe wasn't as helpful as some encouragement might be at this point.

I myself have added some (not nearly 10 hrs worth) of practice that largely focuses on bow-work into my daily routine.  I feel it has helped at least some so far, and I would be interesting in the thoughts you (and any other interested parties) have on the matter.  I have started a thread for it..

https://fiddlerman.com/forum/l.....-practice/

.. to hopefully help this thread avoid becoming too specialized to be of much interest to the original poster at this point in their playing.