Learning Pains...

     It's time for an update! As of now, things are still going slowly but smoothly, apart from the one tuning incident. I have been practicing my pizzicato and the fingerboard. I have learned the notes for the Key of D, and have spent the last week or so running through scales and simple songs. I still don't always land on the right note, but I can hear and feel myself getting better. Along with this however, come some pains--not all bad, though! My finger tips are becoming calloused, which is good--no more tenderness and pain. My left hand and fingers are also getting stronger and more dexterous as I become more comfortable holding the violin and moving along the fingerboard. However, the first finger on my left hand sustained some sort of absurd tenderness or sprain, making it painful to practice or even use that finger at all for several days. I chalked it up to over use:)
      Along with physical pains have been the tuning pains. After my last lesson, my violin stayed in tune and the pegs stayed put. However, today my G string was just slightly off--and thus ensued thirty minutes of playing with the fine tuners, and occasionally the pegs, to get the strings back into tune; for as all know, as soon as you get one string tuned, another goes off just a little. But at long last, I got them all in tune, and while I don't think I truly understand the tuning process any better, you can only learn by doing, so I gained something in that tonight! Looking forward to my lesson tomorrow...

First Frustration!!

So I thought that I understood tuning, but apparently not. I guess it's just one of those things you have to learn by trial and error. I went to play today, and found that a string was out of tune. For the next thirty minutes I grew more and more frustrated as I tried and tried to tune and re-tune the strings. And just as I was getting there....snap!! That sickening, popping sound you never want to hear when you play a string instrument. My teacher warned me that this happens quite often to beginners learning how to tune; I guess I was just hoping to put it off a little longer. I suppose I should've skipped practicing today, since I wasn't feeling like it anyway ( I had read about giving yourself one day off anyway--more on practicing theories later). I guess I will have to take it off now!:)
Understandably, I was very angry by the time the string popped, and even more so when it did. Not wanting to be defeated however, I am prepared in advance to get it replaced right after school tomorrow so I can practice tomorrow night. I also went online and did a more in-depth search and reading on tuning violins. I think I found a site that will be more helpful, and I plan on making sure I really understand the theory of tuning after my lesson this week. Will let you know how the tuning goes as I progress. I imagine that this is only one of the first major frustrations I will face in learning the violin.....

http://store.musicbasics.com/howtotunviol.html
http://www.get-tuned.com/online_violin_tuner.php

Pizzicato

My first lesson went well. My teacher is my age and an accomplished cello player (among other string instruments), so I hope I will have much to learn from her. She also helps put me at ease, which is essential as I get "stage fright" playing in front of anyone. My first task was to learn to tune my violin, put on the shoulder rest, and hold it appropriately. Sounds ridiculously simple, but you would be surprised! My back, arm, and shoulder muscles positively ache from holding the violin for the past four days, and I have a tender spot on my collar bone and jaw! Not to mention the fingertips of my left hand are tender and raw.
The aches and pains of training one's body to a new instrument aside, I have been given the task of practicing the following things: tuning my instrument (so far a success, for which I am greatly proud as I never could figure out how to tune my guitar in the past!!); keeping time and refreshing my base of music knowledge; and playing the D string (open D, G, F#, and E). I have practiced the simple little ditties in my book over and over again, spending more than an hour each day for the past three days on them. Despite the simplicity of what I am doing, which is called pizzicato (plucking the strings--no bow yet!!), I find that I still really need to practice moving along the D string. I am moving much more smoothly between the notes now (and finding and hitting the right notes first try now!) Even in three days, I can see improvement in my pizz., and am REALLY loving playing. I CAN'T wait to move onto the next step, which will be the A string notes, and soon, very soon, the bow. In the meantime, it is more practice for me, and some bow exercises that will train my hands and arms to handle and maneuver the bow.

Let's start at the very beginning...

I have decided to chronicle my adventures as a beginning (and hopeful) violinist. I can't remember the last time I was this excited about something: I am practically itching to get started! I first wanted to learn the violin when I was in high school, but as my parents had invested years worth of money into piano lessons for me, pursuing a new instrument was not an option. Nevertheless, I fell in love with the hauntingly beautiful music of the violin and have been addicted to the sound of the sweet fiddle ever since. Surprisingly, the idea that I could simply begin learning once I was an adult who could manage my own time and money didn't occur to me until a few weeks ago--and then I had an epiphany. Who says you can't learn something new (albeit challenging) as an adult? Who says everything new and exciting has to be begun as a child or youth!? And so, I purchased a beginner violin and a few accessories. I have had my fiddle for a week now and go for my first lesson tomorrow, but I have not wasted my time waiting for my lesson. True, I don't know how to appropriately tune my violin yet, but I have spent my time practicing my posture, hand positions, and bowing, as well as viewing tutorials and reading articles and blogs on skills and tips for beginning violinists. But now it is time to face the music, so to speak....my first lesson and the true beginning of what I hope to be a life- long, fulfilling adventure.