I am thirty-six years old and have been playing the violin again for almost two years. In starting on this venture it has come to my attention that there are scores of adult beginners out there who have launched into the unsure waters of learning to play the violin. It is often an exercise in frustration and difficulty but it has also awakened a new passion for the music of the violin and reawakened a passion for music I have always had.

There seems to be a common notion, or some kind of conventional wisdom which states that in order to learn to play, at least with any degree of proficiency, you must start as a child while the brain is pliable and willing to learn. Apparently adults are just to set in their ways, stubborn and generally incapable, our brains mostly devoted to remembering the vast stores of knowledge we have accumulated rather than developing new skills.

Well, I hope, and believe this conventional wisdom is flawed and with a little persistence perhaps I and a host of other adult beginners can prove it to be false or at the very least cast some doubt upon its veracity. In this series of posts I will try to journal my experience and the challenges I face in trying to learn to play the always challenging violin.

To begin, I will share with you how I got to the point of starting over again. My first foray into the world of violin learning was as a three year old Suzuki student, stubborn and unwilling to practice. After a year or two of this adventure I determined in my five year old wisdom that I did not want to do that any more. My complying parents reluctantly agreed and their future hopes of a virtuoso son were dashed. I returned to playing with my cars in the gravel pile and running from bees.

This first exposure to the violin through the Suzuki method was important to me and I believe instilled in me skills which I have benefited from ever since. With its focus on listening and the ear I had learned to develop my ear somewhat and have always been a good listener with an ear for music. Even in the subsequent years free from violin practice I believe I always looked back on my violin days as a child, and perhaps put in the back of my mind that I could do it again some day.

That day came when I was eleven years old and I decided of my own accord that I wanted to learn to play the violin. Little did I know what I was in for but my obliging parents once again complied and I was taking violin lessons once more. Starting at eleven I always felt I was behind and playing catch up. In some ways I guess I progressed and a decent pace and my memory of those early days of starting over are generally positive. For four years I stayed with it and after the first year my progress slowed. We had moved, I had a new teacher and despite my desire the new teacher was not the best fit and my motivation for practicing was about typical for any twelve year old. But once again we moved and it was on to yet another new teacher. This time it was a great fit and despite a sometimes stern approach (which I needed) I was really enjoying playing and the progress I was making. Still, at thirteen I had a lot of catching up to do.

For the next couple years things were going relatively well and my progress was steady. Then high school hit and I started to notice how the violin was not exactly an instrument of choice and with the decisiveness of a self assured teenager the violin was just not cool enough for me and I would never think of it again. I placated my parents with piano lessons for a couple years, but then life and other interests got in the way and music was once again on the back burner. I never thought that I would ever want to play the violin again. I suppose things change in your thirties!

In my mid thirties, married with two children my love for music compelled me to insist that my children take some lessons. Piano it was and my son began Suzuki piano at the local music conservatory. It has now become clear that hanging around the local conservatory is a dangerous thing for a violin drop out because there are violin teachers around seeking whom they may ensnare. There are also orchestras designed for us adult beginners and soon I was being encouraged to join up. Fortunately my old violin bow had no hair so I just could not do it. Fortunately also, those bows can be fixed and cheap replacements purchased and so I was without excuse. Armed with new fifty dollar bow and my old student violin with ancient strings I made my debut as the third violin of our local foundation orchestra.

What was I getting myself into. I didn’t even know the names of the open strings any more let alone know what those notes were when you started pressing your fingers all over the place. I was never a good sight reader. I managed to scratch out a nightmareish sound that first evening and fortunately there were a few songs played on open strings so away I went.

Quite frankly, I simply had a blast squawking away to the consternation of the rest. The challenge was exhilarating and the possibilities lay infinitely before me. A new and old passion was awakened from which I have been uncharacteristically dedicated for the past two years struggling away in the barren land of early intermediate mediocrity.

Immediately in front of me is the hope to be able to consistently play in tune and various positions and getting my hands to wiggle in that most unnatural way that is called vibrato. Further on the horizon is the hope that I could fool a person or two into believing I actually played something worth listening to. Time will tell if I will be successful in this venture, but I am having the time of my life discovering the answer.