Month 1 Violin Progress Recap: The Violin Journey Begins

I have been taking violin lessons since April 23, 2013. My lessons are once a week for 30 minutes. So I have taken a total of 9 lessons up to this point. However, I actually started "playing" on the violin on May 7th, 2013. Therefore, I have been "playing" the violin for about 7 weeks. The first 2 lessons were mostly just getting to know each other, getting set up with an instrument, learning to hold the bow and violin properly, and bowing on my shoulder to get a feel for how the bowing should feel like. I was not allowed to play a single note until we had worked on these things and I completely understand why!

 Now, about a month and a half into my lessons, I am pretty happy with my progress. I play a few teacher improvised songs (or exercises) designed to teach me a certain skill. These aren't actual songs. In regards to real songs, I can play "twinkle, twinkle" and its variations,  "French Folk Song", and "Drunken Sailor". My sailor is still a little bit drunk and needs some extra time to sober up. :) When I play it too fast my bow or fingers don't move as fast as I want them to so I am still working on my accuracy at higher speed. Currently, I am working on "Song of the Wind" from Suzuki Book 1.

I use 3 different music books in my lessons. My teacher uses the Suzuki method to teach adult students. Therefore, I have the "Suzuki Violin 1" book. In addition to this I have the "I Can Read" book for reading music and an additional book that has some folk/children/classical music (can't remember the name at the moment).

In regards to reading music, I am starting to recognize the notes (especially the ones from the A and E string) much faster than I used to. I still need to learn to read ahead and also to keep my bow in the right place while I am sight reading. While sight reading my concentration is fully on reading the notes and consequently my bowing technique and left hand finger positions go out the window. Hopefully this will improve with time.

I have been keeping a log of the hours that I have practiced (we'll see how long I'll be able to keep that up and not forget) just to know how much time I have actually spent playing. I try to practice at least one hour a day. Some days I can't practice but I try to stick to practice time every day as much as I can. If I can't practice one day I try to make up for it by practicing more than one hour the next day or during the weekend. Up to this point, I have practiced a total of 43 hours (this does not include the lesson lesson times).  Only 43 hours?! That's pretty much equivalent to a single work week (40 hours). It definitely feels like I have been practicing more than 40 hours! I still have a long long way to go. However, I am happy with my progress so far and look forward to more!

Who Am I and Why on Earth Did I Decide to Take Up Violin?

Who am I?

I am currently a research scientist at an amazing research institution in the US. My field of study is atmospheric sciences. I finished my Master of Science degree in this field in the summer of 2012. Currently I do full-time research on a variety of topics that I will not discuss here so I don’t bore everyone. ;)


Why learn to play an instrument?

I feel that I need a hobby to keep me busy. I have spent most of my life working to accomplish career goals and never took much time to find things that I like to do in my spare time. Now that I am done with school forever and have some time to myself in the evenings I need to find a hobby to keep me entertained.

Finding hobbies has always been a huge struggle for me though. Some people play sports, others make crafts or art, others like spending time outdoors or with other people. I always find that I never fit into any of the common “hobbies” categories and consequently feel like I don’t have anything in common with other people.  I have tried a few hobbies throughout my life but got bored with them quickly. The only hobby that I enjoyed for a while was playing tennis. I played tennis just for fun all through High School. However, when I went to College I had no time for it and stopped playing. I have only been to a tennis court a handful of times ever since as I completely lost interest in it.

After finishing graduate school last summer, I have tried to find some new hobbies and interests. I tried sewing, ice skating, photography, but it all got boring very quickly. The only hobby that I have spent some considerable time on for the past year is making YouTube videos. I've met some awesome people on there and it has been a lot of fun to share my interests with other like-minded people. While this has been a lot of fun, I sometimes feel that I also need to do other hobbies that are a bit more challenging. I am the type of person that gets tired of the day-in and day-out routine and need to find other things to do to keep my brain busy.

One of the things that I enjoy the most in life is learning new things. I enjoy learning new skills, working to perfect these skills, and finding that I have improved after working on perfecting them for a while. It is always a very gratifying experience to realize that I have “accomplished” something, even if it’s not perfect. Therefore, I think that I need to spend some time on some hobbies that are a bit more intellectually stimulating to keep me interested. Playing an instrument is one of the hobbies that would fit into this category. It allows me to learn new skills and I obviously have to put a lot of work into it to see improvement. I have always felt that I have been missing the experience of “music” in my life since I have never played an instrument. It is something that I have always wanted to do but never had the time or money for it. Now that I have the time to dedicate to practicing and the money to pay for lessons, why not give it a try?! Although I am in my mid-twenties I believe that you're never too old to learn to play an instrument.


Finally, why on Earth would I decide to take up the violin, one of the most difficult instruments to play well?

I find the violin to be the instrument that produces the most hauntingly beautiful sound. Out of all the instruments, the violin is the only one that I am happy to listen to on it's own. It doesn't need any other backup instruments to sound beautiful.

In addition to this, I also find that there is a lot you can say with the violin that you can't really say with other instruments. Violin music can carry so many emotions with it. Some tunes can be incredibly sad or lively while others are hauntingly beautiful. That versatility makes it one of the most worthwhile instruments to learn (in my mind). I most certainly do not plan on playing violin as a career. I just want to be able to hear music coming from my own instrument and please my own ear. The challenges associated with learning violin make it a fascinating instrument to learn to play and will hopefully keep me interested for many years. I look forward to seeing what I’ll be able to play in a few years (more like 10 years instead of "a few years", lol)!