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Azera
3800 Posts
Hello everybody, I'am currently fourteen years of age and recently had an interest in the violin. I was wondering if the TL community could help me with my problems. Is it too late for me to start learning the violin or any instrument for that matter? Can any of you also tell me about some experiences that you might have had that are similar to this or anything related to learning violins in general?  | ||
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minus_human
4784 Posts
Seeing as you're fourteen, I'd say that if in two weeks time you haven't forgotten about this and still want to learn, try it out. | ||
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Ludwigvan
Germany2369 Posts
The problem with the violin is that it doesn't sound very good in the beginning (^_^). It really takes time to get a good sound, other than with the piano for example. So, don't be scared when you listen to a recording of your play for the first time. XD | ||
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Aim Here
Scotland672 Posts
It's far, far better to learn it just for your own personal amusement than to not bother and then regret never learning a musical instrument in 30 or 40 years time. | ||
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Suichoy
Canada397 Posts
However, if you just want to do it as a hobby, sure. Just join your school orchestra and with just a little practice, you'll reach a decent level in 2-3 years. Taking private lessons will accelerate your process greatly. In sum, if you have the time, dedication, and money, go for it. I personally want to pick up either the guitar or drums at age 20 (on top of piano and saxophone) and I don't even have the time to really practice anymore. Edit: Maybe someone can correct me but most good professional classical players I know start around age 8 latest and from there on out practice maybe an average 2-6 hours everyday. | ||
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Azera
3800 Posts
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Plexa
Aotearoa39261 Posts
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Latham
9555 Posts
I dunno about giving concerts on a international stage, but you can definitely learn to play at a level to please yourself and others. Also, don't buy a Stradivarius as you're first violin. Find a reasonably cheap one and grind it before you move onto the expensive brands. | ||
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Azera
3800 Posts
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BookTwo
1985 Posts
And to add to everyone else, no, it is not too late. I started piano at around that age and play almost everyday. I am actually thinking of starting violin myself, and I'm twenty years old. I assume your parents will be supporting you with lesson payments and the like? | ||
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beg
991 Posts
i've seen young guitarists around your age become really good really fast, playing very fast and complex soli after only about a year of practice. | ||
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Vinnesta
Singapore285 Posts
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Azera
3800 Posts
On August 22 2011 20:51 BookTwo wrote: An extremely expensive violin made by family Stradivari. Not many remain, and some have been sold for over one million dollars. And to add to everyone else, no, it is not too late. I started piano at around that age and play almost everyday. I am actually thinking of starting violin myself, and I'm twenty years old. I assume your parents will be supporting you with lesson payments and the like? Yea they will. My mom is really enthusiastic about me learning an instrument, but as for my dad... he's soso. | ||
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BookTwo
1985 Posts
Best of luck! I might just be following in your footsteps and getting lessons myself! | ||
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brachester
Australia1786 Posts
On August 22 2011 20:03 Azera wrote: Hello everybody, I'am currently fourteen years of age and recently had an interest in the violin. I was wondering if the TL community could help me with my problems. Is it too late for me to start learning the violin or any instrument for that matter? Can any of you also tell me about some experiences that you might have had that are similar to this or anything related to learning violins in general? well, like plexa said, you are def a bit behind compare to other people starts earlier, but your brain is developing so you tend to catch up quicker than they're start studying violin at the age of e.g. 9 I used to play piano for 3 years when i was 8, then i quit because i hated it back then, now i start picking it up again and the amount i learned in 1 year is more than the amount i learned in those 3 years, but of course if i didn't quit and still playing since then, i would be a lot better. I just think of it in term of fast and slow accerleration at different age. | ||
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Probe1
United States17920 Posts
It's never too late to learn anything! The popular myth that you have to start learning at a young age t become accomplished is crap. All you have to do is have passion and devotion. But to just learn you'll be just fine no matter how old you are. | ||
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brachester
Australia1786 Posts
On August 22 2011 21:14 Probe1 wrote: What do you mean too late! I'm 24 and every six months I rent a new instrument I've never played before and learn a rudimentary amount about it to see if I enjoy it. To date I'm a damn good with a guitar, piano or trombone and I know how to not sound horrible with half a dozen other instruments. It's never too late to learn anything! The popular myth that you have to start learning at a young age t become accomplished is crap. All you have to do is have passion and devotion. But to just learn you'll be just fine no matter how old you are. What do you mean by damn good? since to be "damn good" in a lot of people standard, you need to spent years training. You can play "decent" with a lot of instruments but to be damn good you need to focus one at a time, especially for violin since it is one of the hardest instruments on earth. One of my friend been playing for 3 years and it still sounds like crap, but once you master it, it became one of the most beautiful instrument ever made. | ||
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synapse
China13814 Posts
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divito
Canada1213 Posts
As for a general education standpoint, it is never too late to pick up an instrument. Learning at a decent rate and ability to utilize that information goes down as you get older, but that only means it might take a little longer than when you were younger and had more time to absorb what you were learning. | ||
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Animostas
United States568 Posts
There is a correlation between starting early and being professional, but since you're doing it because you like it, you'll be able to develop much faster starting off than they did when they were starting off. Keep the motivation up and you'll be Masters League violin ezpz. I started off on violin but I didn't really appreciate it much so I kinda quit early :[ I will live vicariously through you. | ||
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OpticalShot
Canada6330 Posts
On the other hand, age is a factor when setting your goals on how far you plan to go with that instrument. I'm not going to downright declare it impossible for you to become amazing at the violin, because I don't have any rights to do that and nobody else does. I am, however, going to advise you to set your goals realistically because chances are you won't be the next Joshua Bell (he's amazing, by the way - watch some of his performances on youtube!). I'm also going to add that you shouldn't worry too much about physical limitations. You don't need long thin slender fingers (in the left hand) to play the violin. Go check out some of the older, established violinists (like Itzhak Perlman) and you'll wonder how on earth he's hitting those delicate notes with his fingers. If you have a close friend who has a passion for music and is a decent-to-good piano player, you should try to play together as much as you can. It'll be mutually beneficial as both of you get some practice and also learn how to listen to other sounds (as well as your own). "Having a good ear" is critical for musicians, and it comes with both natural talent and practice - in my opinion, more so of the latter. As I always advise people picking up new instruments - load up your playlist with famous violin pieces (or maybe just classics in general) and immerse yourself into it! Hwaiting! | ||
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Count9
China10928 Posts
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brachester
Australia1786 Posts
On August 22 2011 21:50 Count9 wrote: Try for 3 months first, violins are expensive things if you're just gonna give it up in 2 yrs. 3 months wouldn't have him taste the difficulty of violin, it takes years to be able to play "decent". | ||
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ymir233
United States8275 Posts
Arkady Volodos also seriously started playing at 15 (although he also did some music theory stuff too) and look where he is now. Sky's the limit if you take things seriously. | ||
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Stijx
United States804 Posts
 , most of the stuff that kids learn with instruments ages 8-12 is stuff you can learn in like 3 weeks at age 14  | ||
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Toboe
United States276 Posts
Get a teacher with a good pedagogical background immediately. If there's a college or conservatory around you, look for one of the professors or grad students and ask if they have room in their studio for an absolute beginner, and some very nice person might take you in. Otherwise, look for an undergrad. In any case, see if you can informally attend studio or master classes that the university/conservatory holds for its students. If they let you in the classes, don't say a word while you're in there, just learn the nomenclature and the solutions to common problems while hearing some great music. After a few months of lessons - at least three or four to make sure you're not developing terrible habits - you should get the basics of reading music and finger/bowing technique from your teacher. Then, on your own, you can look at a ton of method/scale pattern/etude books (look at http://imslp.org/index.php?title=Category:For_violin for music that has gone out of copyright or is public domain and check your local music store). Read a lot of music (preferably read 2 or more pages you've never seen before every day, working on your sight reading), and take pieces that you would like to learn to your teacher, not only when there's something you don't understand, but every time to make sure you're not doing something wrong that you didn't realize. This is extracurricular in addition to whatever your teacher has planned for you. Do this because what you lack in experience now you can make up in determination by really submerging yourself into the subject. Prepare to get more frustrated and burnt out than you would think possible. Prepare to hit walls for weeks where you think you'll never be able to play a certain passage simply because of the intervals or rhythms, much less be able to play it with beautiful articulation, legato, style, tone, and phrasing. Prepare to play and think about the same 10-15 seconds of music for hours (and listen to your body for when to take breaks). Identify those walls early on and then get excited, because you will break through them eventually and you can use that as motivation to keep going, getting better, and tackling even harder problems. Search youtube for violin solos and concertos, and listen to a lot of different recordings of the same piece. Be wary of any information or masterclasses you see online (such as this thread and this post ) - even great teachers hand out bad information sometimes, and terrible teachers can ruin the technique you already have. It would be more reliable to go to the library and see if any of the violin journals are available to read.Learn some piano. Piano helps every musician, for the simplest reason that most music theory is taught and discussed using the piano as a visual guide. Always ALWAYS ALWAYS work on basics. It is unexplainable (yet awesome) how much better you sound when you've warmed up on slow passages and scales, and how much worse you get when you haven't after even a single day. You will not notice the improvement yourself (and probably won't be able to recognize it until you have decades of experience), but your teacher and other experts will. If, for some reason, there is a day when you simply do not have any time to practice, get up 20 minutes early and play some slow intervals and scale patterns. Your technique is like a fragile muscle, and not using it at all for even 24 hours can put you back weeks. | ||
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wacksteven
United States139 Posts
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Ghad
Norway2551 Posts
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RedJustice
United States1004 Posts
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Latedi
Sweden1027 Posts
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Baituri
Netherlands1501 Posts
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Latedi
Sweden1027 Posts
On August 22 2011 23:31 Baituri wrote: Lets say you get 80 years old. You still have 66 years to learn to play Violin. You are never too late... Heh best argument ever. This pretty much sums it up. | ||
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Dittert
United States97 Posts
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Existential
Australia2107 Posts
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Zombie_Velociraptor
274 Posts
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Xenocide_Knight
Korea (South)2625 Posts
I do want to point out that (as a violin major), most violinists that I know started around age 4-6. But I have friend who started when he was like 12 and he is just as good if not better than a lot of other violinists who started way earlier. Totally possible. I highly recommend finding a solid teacher though. Violin is a really physically unnatural instrument (as opposed to say piano or guitar) so it's really important to be set up well physically when you start learning, other wise you will develop shoulder/wrist/back problems further down the road.. | ||
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Sm3agol
United States2055 Posts
I've also spent an hour+ almost every day of the last year practicing it. I just had my first recital, and took 4 days off, and intend to not touch it again for another 3, just because I feel like my mind needs a break. And I am seriously just itching to get back into it. So no, it's not too late. Just make sure you find a top-notch teacher, buckle down, and practice that thing. I found a college senior majoring in cello, and she has been amazing, plus I got to go to all her recitals and such, for even more motivation. | ||
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PenguinWithNuke
250 Posts
First off, how far do you want to go with this? Are you just playing casually (like a guy who does only teamgames in SC), or do you want something more? If you want to do something more (like say, a concerto competition, or something like joining an orchestra and wanting to be the concertmaster), I can give you more advice on that. If you're going to be very casual, only practicing a couple of hours per week, then I'd suggest getting a lower-end violin and bow. I think music stores sell stuff like that in a package (case, bow, violin) for a couple hundred bucks. It might be more, because you need a full-size violin and bow (you're not dwarf, correct?). They include rosin (necessary, start off with something cheap), and you also need a shoulder-rest IMO. When you're starting off, here's something I STRONGLY recommend. There is no such thing as a fret on a violin, so you're going to have to learn everything from muscle memory. Get someone (a friend or a teacher who is good at violin) to help you find all the fingerings for first position. Get pieces of tape, and mark the basic fingerings. Here's a pic of what I mean. + Show Spoiler + ![[image loading]](http://brebru.com/violin/v5/fingerboard_tape.gif) If you really want to get good (or good enough so that you don't sound like crap), then practice every day for at least an hour. You'll get good in no time if you practice like this. Another thing that I consider necessary is a good teacher. There is no substitute if you want to improve rapidly and have good technique. Make sure that you do get a good teacher who will teach you proper technique, because having good technique makes it soooo much easier to play well. When you're starting off, I recommend the Suzuki Method books. It's good for starting, but after you improve, start doing other stuff. Because it gets boring. Above all, make sure that you enjoy playing the violin. It's a beautiful instrument, and you can really express yourself. PM me if you have any specific questions, atm, I'm kinda strapped for time. My credentials: + Show Spoiler + I've played violin for nearly ten years now, since I was seven or something (16 now). In the states, there is something called an "All-State" orchestra. You audition to be in it, and it's full of talented musicians. Also there is "All-New Englands" becaues I live in New ENgland. I've been in both (2 years in All-State and 1 in All New Englands). I should be concertmaster of my school orchestra next year, or sharing with one of my friends. edit: (also because I have a potty mouth and you're 14) Oh btw, forgot to mention. You're going to suck at the beginning. Really hard. But push on. You won't regret it. It'll take a week or so to stop sounding like absolute crap. Don't get discouraged Press on. | ||
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ketomai
United States2789 Posts
If you can get a set up like that where you play everyday in school you will improve pretty fast even if you don't commit a TON of time to it. If you enjoy it and want to actively pursue getting really good at it then getting a teacher to help you out when you're more advanced is a great idea. If you want to learn it on your own it might be a bit tougher because you don't get too much reward until you play for a long time. In that case, perhaps finding a teacher right away would be the best idea. | ||
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Kashll
United States1117 Posts
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NoodleFish
South Africa198 Posts
But it's never too late to start learning. As long as you're dedicated and push yourself to learn more. I hear violin is more difficult that guitar, and it helps to have an ear for music. But if you keep at it you will improve yourself :D | ||
ArvickHero
10387 Posts
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Sm3agol
United States2055 Posts
Always ALWAYS ALWAYS work on basics. It is unexplainable (yet awesome) how much better you sound when you've warmed up on slow passages and scales, and how much worse you get when you haven't after even a single day. You will not notice the improvement yourself (and probably won't be able to recognize it until you have decades of experience), but your teacher and other experts will. If, for some reason, there is a day when you simply do not have any time to practice, get up 20 minutes early and play some slow intervals and scale patterns. Your technique is like a fragile muscle, and not using it at all for even 24 hours can put you back weeks. I want to both emphasize this a put my two cents of difference in. First of all, SCALES. Boring, but they make a HUGE difference in your playing ability. To be honest, I have no idea why, but i have yet to find someone who could play perfect scales that sucks at their instrument. As for practicing. Don't ever take unconscious breaks, or "don't feel like it" breaks. But taking a planned couple of days of practice off can be hugely refreshing, and while it might take week for you to get completely back to where you were in muscle memory, you will probably learn new things a lot faster. Maybe some other people have different experiences, and theirs might be equally true for them. But for me, taking planned 2-3 day breaks every couple months are so refreshing. Like I said earlier, I'm taking my first cello "break" in over a year of practicing and making it through my first recital, and I am literally bursting at the seams itching to get back. Now, my previous experience with taking breaks was with piano, so maybe it'll be a bit rougher coming back from taking a few days off of the cello, but i know with piano it feels so great. | ||
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Chairman Ray
United States11903 Posts
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Divinek
Canada4045 Posts
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yasushii
United States45 Posts
On August 23 2011 02:41 PenguinWithNuke wrote: Ok, as someone who plays violin, I'll give you some advice: First off, how far do you want to go with this? Are you just playing casually (like a guy who does only teamgames in SC), or do you want something more? If you want to do something more (like say, a concerto competition, or something like joining an orchestra and wanting to be the concertmaster), I can give you more advice on that. If you're going to be very casual, only practicing a couple of hours per week, then I'd suggest getting a lower-end violin and bow. I think music stores sell stuff like that in a package (case, bow, violin) for a couple hundred bucks. It might be more, because you need a full-size violin and bow (you're not dwarf, correct?). They include rosin (necessary, start off with something cheap), and you also need a shoulder-rest IMO. When you're starting off, here's something I STRONGLY recommend. There is no such thing as a fret on a violin, so you're going to have to learn everything from muscle memory. Get someone (a friend or a teacher who is good at violin) to help you find all the fingerings for first position. Get pieces of tape, and mark the basic fingerings. Here's a pic of what I mean. + Show Spoiler + If you really want to get good (or good enough so that you don't sound like crap), then practice every day for at least an hour. You'll get good in no time if you practice like this. Another thing that I consider necessary is a good teacher. There is no substitute if you want to improve rapidly and have good technique. Make sure that you do get a good teacher who will teach you proper technique, because having good technique makes it soooo much easier to play well. When you're starting off, I recommend the Suzuki Method books. It's good for starting, but after you improve, start doing other stuff. Because it gets boring. Above all, make sure that you enjoy playing the violin. It's a beautiful instrument, and you can really express yourself. PM me if you have any specific questions, atm, I'm kinda strapped for time. My credentials: + Show Spoiler + I've played violin for nearly ten years now, since I was seven or something (16 now). In the states, there is something called an "All-State" orchestra. You audition to be in it, and it's full of talented musicians. Also there is "All-New Englands" becaues I live in New ENgland. I've been in both (2 years in All-State and 1 in All New Englands). I should be concertmaster of my school orchestra next year, or sharing with one of my friends. edit: (also because I have a potty mouth and you're 14) Oh btw, forgot to mention. You're going to suck at the beginning. Really hard. But push on. You won't regret it. It'll take a week or so to stop sounding like absolute crap. Don't get discouraged Press on. agree with pretty much everything that's said in this post as a fellow (former) violinist! i played from 10-17; so about 7 years. i started off with the tape markings like what he/she mentioned above -- really helps with learning the positions! i had private lessons and joined the orchestra during my second year of high school. the key is really practice, practice, practice -- what everyone has been saying. you may like it now, but afterwards, it's possible you might question whether or not you really, truly love it -- as i did. good luck! (i remember when i was just starting out, i threw a hugggeeeeee tantrum lol i was just so frustrated.) | ||
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Chairman Ray
United States11903 Posts
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itsjustatank
Hong Kong9151 Posts
I'd get someone to try and teach you how to play though. Self-taught violin does not sound like a painless proposition. | ||
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Kenpachi
United States9908 Posts
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zeOllie
Australia486 Posts
also, never have the pressure from parents drive you forward. ALWAYS have it by your own will or you will quit like me. | ||
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