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Sometimes when I'm practicing, it seems like I can't stop. I feel like if I try one more song, one more scale, I'll finally get it right. But of course, the more I play, the more tired I get and the worse I play. (I can stop anytime, really I can.)
So, I got to wondering tonight whether anyone has ever taken playing or practicing too far. Are there any funny, or not so funny, stories out there about any fiddlers who let fiddling get the best of them? I mean, beyond the normal aches and pains. Just curious.
When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.
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I'm usually late for appointments coz of practicing that tune "just one more time"!
I am amazed at how old people of my age are.....
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Nero? I think Dennis posted a picture of his fiddle earlier.
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I feel the same KS, I played so much yesterday that I feel burned out today and had to take is easy (and find where the cats were hiding). But my son was funny he was like, you're not playing violin mom (he is trying to bow when I'm not looking, I might get him interested who knows?)
"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
One morning last week I picked up my violin at 5:15 am and didn't stop practicing until 8:00 pm that night when the ball game was on.
Well, I did put it down occasionally a few minutes at a time. I kept thinking of the song my Grandfather used to sing when it was time for me to go to bed. "Give me Five Minutes More, Only Five Minutes more, Let me stay letme stay in your arm's ". He would play the violin and sing that song .
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One week after I bought my violin, I start to play at 10.00 AM until 6.00 PM then on the same day, I start again at 12.00 AM until 6.00 AM the next morning!!! can you believe that? I think there is devil on the violin where it makes me cannot resist my needs. Yeah, beside eating, cloth and place to live, violin become another needs. I believe all of us here feel the same way.
Yeah, I slept at 6.00 and did not go to my Intercultural Communication class at 8.00. Bad example. Really bad example. Kids, do not follow my schedule 
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well
I'm not THAT bad... but I do lose track of time when I'm really "in the groove" and the damn thing is in tune, and the rosin is just right and the strings don't sound scratchy, yep, been late to an appointment as well,
I think you're refering to the violin on fire HUH.
Yep, played so fast caught it on fire, and had to throw water on it to put it out. LOL
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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KindaScratchy said
Sometimes when I'm practicing, it seems like I can't stop. I feel like if I try one more song, one more scale, I'll finally get it right. But of course, the more I play, the more tired I get and the worse I play. (I can stop anytime, really I can.)So, I got to wondering tonight whether anyone has ever taken playing or practicing too far. Are there any funny, or not so funny, stories out there about any fiddlers who let fiddling get the best of them? I mean, beyond the normal aches and pains. Just curious.
Nah, worry not. I know of fiddlers practicing ten hours a day. But it doesn't meen you have to do so too
. Of course once you reach a certain level you will have to in order to get your diploma... but it is good for anyway
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I want to dress like the img under *what society think it is* and play my violin 
what a beautiful time it was for art and music!
"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
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I'm about to OD on brandy and coke while practicing shifting scales from first to third position. All night! Coz my G/F has gone in a Hen-night.
I am amazed at how old people of my age are.....
No, but they have become addicted to forums.
I know about these things because I was addicted to Tetris. (I'm OK now).
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Yup, it's called "repetitive motion injury." 
Actually, the primary thing that keeps me from over-playing (with the exception of a little thing called "grad school") is the fear of stressing my hands and wrists too much.
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Oliver said
No, but they have become addicted to forums.
I know about these things because I was addicted to Tetris. (I'm OK now).
I know that feeling Oliver.
Ps what was your high score?
I am amazed at how old people of my age are.....
LOL, guys!
Though, i can't remember me practicing another instrument so much. If i had more hours in a day i'd spend them for violin... definitely.
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I dont know about ODing on the violin , But I do know you can go through withdrawl sysmptoms if your forced to go with out it for any length of time. 
No matter where you go, there you are!
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Great thread, really enjoyed this one.
To address one detail about what you wrote KindaScratchy,
"But of course, the more I play, the more tired I get and the worse I play."
Be cautious of that because if you repeat bad playing of any kind you are reinforcing bad playing. In other words when you get something right, play it over and over and when something is wrong, fix it and do it over and over.......
Hope that makes sense.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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When I played in the Chandler Symphony Orchestra, I practiced at a minimum, 3 hours. This consisted of practicing etudes to develop technique, scales, LeClair sonatas (a project my teacher and I were working on together), and the music we were playing in a 3-month rotation in the orchestra. After I did that, I played a couple of pieces for my own enjoyment.
Now, with the arthritis even worse, I can't approach practicing that long without paying for it the next day.
Despite that, I now play for 30 minutes to an hour. I am working on Handel's Messiah, 1st and 2nd violin; and Sleeping Beauty waltz.
My main purpose for practicing now is to encourage our granddaughter, 2 yrs old, to want to play.
Duane
"Violin is one of the joys of my life."
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Typically, with each lesson which lasts 2-3 hrs a pop, I bring back plenty of homework. I have a 24/7 access to a warehouse space I own for work. So after we're all done, and everyone leaves (around 9-10pm,) I work on whatever the practice assignment I have. That typically lasts anywhere from 30 min to 2 hrs. Afterwards, I reward myself by playing whatever I want to play... which tend to be movie/game music. More often than not, that goes well into sunrise. I don't need to be back to work until around 3pm the following day, anyways. 
With this kind of "routine," if there's anything really wrong about my biomechanics, I find out quickly. I think this way of figuring out all the bad habits helped me progress pretty rapidly, as an adult starter. Figured, it kinda made up for the "lost years" since I didn't start playing as a child...
Thankfully, in the recent times (I've been playing for 3 years now,) I rarely encounter any pain from long sessions. This really helped me survive the routines of rehearsals and long orchestral programs (1.5-2 hrs.) To me, it's not that different than getting addicted to playing video games (i.e. 20-hr sessions...)
Anything worth doing is worth overdoing!
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Very interesting Jaybird.
HDuaneaz, I like your way to motivate. Playing the violin around a youngster and playing music on the stereo or internet with the violin/fiddle included, even in the background is a fantastic way to motivate a person to want to learn to play the violin. Hope she gains interest.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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