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I don't take formal lessons. They just wouldn't be workable in my family's budget at this time. Even if they were, I am not sure if I would, past some early lessons on posture and form (where I am sure I'm probably doing badly).
I thought about getting a book or something, but the temptation to lean towards sight reading isn't something I want to do at present. I took theory in college and I've taught myself a few instruments, so I have at least some idea what I need to learn. I think. Make that music degree work for a change. LOL
"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 just signed up for my first violin lesson. Monday at 6:00 PM. Like the idiot I am, when the shop owner told me they had an opening at 6:00, I asked, "is that in the morning"? Sometimes I think everyone starts working at 5:00.
Do I practice more so I get better before the lesson or just go for it?
No matter what you do, you should have done something else 
I bet you will be glad you took the plunge assuming the teacher is OK. One-on-one is something special.
Oliver said
.... I did not want to just go solo while she wolfed down her lunch.
( I'm bad )
WoooHooHooo!!! 
ROTFFLMAOWTO!!!
Sometimes i wish my teacher would start to eat for a while and wouldn't be so picky with my playing LOL XD.
I take violin lessons for 14 months. Though my teacher thought that it's already 2 years 
LOL! When i said that we started 15.04.2011, she was surprised
I guess i'm so obnoxious that a year with me goes for 2
The presence of teacher is extremely important for me. I'm very inattentive person. So if nobody points out my mistakes - i keep doing wrong. And i understood that there are lots of things that going on above my perception.
For example i play a piece and my teacher says that it's totally wrong and explains how it should be. Then i try to play it correctly, but realize that i play exactly the same and "correctly" doesn't happend. But my teacher says that it was better but not enough and i play again, trying to reach the "correct" but again don't see the difference. And at last even when my teacher satisfied with the result - i still don't feel the difference. Stupid me. I'm like a blind elephant in a dishes shop.. Will not survive without a teacher.
That's why i so proud of all our members that learn by their own! Very tallented!
Naska I love the saying you wrote, "Stupid me. I'm like a blind elephant in a dishes shop.. Will not survive without a teacher." I have never heard it put that way but I like it. We always say , a bull in a china shop.
I like the bananas. Can we call them Donavan?
Kevin M. said
... We always say , a bull in a china shop.
Oooo! Thanks, Kevin! 
/wrote down in a book of English expressions/
I like the bananas. Can we call them Donavan?
HeeeeHeeeeee!!!!! Patrik and Donavan LOL!
Don't know who is Donavan... but looks nice ^
This should explain the babana and calling it Donovan.
Donovan wrote this song about banana peels containing LSD and people tried drying banana peels and smoking them. We were strange in my time.
I remember it well and wondered what mellow yellow was ? Could have been jaundice ? I was innocent. The tune sounds right however.
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I know who Donovan is, but, I thought mellow yellow was a soda. 
"The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work." - Mark Twain
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I am doing two different things. In the fall I will actually be taking a violin course in college to go along with my regular college stuff. But until then, (and as soon as I get my violin, -sigh-) I am gettin all my learnin' done here on Fiddlerman.com
Once I actually have a violin and something to brag about, I might have a better story, lol.
"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 am also taking lessons from a teacher, an Indian counterpart of Russian Liliya Askhatovna; but I would not have progressed to my present level without him.
If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it ..(William Shakespeare in Twelfth Night)
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Can't afford lessons and don't know anyone playing violin either. I even checked for fun for violin teachers near my appartment and there are none 
they are all an hour or more away from my place.
So I'll be a loong time learning by myself. I sincerely dunno what I will do when I'm finished with my Mel Bay Violin Lessons lol. Hopefully I'll find another method to guide me! Praise the internet for tutorials like FM and others do! 
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov
Thanks, Kevin! I see now =) Nice song btw!
suresh said
I am also taking lessons from a teacher, an Indian counterpart of Russian Liliya Askhatovna; but I would not have progressed to my present level without him.
Eeeeee! Suresh remember everything! Even my teacher's name EEEEEEEEEeeeee!!
<- Suresh <- me
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NV, YOU are the local violin teacher (in developement)!
I agree with Naska; I find it invaluable to have a teacher who can keep me heading in the correct direction and can give me real-time [constructive] criticism. My teacher never spent time on the fundamentals of posture, bow hold or any of the rudimentary things (I learned that stuff from this site before I started my lessons).
And once again, I'll promote the Mark O'Connor Violin Method books [I have no affiliation with nor receive any benefit from Mark O'Connor], as the best text/CD lesson books I've ever found (and I've tried a bunch).
I too applaud all of you who are learning on their own, it takes passion and commitment to learn the violin and it's even more difficult (I think) without that immediate feedback.
Yeah, in my day (I graduated HS in 1973), the guys who had the Donovan 8-tracks (lmao) got all the chicks!
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I took lessons from March until May. 
I recently stopped because we are trying to get out of debt (including mortgage), so I just couldn't justify the expense anymore. So, now I am going to finish the lesson book my instructor was using and online tutorials, etc. My internet is not great for videos though, so I am considering a few different fiddle courses on DVD to order, which would still be cheaper than a month of lessons. If FM had a course on DVD, I would buy it 
I took my first lesson yesterday. After the teacher trying to tell me the parts of the violin and then then names of the strings and on and on then throwing out a few books worth of lessons we got to work on some pieces. I think the best thing is having someone to play along with and have her tell me when I screw up. I think it will work out. It was funny though when I took her bow and told her it was a terrible bow. The hairs were all different tensions and the arc was almost gone on the bow. I gave her my bow to try out and she loved it. I have a real nice pernambuco bow about 75 years old that I'm thinking about fixing up for her. Funniest thing was when she told me that someone took off my fine tuners and only left the one on the E string. She was shocked when I told her that they are not going back on either and explained why I didn't like fine tuners. The original teacher they had at this place left and this is one of his students. It should work out well because I can teach her things and she can teach me some things but most of all I now have someone to play along with one a week.
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Sounds like a great arrangement, Kevin.
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LOL. Teach the teacher Kevin. I know you'll make us proud.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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So Kevin, what are you going to charge her for a 60 min. lesson, lol.
I think the immediate feedback is the greatest benefit of a teacher too. It's really the difference between correcting a problem and not practicing something incorrectly.
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That's hilarious Kevin!! I've always been apprehensive about taking lessons ever since I was kicked out of one years ago! Apparently, he didn't "know how to teach" the stuff I wanted to learn and sent me on my way! LOL
I'm glad she's working with you and you are able to help her as well! After all, we should always remain students!!
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” ~Benjamin Franklin
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