Violin

[the game]

So I've decided to learn the violin. It's been way too long since I've played an instrument and I've never learned a string instrument. Cellos are too expensive. Do any of you play the violin? How long did it take you to get good at it?

[Deleted]

I received a violin for Christmas back in 2014. I took a few lessons, but sadly I didn't find the same joy in learning it as I did with the guitar or piano. I will likely pick it back up and try again this year. I had lots of trouble because my hands are enormous, and finger placement seems very important. Bowing was very fun, though!

I'd recommend taking some starter lessons, if only one, just to make sure you find a good place to begin at. I think most experienced violin players could not stress enough the importance of proper handling when it comes to the bow, among other things. Good luck! It's a very pretty instrument.

[Deleted]

Longer than I'd anticipated, that was probably the most frustrating part of it all. I had previously learned piano and saxophone to a competent degree, at least in the eyes of someone who didn't know any better. But the violin was a different beast for me, the difficulty is less in the song and more in the handling of the instrument. With the piano I could find a song and play it over and over until it sounded pleasing, but with string instruments you simply can't get a pleasing sound out of it without very strong basics.

[Deleted]

I played violin from when i was 4 to about 16(i am 38) now. Took me about 7 years to get good at ot. I will start again in near future.

[CenariusTheForestLord]

16 years of cello here. String instruments take decades to master. But it's oh so fun and rewarding. I would always recommend taking professional lessons though. Learning by yourself is a no go on strings. There are too many pitfalls when homeschooling.

[zenkai]

I play the worlds smallest...

[Deleted]

Man, Ive tried it.... I kept blowing on that darn violin but I couldnt get a sound out of it

[Leadsop]

I will tell you this - the best thing you can do is find even just a little bit of time each day to play. Even if it is only for 15-20 minutes. That is much much more beneficial to your learning than it is to try and sit down for an hour and a half and force a bunch of stuff that you don't have the muscle memory or skill yet to achieve.

Send me a PM if you have questions, I can try to help.

I am a professional music educator with M.Ed. in Instrumental Music Education... will do my best.

[the game]

I will tell you this - the best thing you can do is find even just a little bit of time each day to play. Even if it is only for 15-20 minutes. That is much much more beneficial to your learning than it is to try and sit down for an hour and a half and force a bunch of stuff that you don't have the muscle memory or skill yet to achieve.

Send me a PM if you have questions, I can try to help.

I am a professional music educator with M.Ed. in Instrumental Music Education... will do my best.

This is the violin I picked out. It was moderately cheap and it seems to come with what I need to get started. Is it a good one?

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Bellafin...89983298321.gc

[Captain N]

This is the violin I picked out. It was moderately cheap and it seems to come with what I need to get started. Is it a good one?

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Bellafin...89983298321.gc

As my kid's music teacher says about pretty violins -- "Pretty violins are usually painted to cover up fake wood, and the sound that comes off them makes you sound millions of miles away."

TLDR: That's a junk violin

[Deleted]

As my kid's music teacher says about pretty violins -- "Pretty violins are usually painted to cover up fake wood, and the sound that comes off them makes you sound millions of miles away."

TLDR: That's a junk violin

A beginner doesn't exactly need a Stradivarius though. Better to see if he even wants to keep playing seriously in the first place, before spending too much money on something expensive.

[Larsadius Rex]

A beginner doesn't exactly need a Stradivarius though. Better to see if he even wants to keep playing seriously in the first place.

You're right, he doesn't need a strad.

But getting a violin from guitar center is a huge no no

Op, go to your local music store and find one you can rent. That way, you pay as you play and you don't make a huge $120 commitment to something you most likely won't like (violin requires a lot of discipline and patience)

Source: I play the next obnoxious string instrument, the double bass. I rented when I started and it paid off.

[Deleted]

I played violin from when i was 4 to about 16(i am 38) now. Took me about 7 years to get good at ot. I will start again in near future.

Same here, I started around the age of 5 or 6 (primary school) and continued until I was mid teens (about 15/16). I'm 28 this month and been considering taking it up again but remember the long lessons and the frustration it brought for a good few years before I was able to play decently.

Good luck to you as it sounds like you're in the same boat as me with thinking of starting again soon and to the OP for taking it up . Its a wonderful instrument and personally its made me appreciate music a lot more than I would have, even WoW music and picking out the strings in that.

[the game]

You're right, he doesn't need a strad.

But getting a violin from guitar center is a huge no no

Op, go to your local music store and find one you can rent. That way, you pay as you play and you don't make a huge $120 commitment to something you most likely won't like (violin requires a lot of discipline and patience)

Source: I play the next obnoxious string instrument, the double bass. I rented when I started and it paid off.

when I decide I'm going to do something I follow through. Maybe i'll check out a local music store though tomorrow. the one from guitar center isn't supposed to be here til friday so if I find something else I'll just return it.

[PACOX]

Do you actually want to learn the violin or do you want to play music?

I've always wanted to learn to play an instrument, never have though :/. I have played around with a bunch of DAWs though.

Check out my mixtape, its fire!

[Deleted]

...been considering taking it up again but remember the long lessons and the frustration it brought for a good few years before I was able to play decently.

Same thing with every classical instrument, though. I should pick up the trumpet again, but there doesn't seem to be any suitable group to play with; either they are way above my skill level, or then they play too much modern stuff I don't really like. Finding even a casual brass quintet seems to be tough. I'm fully into classical, and to me the trumpet is at its best in Baroque and Renaissance music -- while stuff like Jazz is pretty much just a waste of beauty potential.

[the game]

Do you actually want to learn the violin or do you want to play music?

I've always wanted to learn to play an instrument, never have though :/. I have played around with a bunch of DAWs though.

Check out my mixtape, its fire!

I know how to play several instruments. I like learning different instruments. Yes I want to play the violin. Why would I start a thread if I didn't?

[TirielWoW]

I played as a child. It takes years to really get good, tbh. I miss playing it.

[glo]

I suppose it depends on whether or not you know how to read sheet music. If not, bow string instruments would be the hardest possible thing to pick up and learn. If you do know how to read sheet music, they're still the hardest instruments, but at least you won't need to go into learning sheet music cold.

If you need to learn how to read sheet music, I'd start with a keyboard or piano to get your bearings.

All of that aside, as an adult (still developing brains of kids have a much easier time) it's going to take some time to make something that sounds acceptable on a violin, probably 2 years for the basics, 15+ to reasonably master it.

[Deleted]

Always wanted to learn the cello or at least the violin. Didn't happen, but I love listening to string quartets. Good luck with it and may you achieve greatness