Anyone teach themselves violin?

[lmacmil]

I'd guess most of us guitar players are self-taught, at least initially. I'm wondering if the violin is something that can be self-taught also or would that be an exercise in futility?

I have been playing guitar for decades (had 18 months of lessons after almost 30 years of playing) but I don't consider myself a "real musician" so I've never advanced beyond mediocre. Saw a guy at an open mic recently who was a decent guitar player and also played fiddle. Didn't get to ask if he was self taught or what but by his technique, he appeared pretty amateurish (but I enjoyed it anyway.)

Just wondering.

[blue]

I played violoin before high school. There's a lot to getting good tone. I would say you need some help. Does it have to be formal training? No. But interacting with experienced folks on a regular basis is probably mandatory. Did I mention there's a lot of technique to getting good tone?

[him]

You can of course learn to do anything on your own. Anything that doesn't get you killed when you mess up anyway.

Violin... well it depends on how fast you can run and a few other factors but the odds aren't in your favor.

If you still want to risk it...
1) Consider an electric. Conventional violins are loud enough to keep you from hearing the mob as it rushes you.
2) Get yourself a stack of little dot stickers and a tuner. Tune up, then figure out where your fingers should go and stick the dots in those places on the fingerboard. Maybe consider just practicing touching dots instead of playing.
3) It helps if you have played another bowed instrument. When I was in the third grade I played cello at school. That theoretically gives me a leg up compared to someone who has never used a bow. Note my use of the word 'theoretically'. Bows are simple, and simple tools usually require sophisticated users.

Kidding aside, I've picked up some basics on quite a few instruments on my own/without a teacher... Flute (modern concert and 6, 7 hole variations, fife, etc), clarinet, bass guitar, ukulele, mandolin, harmonica, trumpet, and some oddballs like Xaphoons, plus of course I have some training on cello, keyboard, and guitar (though not much on any of them). I enjoy learning about new instrments, a little too much in all honesty since it distracts me from mastering any of them. The violin had by far the steepest curve to get out of awful. I never did, actually, which makes it unique for me. I'll claim to be able to play a simple tune on a lot of instruments but not on a violin.

If you want it bad enough you can do it, but finding a teacher or mentor would make it worlds easier.

[lmacmil]

Originally Posted by him

The violin had by far the steepest curve to get out of awful. I never did, actually, which makes it unique for me. I'll claim to be able to play a simple tune on a lot of instruments but not on a violin.

Thanks. That's kind of what I thought but was looking for someone who'd gone down the road before. Maybe I'll just try a harmonica.

[JCook1]

I've played the violin for over 20 years, mostly teaching myself. But I started out taking classical lessons for a year or so just so I could learn the instrument and the techniques involved, which pretty much are applied to all the music you can play on it. It's good to have a teacher in the beginning, at least, for an instrument as hard as the violin. After taking lessons for a year or a year and a half, I continued on my own for a number of years, and then took lessons again for a little over a year. It takes a lot of time and practice to learn the violin with or without lessons, but if you stay with it you will improve over time. That time, though, can be hell for your housemates!

The suggestion in the post above of placing dots on the fingerboard where the notes are is a good one, especially in the beginning, but you'll have to have a good ear to place them properly. I would also suggest starting out just plucking the strings, no bow, and finding where the notes are, the whole steps and half steps, and getting your ear used to hearing them when they're in or out of tune. I sometimes play fiddle tunes this way when I'm learning them. You'll find after a while that you'll use both your ear, and muscle memory to hit the notes right.

The bow is actually the hardest part of it all. It's the means of sound production, and I still find it difficult. The way you grip it, and press it and draw across the strings is very important. This is why a teacher is really good in the beginning, to get you into the proper habits. That will make it easier and give you better tone production than if you try to figure it out yourself.

Having said all this, we live in the age of the internet and there is a LOT of information there to help you teach yourself. Don't get discouraged and give up on it - it's worth all the work.

Jack

[him]

Originally Posted by lmacmil

Thanks. That's kind of what I thought but was looking for someone who'd gone down the road before. Maybe I'll just try a harmonica.

I prefer to learn on my own. Apart from flight training and a few things to do with motorcycles and suchlike...the few honestly dangerous things I do... I enjoy simply jumping in and working a new skill out on my own. Usually that works out but when it doesn't there is no shame, to speak of, that can't be lived with, knowing you don't have to admit doing it, in getting training.

[Bikewer]

I build cigar-box instruments. I resisted building a violin for a long time as I was convinced that if I did I would have to try to learn to play it....

However, I broke down and built one. Turned out pretty well other than the fact that the box I used is a bit too short and as a result it's difficult to hold properly.
Still, it actually sounds quite credible.

I have been trying to play using a very simple online technique site and a very simplified fiddle "tablature"....
So far, I can make some rude noises that sound somewhat like "bile them cabbage down".
Hardest part for me (mind, I'm starting this project at the advanced age of 65) is keeping the bow properly positioned in the "sweet spot" for tone production.

[Tnfiddler]

I have been playing for 7 years next month and took lessons for about a year. I HIGHLY recommend lessons on the violin/fiddle and base this on my own experience! I took lessons for a couple of months when I first started from a teacher who happened to be a drunk and he taught me correct left-hand/arm technique but failed to teach me correct bow grip, wrist technique for the bow hand and correctly flexing and extending my fingers while bowing. He also didn't teach me about keeping my right elbow forward to enable bowing straight over the strings versus bowing with the tip of the bow canted towards the fingerboard. I picked up some really bad habits and played that way for over a year before I started lessons with a teacher who has a masters degree in classical violin. About 10 notes into the first song I played for him, he stopped me and showed me what I was doing wrong and then started some major work with me to correct those bad habits. It took a good 6 months of intense practice on my part to fix it. So don't just try to wing it or watch youtube videos to learn how to play the violin, find a GREAT teacher with a classical
background and learn the correct way, you will only be benefiting yoursellf.

[Aaron Smith]

I started teaching myself about a year ago. As mentioned, it can be pretty humbling but also very rewarding. I've actually progressed much faster than I would have guessed. Around here you can get beginner violins and bows off of Craigslist for 100 bucks; why not give it a try? I really love the instrument, totally different from guitar in every way. Plus the next time you go to a jam and there are 20 guitarists, you'll be in demand no matter how badly you play.

[815C]

I did. The progression went like this.

1. I learned to flatpick fiddle tunes on the guitar

2. I then learned to flatpick those same tunes on mandolin

3. Since mandolin and fiddle are tuned the same way, it was fairly simple to transfer the fiddle tunes from mandolin to fiddle. The tough part was intonation. Playing along with records helped, as did playing along with keyboards (more so than other stringed instruments).

Bought my first fiddle at a flea market when I was 15. When I was 22 I was playing fiddle (a Barcus Berry 5 string) almost every night in a country band. When I was 26 I played fiddle on the stage of the Grand Ol' Opry. Then due to limited practice time I decided to focus only on guitar and got rid of all my other instruments (to help pay the bills). After more than 20 of not playing fiddle, I picked up a nice hand made one and had a good pick up installed and I'm back to playing it again.

[blue]

Originally Posted by 815C

I did. The progression went like this.

As they say on weight loss commercials "Results shown are NOT typical"

[815C]

Somewhere along the way a professional cello player gave me a good tip. Take the time to ensure your violin is EXACTLY in tune, and use open strings as reference points when you are getting started.

[BigRed51]

I fiddled around with the violin for awhile, many years ago. I practiced hard and long, and after a few weeks I was starting to feel pretty proud of myself. Then one day, while playing my best tune, my wife stuck her head in the door of my music room and asked "what was that noise?" I told her I didn't hear any noise, I was just playing my fiddle ... to which she answered, "Thank goodness! I thought there was a chicken caught in the vacuum cleaner!"

I gracefully withdrew from my quest to play the fiddle.

[zabdart]

The tricky thing about fiddling is to learn right-hand bowing technique to get nice sounds to come out of the violin, rather than loud, awful noises... and for that, a teacher is necessary in the beginning. Once you've mastered that and some basic fingering, you can more or less progress by yourself.

[Andy C]

I'm another who took the route via mandolin. Not that I set out with that course in mind - the mandolin was only incidentally a route into fiddle playing, and I'm still a much better mandolin player than fiddler.