Had my first violin lesson yesterday. My piano teacher teaches violin too, so we have changed from having a one hour piano lesson per week, to having 45mins (ish) piano and 45 mins(ish) violin And for only an extra £3 on top of what I already pay. He's great like that. He was gonna just leave the price as it was - £3 was as high as I could persuade him to go lol!

Anyway, it was really good. My friend has lent me one of her violins until I get one of my own (It's beautiful, and thankfully insured being worth nearly two grand!). The only thing I need is a proper shoulder rest. He is getting some dots for me to start, and he showed me the basics like how to hold, hand posture, things to watch out for in terms of slipping posture, the first few basics notes we pluck. It was good fun. Made my arms ache like billy-o though lol I'm not used to holding them like that. And plucking dented my fingers a bit but they'll harden up over time Also showed me how to hold a bow, but explained we wouldn't be using it for quite a while yet! I think he wanted to get across how very important proper bow hold and posture is for playing, and I knew bow wouldn't be used for a while yet so its all good

My one concern was that I live in an apartment with laminate floors and thin walls. My neighbors may not have appreciated the practice lol. My piano is digital so I can adjust volume and use earphones if it is really late at night or early in the morning. I have seen, however, things called practice mutes. Are these a good thing to look in to? I will likely be practicing in the evening at around 8pm (practice piano at 6am before work, and about 7pm-8pm on an evening). Any tips on these mutes?

Also, is it better to practice in a large or small room in terms of sound quality? Or is this not even an issue? My violin teacher said that the room he plays in isn't always great because it doesn't allow the violin to 'sing' as well as it could. Probably not gonna be a problem for me for a while yet lol. It'll probably sound more like vomiting than singing at the moment lol! But I have a small room (10ft by 12ft) or a larger one (18ft by 12ft).

Anyway, thanks for listening to me ramble. Very very very excited

Danny

HOW EXCITING!!!


your 'first' violin lesson

and how lucky to have such a nice teacher

practice mutes:
yes they do 'quiten' your violin down, I'd say the answer is to try it for yourself and see what you think as I never liked using one and will 'refuse' (they are cheap enough anyway, actually I can post you mine if you want it!)
It may be more worth talking to your neighbours and and find out if it really is such a 'bother' if you practice between 8 and 9pm (do violin first then your digital piano on a low volume when it's getting really late), they may not mind at all at that time of the evening, especially if they watch telly, you'd be surprised most people are quite 'tolerant' and even more so when you are being so nice to actually ask them.

I must say you are really lucky as well to have a violin costing nearly £2000 to borrow! you may not like the one you buy anymore if what you will buy is a £70 one


WELCOME to the world of violin playing




just wanted to add:
my violin teacher teaches from a flat very similar to what you are describing!

also for room size: I would not worry, either will do, or try them both and see what you like best OR choose the one that 'disturbs your neighbours less'

that is very exciting. welcome to the first day of the rest of your life

does your friend know that you're sticking coloured spots on her prized violin.......

Hurray, another violinist!!!

I practice and teach in a room smaller than you are describing, so I wouldn't worry too much, especially at first.
Just a word of warning with the practice mutes, especially the metal ones can be very heavy for the bridge, and if they fall off or slip could dent the varnish on your posh borrowed violin...
I would agree to check with your neighbours or not to play after 9 which is quite reasonable, as you will want to listen to your tone when first bowing.

yes we are in 'desperate need' of more violinists

(just wish we had a couple of more double bass players on this string forum )

Hi there

Yes, my friend does know. She is looking to see if she has some now. Believe it or not, this is her cheaper violin lol! She is mates with my teacher lol they play in the same orchestra, even sit next to each other lol!

As for the neighbors, I know what they are like. They aren't the nicest neighbors, any excuse to have a moan. If I get up to pee in the middle of the night they complain about the chain flushing lol. Makes me wanna stamp my feet real hard at night to annoy them lol.

I have a couple of hundred pound put to one side for a new violin, its just finding the right time when me and my teacher are free to go around and look. The day will come

Jojo, I'm gonna send you a private message, hope thats ok

Thanks everyone

Danny

this is getting BETTER AND BETTER! I mean, your friend and teacher playing in the orchestra, you could join them in the future!!!

if the neighbours aren't that nice, maybe practicing loudly IS the answer? (joke, I am nice person 'really' )

I had a friend who used to work late shifts in a mill and his downstairs neighbour complained about him taking his workboots off too loudly when he got home, said she coulnt sleep until after she heard the 2nd boot.
So after that..off would come the first boot...then..about 15minutes later...would come the 2nd boot...
Next night, same thing but 20minutes apart..and so on.
Think she got the message soon enough, people have to live!

My friend (who lent me the violin) and I work together in the pharmacy. My teacher takes his scripts to us at the pharmacy. My friend lets me use her upright piano sometimes. I am going to try out the piano in my teachers choir. My teacher leads the string section, she sits next to him and leads in his absence. Have said I would like to be there in a few years lol. Yep, the three of us are connected somehow!!!!!

I have noticed a lot of people in the health profession are musical. From 10 pharmacists over 2 weeks, only two of them didn't play an instrument. The rest all played to a very high standard lol!

I used to share my house with a 'strange adult' (no not a husband or partner, just a friend) who had the habit of SHOUTING at her cat at 3AM and also having VERY LOUD telephone conversations outside my bedroom door!!!!
she would not 'understand' (or maybe just plainly refused to) how this was a 'problem' and how I would suffer from broken sleep as a result!
I then HAD to resort to wearing ear plugs ALL THE TIME as there would never be a night where I would not get woken up!
After 2 years of sharing with this person I moved somewhere else. Now I had no need for the ear plugs so was SO HAPPY to be able to not use them.

SADLY THIS WAS NOT THE CASE , after 2 years of constant use I got used to them and now CANNOT have a good night's sleep without using them

anyway, told this little story as the lady complaining about the boots maybe never heard of ear plugs? if her sleep is so light she may benefit from them?

Hi Danny

I hope you enjoy your new instrument, you can buy a rubber tourte mute for about £2.00 and it is worth using for the days when you don't want to make too much noise and more importantly days when you might be in the high end and graaaaaaating on your own nerves LOL. The ebony mutes can be too muting and also tend to vibrate so would not recommend for a beginner.
Don't worry about the room size, you'll hardly notice any difference as your ear will be up close to the instrument anyway.
Shoulder rests are subjective, try as many as you can if possible, might be worth checking ebay for second hand ones. I have three that I have gathered over the years as I found my needs changed as I progressed, the mosy adjustable of all and one that hooks over your shoulder to give extra support is a Bonmusica, however the Wolf rests are very good too and less expensive. It is worth looking through web for tips as it may depend on your build as to what suits you best, if there is a music shop where you can go and try then I would suggest you do that.
Happy playing

I'm hoping to pick things up pretty fast. I just think conditioning my arms, wrists, hands and fingers to stay in the right posture will be the biggest challenge lol!! I just can't wait to get to the bow stage

Congratulations!!you will get used to the arm sore in no time, I know how you feel, i couldn't practice for longer than 15 minutes, but after 3 months, i was abe to play in orchestra for 3 hrs long rehearsals!

I do not like my practice mute and almost never use it, but if you must, it's better than not practicing at all. I find it mask the tone too much that i might be falsely thinking I was playing well.