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It looks like this particular forum has no new posts, so I hope people still check it out. Because I would really like some input on my dilemma!
This is the deal: I am a beginner at teaching myself the violin/fiddle. I love bluegrass music and I suppose that's where I started considering to learn this particular instrument (note - I always wanted to learn a variety of instruments - but, here I am, pretty late in life and have never learned ONE). But honestly, I pretty much love EVERY style and genre of music I hear played on the violin! (guess this is true of most instruments, but this is the one I am listening to).
Anyway, therein lies the problem: I can't really figure out what my goals are or should be. As a beginner, do I need to focus on one area or the other? I find myself bouncing back and forth and not sure if that will hurt my progress in the long run. I started with a "teach yourself the fiddle' book, but could not resist an 'old time fiddle' book and a Suzuki book (I have book 1 AND 2, lol) and another beginner violin book.! I am studying reading music, which I am enjoying, BUT wonder if that will hurt me or hold me back as far as playing fiddle goes, Will I become too reliant on written music? because so much of fiddle, particularly bluegrass, seems to be done by ear and the musician learns to add their own ornamentation to every song... Fiddle also seems to be a little more forgiving. I don't expect to ever be part of a band or an orchestra, but might like to play for friends and family and maybe jam a little with people.
Really could use some insight into these issues - TIA. LinDee
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As relative noob myself, take what I say with a grain (or truckload) of salt. I approach this whole thing as learning and having fun. I am all over the place in genres and I have pieces I work at to learn which take a long time, and I have others where I try to print the music, learn it fairly well, and record it all in one session. In addition, I try to improvise on certain tunes, but trying to keep the tone as close to the original as possible. I feel I learn a lot that way in terms of structure and rhythm which may help me pick up songs by ear in the future.
Hopefully some of the more talented learn by ear folks can give you tips to help you out.
In the meantime, have fun!
The old curmudgeon!
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welcome to the forum @LinDee !
Since you have the suzuki books Id say use them. And also explore every other style you like. Whatever motivates you to pick up the instrument and practice but also play for enjoyment.
I came to violin because I liked old time and irish traditonal music. Not so much songs but instrumental music. So wanting to play those styles on one of the main instruments you hear those tunes played has kept me motivated. As time has progressed Ive become more focused on what I like the most and stick mainly to one style for now. Feels right for me.
Id say Definitely follow one of the method books like suzuki since youre going to be self learning. Just apply that to whatever music you like and try and play it. have fun with it, expect to sound bad ..have a laugh at it and keep rolling. It takes time with setbacks and times you dont feel like your making ANY progress. maybe even going backwards. Thats seems to be just before you notice some progress.
dont forget about the tutorials on this website. theres alot of material up top in the menus along with videos.
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@LinDee -
Sorry, this WHOLE Fiddlerman Forum, with over 9,000 threads, is ALMOST ALL "Learning to Play"! 🤣
No such thing as a dead thread here!
There's many tutorials by Fiddlerman (listed in the rt hand margin) and if you scroll down, you'll find the "Genres And World Music Styles" Heading - links to tutorials within threads here and all over the rest of the forum (sometimes hard to find if using your phone).
Many links to free tune archives, notation & video form are available on the Fiddlerman.com Home Page, too.
Here's 2 threads that might be helpful to start:
Learning Fiddling Genres Thread
Older Beginners And Improver's Thread
I'm melody-driven, attempting to learn pieces I fall in love with and find what it is that makes them all unique - still exploring what I like, which seems to be a little of everything. (lol)
You'll find so much encouragement and inspiration here, it's helped me more than I could ever imagine! All of the forum members and each of the different styles of music have SO MUCH to offer.
Just LISTEN TO EVERYTHING you play while you learn - use a tuner, not only to tune your violin, but also allows you to check the notes you are learning to play. It takes time to learn to use your ears, so start NOW. I learn most music by ear because I can't find sheet music for much of what I love... or the variation I like best.
I'm really thrilled to hear how interested you are - enthusiasm is contagious and we ALL need it!
Btw, if you want to get into Bluegrass, or any style that eventually involves some improvisation... I'm finding more & more people playing 5-string Fiddles - it's got the next lower string added. That's what I did and now I have a 5-string Viola, too. 😊
- Emily
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If you need advice on books, I personally used samuel applebaum books, which go from very beginner to more advanced and can be bougt for a few pounds or a couple of dollars from Amazon. I play mostly Irish fiddle music but also like classical, you dont have to read music to play the violin, all that music is, is a way of recording tunes on paper, that can be read and played later but by others. Lots of Irish music is just written down as notes, Like A, then b c, d and so on which means you play those notes on the fiddle. Reading music isnt that hard the hard part is getting the length of the notes correct, which is what I struģgle with anyway lol. I learn nearly all my tunes by listenig, unless I am in a hurry, thenI will read it, I still have to hear them to get them right though. Lots of Irish fiddlers who are excellent musicians cant read a note of music, but playing scales and arpeggios which help your playing are in my view are essential for things like intonation, which is playing in tune and somehing everyone struggles with, and scales are also recognisable in tunes which makes tunes easier. Like I said, I would start with the Applebaum books they are excellent if you do buy one of those make sure you get the violin edition and also make sure you get book one hope hat helps.
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This where being part of this particular forum comes in so handy.
There are people sharing videos that they themselves find very interesting. @ELCBK in particular. 😁 It's a great idea to look at those videos to get an idea what you might be interested in.
By all means ask away for learning tips. You'll be surprised how much advice you'll get.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Thanks for the input everyone - eventually I will figure out how to answer various parts of your posts, but meanwhile -
@stringy - I'll check into the Samuel Applebaum's books... and, I don't think reading music is going to be my problem. Obviously I am only a few days in, but based on my previous false starts and these few days I believe I will do fine learning to read at least the simpler music. My concern is I won't be able to play be ear - and that that will only get harder as I learn to read music. Some of the genres I like do seem to focus on the playing by ear rather than the written form...
@ELCBK - glad to hear I am not the only one that likes a variety of styles 
Anyway, thanks to all for your response and now, off to practice!
LinDee
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@LinDee -
Hope you get a chance to check out "Violinworks" Books (there's 2) at violin-works.com - geared for adult learners, with a variety of styles & they have this playlist of 160 videos, also. There's even additional Violinworks videos if you do a YouTube search.
In Violinworks books 1 and 2 you will find:
- Thorough, step-by-step guide to the basics of violin technique.
- Wide range of repertoire, including traditional music from around the world, jazz, and well-known classical pieces.
- Accompanying CD of authentic, stylistic performances, performed by professional musicians – play along to piano, string quartet, jazz or folk band accompaniments.
- Exercises to develop confidence in intonation, rhythm, reading music, playing by ear, and improvising.
- PDF Piano accompaniment scores for all the pieces (downloadable from the CD).
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When I started I didn't even know there were musical genres other than classical and modern. I know better now. I think. Maybe. Squeaks and squawks are a "genre", right?
For what it's worth, I don't believe it's possible to learn/play any particular genre if you don't know the basics first. You need to know how to read the scores, know what notes the dots on the score equate to on the fiddle, understand what the notations about volume/key signatures/bowing direction/and lots of other things that the composer put on the page mean, and then, on top of that, you have to learn what the notes sound like to your ear when you play them correctly. Fingering and bowing are additional skill sets that have to be learned and honed because wrong fingering on the strings = wrong notes and bad bowing = worse than wrong notes + intonation issues.
Once you have the basics down, and it won't take long, then you can begin to expand in the direction you want to travel musically. For myself, I spend about an hour every day playing. Doing that I went from knowing absolutely nothing to learning/playing an Irish Slow Air after only 2 months of Suzuki lessons. (Somewhere around the lesson for Long Long Ago I think.) Yes, it was a huge leap, and I wouldn't have been able to do it without this forum and some other resources, but I'm not limited to playing learning pieces like Twinkle or Happy Birthday. I've moved on from that Slow Air to currently learning Tchaikovsky's Theme from Romeo and Juliet while still doing the Suzuki lessons at the same time. (Oh my aching Bach!)
I can do this because I know the basics. Even though I don't know much more than the basics, each piece I learn adds to the sum total of what I know. Which allows me to play increasingly more complex pieces which I find interesting. And, whenever I run into a problem, I ask questions here and get answers that help me continue to learn.
Right now I have about 18 pieces in my "recital list" which I will eventually know how to play. Some are fast, some are slow, and some can only be played on an electric violin to get the correct sound. (Yay, another instrument to buy!) Part of learning any piece is to listen to it being played correctly so you can learn all the expression and ornamentals that need to be put into it. Which means that you have to know how to read music and also hear music in order to learn to play music.
So, my advice is to learn the basics, build on those skills and develop a catalog of musical pieces that you like to play. If that's solely in one genre, great. If not, that's great too. However, it all starts with learning the basics.
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@ELBCK - thanks will check out the violinworks - I think I see it butwill take another look - as far as getting the books, I have so many beginner books that at some point they become confusing. But I may end up with them at some point, I am always wondering if they will have something I am missing somewhere else
@RDP - just a great post, very encouraging and helpful, thanks!
LinDee
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