It has been almost two months since I received my Artist violin. I am still riding the wave  of my new adventure! It has been an on going trial with chin rests and shoulder rests. The Guarneri was not fitting the jaw just right, so tried the Dresdin and Teka. The Teka came close, but went back to the Guarneri using a micro fibre cloth between my jaw and the chin rest. The Berber is next on the list to try. The Fiddlerman shoulder rest comes pretty close with a couple of hair scrunchies put on it. The Bon musica looks interesting so thats on the list. As far as practicing on the violin, I have kept to working on my bowing on open strings. Trying to get a nice even sound. Wife raised an eyebrow when she found me standing in front of the mirror doing this. I have also tried the notes on first position. Been sticking to E and A strings trying to work up flexibility. [small hands, short fingers] I need to up practice times as the fingers are still not getting used to pushing the strings down for a good sound. I would like to have a teacher, but the closest would be Las Vegas or Phoenix. For now I will use the videos on this site and Mel Bays First violin lessons and the Essential Elements book. I just need to implement what I am learning on the violin. There has been some frustrating moments, but I remind myself [ old cliche moment] that Rome was not built in a day! Thank you all , for I am learning quite a lot from your posts.