BillyG said

Heyy @miguelpitti - first of all - WELCOME to the forum !

Yeah...  depends a lot on your musical "ear" and indeed your musical background - if you have played other instruments - you'll have a pretty good idea of how a scale (major or minor - not to mention other modal scales "should sound" )

This is why practicing scales ( in any or all keys ) is really beneficial.   It seems like hard work with little progress - but - pick some "easy" keys - G, D, A, C - to start with, and just get these fingers finding the note ( you know, well, depends how you "think it" - I always think "doh, re, mi, fah, sol, lah ti, doh" for a major - regardless of the key I'm in and mentally move the "doh" to the tonic.   Similarly for aeloian mode ( minor ) - my scale is "lah ti doh re mi fah sol lah"

  We all approach this differently, and it depends SO much (especially as adult beginners) what, if any, is our musical background.  

  Anyway - that's how I approach playing in tune....    

  Yeah...  at least it works for me...

  Best wishes with your journey into violin / fiddle playing - enjoy ! 

  Oh - also - if you have a tuner affixed to your instrument - no need to try to get it 100% correct.  No one, absolutely no-one is 100 % pitch perfect on every single note every single time.  A discrepancy of a few cents, even 10 or 15 cents ( if that's what your tuner shows ) does NOT mean you are "out of tune"...  and VERY FEW listeners would be aware of the issue....  Seriously...  tuners are useful for bringing the instrument "into tune by open strings" - after that - use your ear...   

  All the best !  

Thank you, BillyG! The violin is my second instrument. I love classical music, and I've been playing the piano since I was 6, with a 5-6 year hiatus in my university years. I took it up again 4 years ago, and I decided to try the violin 2 years ago. So far, so good. I'm enjoying it, and it's changed the way I play the piano, which has become more lyrical and aware of the subtleties, second and third "hidden voices" of each piece I play. 

Regarding playing in tune, my violin teacher says I've got a good "musical ear" and that I tend to correct the intonation if it's too high or too low. That also makes me a bit more frustrated as I want to play it perfctly but my fingers don't always go where they should... and as I said before, sometimes I'm "relatively in tune" until I hit an open string. What a pain!

In any case, I'm enjoying the journey, and I consider it as a lifetime hobby. The violin, as I improve my technique, can only become more enjoyable, as the piano did.