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I have reached my 11th playing the violin :)
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JuanFiddler
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January 5, 2013 - 12:20 pm
Member Since: September 16, 2012
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To my friends on Fiddlerman,

 

I am very excited because this month January is my 11th month learning violin.

I feel stronger and more confident in certain aspects and of course in some others I need to keep working. Now, what have I learned during all this time? Let's see, first of all, the violin can be the most beautiful instrument in the whole world but also can be the ugliest one. Every instrument demands something from the player, as for the fiddle, patience, daily hard work and an eagle eye is what it has been asking me for. The eagle eye is important to do your own research on those aspects where you feel weakest at. When you do this enough, it becomes second nature and you tend to monitor yourself all the time without even thinking about it. Why the violin can be the ugliest instrument? Well in my case as well in the case of many others, it's not just about drawing the bow back and forth. It's HOW you draw the bow. Some people say that the bow is the violinist voice. It's what you use to make your instrument sing. I am working on that, on making my violin sing and connect more and more with it to the point me and my violin are one person.

What did I do when i first started and had to keep a thousand things in my head at the same time? It was quite frustrating actually but somehow the skills started to build up and gradually began feeling how i was overcoming certain obstacles like stop looking at the fingerboard while playing.

The musical ear and the sight music reading?

Something that I am good at is listening, I am able to tell when i am off key and fix it. Also i can remember a melody very easily humming or singing helps me a lot in this aspect.

What was my biggest fear in the violin world?

Boy the sheet music used to scare the heck out of me, even though i still have some problems with them, i am able to figure out how to play a tune. It takes me a looooong time but once i feel with my ear what im playing, then it becomes easier. Some of the tunes I learned from sheets were: Twinkle twinkle, Lightly Row, Happy Birthday, Calliope House, Dick Gossip's reel, Ashokan Farewell and most recently Celtic Dueling Violins. Lots of Irish stuff I know :P

This is a long arduous but very exciting process, so I wish you all the best of luck with the violin. All I can say is that it's worth it, i only regret not having seen this when i was younger though.

Keep fiddling :D

JuanFiddler :)

There's nothing better than a cold beer and the warm soothing sound of a violin.

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ADK-Mark
Adirondacks, NY
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January 5, 2013 - 6:35 pm
Member Since: December 31, 2012
Forum Posts: 150
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Juan you're really an inspiration.  I like your mention of the ugliest and the most beautiful.  Some days I think "wow I didn't know that I would approach competence so quickly" and other days I think "what happened to all my skills, did someone drop this violin??"

 

I think as long as I'm having fun with it, I'm making steady progress.  I don't think that every practice or jam has to be my best.. just that over the course of a week or month, have I overall enjoyed the experience?  If the answer is yes, I'll keep playing. If I try my best and nothing good's coming from it, I'll probably not want to keep playing.  But for the last 6-7 months, it's been a great experience and I can't wait until I can make more progress... especially in bowing like you say.

 

Thanks for the post!

Mark

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JuanFiddler
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January 5, 2013 - 7:00 pm
Member Since: September 16, 2012
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Dear Mark,

I am happy to know my post was helpful to you. I thought it would be a good idea to mention some of the things that i've gone through in my experience of learning violin. I agree with you, not every practice has to be the best but yes each and everyone of them must teach you something or help you work on something. Then one day you will look back and think "gosh i remember the first day i tried to play this, i couldn't even get one note right" Now you are playing the whole piece :)

Anyway, thank you very much for your comment.

 

JuanFiddler.

There's nothing better than a cold beer and the warm soothing sound of a violin.

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Mad_Wed
Russia, Tatarstan rep. Kazan city
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January 7, 2013 - 3:50 pm
Member Since: October 7, 2011
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Thank You, JuanFiddler for taking your time to share your thoughts with us! I think many of those of us, who started to learn as adult have similair issues. Sometimes we need to do more work to get some results, than the kids, so we need more motivation - it's always good to know how it works for others and know that You're not alone!

Keep fiddling!

thumbs-up

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coolpinkone
California, the place of my heart
January 7, 2013 - 3:59 pm
Member Since: January 11, 2012
Forum Posts: 4180
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Congrats Juan! Great points you brought up. And your thoughts were written so well. As a newbie of 12 months, I can relate to what you wrote!

Congrats and cheers ... Here is to another 11 happy months! Cheers!
Toni

Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato

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Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
January 8, 2013 - 7:07 pm
Member Since: September 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 16429

Ya, here is to 11 more great months. ;-)

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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