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• Please begin by telling us anything you would like to about yourself. Age, place of birth, residence, etc.
Well, as for my age, I'm kinda like not 21 any more, although I feel it 
I was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but now living in Southampton, England.
• What made you decide to play the violin?
Well, I started learning guitar at 14, then heard Earl Scruggs play the 5-string banjo. That changed my musical life! I took up the 5-string banjo, and learned all the Flatt and Scruggs tunes. On those same records, I heard the amazing bluegrass fiddling of people like Paul Warren, then later on, from players like Kenny Baker.
That was when I decided to learn the fiddle.
• How long have you been playing the violin?
About 40 years.
• How often do you play? How long are your practice sessions?
I play every day / evening, usually for about half an hour.
• In your opinion, what's your proficiency on the violin?
Fairly good. Not as skilled as some professional orchestral or symphony players, but at a reasonably high level by most measurements.
• Your greatest personal experience with playing?
Not in front…
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Honorary advisor
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Hi Jim! Thanks for a wonderful interview. You are, to me, not even 19. Please come out with your other stuff - carnatic piece. It is great to have you amidst us.
If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it ..(William Shakespeare in Twelfth Night)
Honorary tenured advisor
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Thank you, Mr Jim, for the wonderful interview. It's so nice to know more about you and your love for music and the violin.
Great interview, Mr. Jim.
From the first time I saw you on video here in the forum, I knew you know your stuff. You are very, very talented. I really enjoy watching you play and the humor in your video's, but the one thing I've often wondered is...... do you have a comb ?
Thank's for the entertainment.
Ken
Honorary tenured advisor
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Fiddlestix said
the one thing I've often wondered is...... do you have a comb ?
Haha.... You have such great sense of humor.
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Excellent interview, Mr. Jim!
"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
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Fiddlestix said
......................but the one thing I've often wondered is...... do you have a comb ?
I wish I had all that hair so that I could spend time making my hair all fancy like Mr. Jim!!!!!
Thanks for the interview Jim. You are an asset here.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Pro advisor
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Bravo Mr Jim! Great interview.
"Please play some wrong notes, so that we know that you are human" - said to Jascha Heifetz.
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Excellent interview Mr.Jim! I too, enjoy watching your videos and listening to your music. You have a great sense of humor. I realize that not all people from Scotland play the great highland bagpipes. Lol. 
"The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work." - Mark Twain
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I loved your interview.... Boy oh boy.. We are lucky to have you!
Congrats on a great violin experience.... I wish many more for you!
Toni
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
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Thank you all for your kind replies!
As for the comb business, I do own one, but I haven't used it for years.
When I did, I ended up looking like a 60s college boy, or even worse, like Adam Sandler in the film 'Little Nicky'.
I went to a new hairdresser a while back, and she suggested a scissor-cut, instead of a graded clipper job. After that I never really needed to use a comb
I'll be getting on here a bit more often in the next few weeks, after my current job finishes.
You have no idea how tiring it is doing 7 afternoons a week, pole dancing for seniors!
But really, I have a boring desk job. Here's to more fiddling - soon!
Mr Jim 
Thanks, for the interview, Mr. Jim!
Love your music! 
PS
Fiddlestix said
...... do you have a comb ?
AAAAhahaha!
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I'm sort of new here Worldfiddler > did not know of you. Been checking out your vids, etc > I am learning a lot from you > I very much enjoyed this Q/A with you.
WORLDFIDDLER >> ROCKS!!!!
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"Pole dancing for seniors." You are too funny! Thanks for a great interview even though you were a bit humble. God bless you and keep on having fun 'cause we love your smiling face when you play!
The most beautiful things in life cannot be touched or seen. They must be felt with the heart. ~Helen Keller~
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Great interview. Based on your self teachings, what would you change, if anything, if you could go back into those early self teaching years? Maybe something with your practice habits, a "skill" you had to unlearn for whatever reason, a style you wish you had or didn't do?
As part of an entourage of self-taught players, maybe we can glean some "goodness" from your efforts and avoid something we've yet to fall in to.
"I find your lack of Fiddle, disturbing" - Darth Vader
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Thank you all for your comments
Tyberius - answering your questions, here's what I would do if I had my chance over again, and know what I know now.
Self-teaching is good, up to a point. It gives you independence and helps build confidence, and there's a fair amount of satisfaction when you get a result, or get over a plateau.
But, the thing you have to ask yourself is : if you are self-taught, is your teacher better than you? The answer is always 'no' - so, it's really best to have a good teacher, who is better than you.
On my own, I picked thing up fairly quickly, like fingering and bowing, and my intonation was quite good, but there was no finesse there. I thought I sounded good at the time, and I guess I was at least passable, but when I listened to some of those old recordings of myself, I could hear that there was a lot missing in my playing. Things that my teacher helped to fix, like poor tone and shoddy timing.
There isn't anything I'd want to 'unlearn' as such - I didn't get into bad habits, and it was more that I just wasn't developing my playing properly.
So, get a teacher if you possibly can, is what I would advise. Whatever skills you have can be developed further by a teacher. Not you personally, of course, I'm just speaking generally when I offer my advice
Mr Jim
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Thank you so much for replying to this. The part of about is your teacher better then you part really opened my eyes. You are most assuredly correct on that. in the rare and gifted circumstance, maybe, but then, I wouldn't be asking of this if I fell into that category of players.
I am at an impass for double stops and moving positions. I think I will take your advice, mark it in the wisdom column and start really looking at what is available to me. So many people here offer advice and really point to a good quality instructor. Not just any one though, As I did try but the instructor was so much younger then I that she was intimidated to correct my bad playing.
Thanks for the advice and helping out here when you can. I hope to see you here in another 25 years. Maybe then I'll have my bowing right 
"I find your lack of Fiddle, disturbing" - Darth Vader
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