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I have had my violin for two days now. I am 55 years old, a two day beginner and wear glasses. Whenever I look towards my left (fretting) hand it is out of focus as is the fingerboard and scroll. Is this normal for a beginner? Will my eyes learn to adjust? I think this will make it difficult when I start learning to fret notes.
I know this is a dumb question but I did warn that I would be asking dumb questions in my intro post and here is one 🙂
Regulars
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I wear contacts, so that was not a problem but, ...Oh wait... I read music so when I was/am learning I didn't look at my fingers that much!
Could you focus on what your fingers are feeling? Or maybe more on what you are hearing?
Violinist start date - May 2013
Fiddler start date - May 2014
FIDDLE- Gift from a dear friend. A 1930-40 german copy, of a french copy of a Stradivarius. BOW - $50 carbon fiber. Strings - Dominants with E Pirastro Gold string.
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Do you have bi-focals? I'm 59 and have tri-focals. As I am having to re-learn fourth finger position after a long ago injury, I put a marker on the fingerboard for third and fourth finger positions and I need to watch it (for now) because when I do go fourth finger, my hand shifts a little and everything goes sharp on the others. I have to use the mid-point of my tri-focals to see it clearly. Took some getting used to and bobbing of the head to get the right focal point!
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Yes I do wear bifocals. I suppose it will just take a little getting used to to be able to see the fingerboard clearly.
Regulars
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i have to take my progressive lense glasses off to play the violin if i look at the neck; I am mostly near-sighted when i play with them on i cant have my head in a comfortable position and look at the strings through the bottom of the lenses.
"Make every note beautiful", Ivan Galamian
“To play a wrong note is INSIGNIFICANT; To play without PASSION is INEXCUSABLE!” , Ludvig Van Beethovan
"It ain't rocket surgery"
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Not a stupid question by the way.
Two things:
Reading vision for many over the age of 40 is lessoned.
Secondly, you don't need to see your hands and fingers clearly. Approximation at first when you are learning but using your ears for the intonation. If your note is low move your finger up and if it's high, move it down.
After doing this long enough you memorize the positions for your finger patterns. It becomes more natural. Like driving stick shift or typing fast on a keyboard.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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