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I am a avid guitar player , and wanting to learn violin. Am curious as is it a easy transition from guitar to violin? Will any of my guitar experience help in this transition?
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I am a guitar player of 40 plus years. 4 years on fiddle. they are completely different in every way. But heres the plus side. As a guitarist you have already developed an ear for keys and notes. Also you are no stranger to fingerings which will also help. You know how to tune an instrument...huge plus !! The bow aint no pick brother, right hand will be the learning curve and the lack of frets on the left. But yes, you have a head start. Good luck and welcome aboard !!
There is no shame in playing twinkle, youre playing Mozart
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I'm a guitarist of about 35 yrs, been playing violin fiddle for less than a year. The guitar experience definitely helps, but the bow is what took me the most to get used to. Instead of just pulling the notes right off the string with fingers or a pic, you're waving a magic wand at them like a scene from Harry Potter or something. LOL Feels dang awkward at first.
On the plus side, I think playing violin/fiddle helps your guitar playing as well.
"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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I dont know if it help's Daniel, but it sure makes guitar feel easier
There is no shame in playing twinkle, youre playing Mozart
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I too am originally a guitarist, and I can say with certainty that it will help in learning the fiddle. Not directly (it's a totally different instrument, as I'm sure you are aware), but for me it was finger strength developed from playing barre chords etc, plus advance musical / fingerboard knowledge. I started guitar when I was 14, and switched to fiddle at 15. Doesn't sound much, but when you're 14, a year is a long time in playing terms.
Mr Jim 
I'm a 35 year variety guitarist as well, and I'd say that because of my near-competence with the instrument after that long, the violin is hard because I'm much farther away from competence so it's frustrating. It's like knowing the French language and then trying to study mandarin chinese. You have the skills for learning, but a lot of what I know on the guitar had to be put away as I faced a raw and unlearned new instrument. The violin "bites back" and there are many times you might feel like giving up. But steady at the helm... don't get too enthusiastic about "picking up the violin" like you might teach yourself a new song on the guitar. A lot of ego-busting and honest self-appraisal of your skills helps keep you humble and teachable.
Mt. Fiddler.
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Very true. I guess this is why I don't start learning to play guitar even though I have always wanted to learn. LOL
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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