I'm 16 and going into 6th form. I got a violin nearly 2 months ago and am intending on (and very looking forwards to!) getting lessons when i go back to school in September.
Thing is, will the teacher think im starting too late? AM i starting too late?! xD
Most starter violinists are like... in year 6 or 7 or younger >_<
I'm doing quite well though, i got the grade 3 book on monday and i've learnt and memorised some of the pieces, and know many of the scales!
Basically i've got two years to get some grades done. I'd really hope to get to grade 7 or 8 before i go to uni... Is this enough time? =/ Considering i do and will practise for atleast an hour a day =/

Certainly not too old to start learning: I am 29 and I just started!

Too late for what though? Depends what you want to do with it.

Find yourself a good teacher who likes teaching adults and there shouldn't be a problem.

Grade 8 in 2 years seems a little ambitious......... I've been playing for 6 months and you're lucky if I'd get grade 2 if I sat an exam now. Violin is difficult and I would NEVER imagine that I would be a grade 7-8 in the next 18 months.

But I don't have any expertise so i'll leave it to the experts to comment on that.

Yeah, i know it is a little too ambitious >_< I'd really like to be possibly working on grade 7 by the time i leave though
The reason i was wondering if it may seem im starting too late is as i would be having lessons from the teacher in school - and all the other beginners will be about 11 >_<

As for what i wanted to do with it, well im planning on being a flautist or/and... a peripatetic woodwind teacher but, my woodwind teacher told me that playing strings will be good 1) for uni, they like to see you have a range of experience and also 2) if i cant get work as a woodwind peripatetic teacher straight away, i could possibly teach strings peripatetically whilst waiting for there to be a woodwind job. i dunno how likely this is, seems rather impossible... and obviously i'd have to have grade 8 for this... which i could work for over the time im in uni maybe

I wouldn't say you're too late to become a good player. If I had started playing at 16 that would mean I had now been playing for 13 years...... IF ONLY! I would imagine I'd be pretty good after 13 years. You've got quite a head start on most of us adult learners.

But whether you can get THAT good by the time you go to uni...... along with all your a-levels and other instruments...... really wouldnt' know

Never too late to do anything first of all,
getting to grade 7 or 8 by uni? that would be a couple of years...that is a 'tad' ambitious I must say, I am not saying don't try but what I want to say is: don't be hard on yourself and be too frustrated if you don't. Give it a good bash, practice hard and see where you get
I want to say to you this as well: I am not the fastest learner around but my teacher thinks I am on the 'fast' side with my learning. I started as a complete beginner in january and my teacher reckons I could do grade 3 in sept/oct and pass with a good mark (by the way I am 37!!!!) so by the time I've learnt for a year I'd be a grade 3 working towards grade 4..but all the fun starts now with shifting and more adventurous bowing techniques so I will expect my progress to slow down....I know I will NOT get to grade 8 in 2 years, not unless I was to practice a lot more than I do now (I do an hour a day now), hours and hours a day, and even then I may not do it in 2 years.

It will be hard but if you have the right attitude then give it a go! Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
Jo

Hiya

In general terms, no way are you too late for violin lessons.

If you seriously want to learn the violin for its own sake, the age of other beginners is not an issue.

BUT I honestly don't think that you are going to be anywhere near grade 7 level in 2 years. There is an incredible level of technique to develop, and that takes time.

Not only that, but you may find that you are not physically able to practise for an hour a day. I managed to injure myself trying to do that. And while I was busily wrecking my neck and shoulder, I was "only" progressing to a grade 1 distinction in 4 months.

As a benchmark: I have a licentiate in my first instrument, am grade 8 ish on my second after 2 years - but only because I was at grade 5 level when I started lessons, and have also had violin lessons for two years from being an absolute beginner. I'm about grade 4/borderline grade 5 level, and would be very surprised if, despite having already done the basics, I got to grade 8 as fast as another 2 years from now.

I would also take issue with your teacher's suggestion about needing strings knowledge if you're going to study a woodwind instrument at University. I'd have thought that it would be far more valuable to achieve the best you can on your first instrument, plus possibly getting a decent knowledge of the other main woodwind instruments if you're planning to be a general woodwind peri.

>does the never too late dance<

Never too late to start, although I too think that actual grade 7-8 standard may be pushing it in the time you have available (and as KJ says, last thing you want is to injure yourself!)

String experience is useful for orchestras etc which are generally overrun with woodwinds.

I don't know quite what your teacher means by suggesting you teach both though, that seems a bit odd... violin is not easy to teach even if you have a well developed technique over many years' practice.

If you want to learn the violin, then go for it, but only if you actually want to play the instrument!

Hi.
It's never too late to start!!
It is a little ambitious but I know of a boy who started in late year 11/early 6th form and he had grade eight by the time he'd finished his second year of 6th form. He had talent, but he also had dedication and worked hard. So if you work, and you can master some grade three things now, I would say you could possibly do it. It would take an awful lot of time hard work and dedication though.
What other people have said is true as well.
x

There's a guy in our orchestra who playing in the 2nd violins who started to learn violin when he retired! Also a woman who started when her daughter started - she was 32. She has only just reached Grade 7 standard tho, (her daughter's 26 now, and a professional musician), so be warned, it ain't easy. But should be easier for someone your age rather than 20s, 30s and beyond.

I started on the violin at 32 and did grade 6 (distinction!) after 2 1/2 years, giving birth to my second baby in the middle. It took a few more years to get up to grade 8, though - having two toddlers didn't give much practice time!

It took a long time to find a comfortable chinrest/shoulder rest combination so that I could play as long as I felt like.

I would definitely give it a go, though, as I think you will have far more playing opportunities than on the flute. Even if you don't manage grade 8 by the time you go to uni you should be able to do it while you are there. And consider doing Trinity/Guildhall rather than ABRSM - it was all the scales that took me so much time, not the pieces!

Good luck.