The violin is difficult enough to learn.  Trying to learn and improve without the benefit of a teacher is a daunting task indeed.  I wouldn’t say it is impossible, but  without a teacher it is not efficient or optimal and bad habits are sure to form.  I have been back at the violin now for almost two years and since September I have been going it alone without a teacher.  Until now I have felt engaged and challenged, but aware enough of areas to work on and things to do …

For a few months now I have been grinding away trying to learn to play the Allemande from Bach’s Partita #2 for solo violin.  I suppose it is one of the easiest pieces in the set but I am certainly challeneged and extended trying to learn it.   I seem to have a habit of trying to learn pieces that are a bit beyond my capability to play well, and quite honestly I usually don’t get them to a refined enough position where I can claim to play them well.  I …

I believe that in any process at learning a difficult skill there are cycles of progress followed by plateaus.  Plateaus can be some of the most discouraging and difficult times for the learner.  One of the challenges while navigating the wasteland of a plateau is to keep an eye upon small perhaps barely perceptable improvements as significant, and constantly remind oneself that noticable, even rapid improvments will happen again.   The science of plateaus and understanding their importance in the learning process can be very helpful in keeping consistant and pushing …

After practicing for three or four weeks from the first day I touched my violin in twenty years it became abundantly clear that I needed some professional help.   It took me another couple weeks at least to get the nerve up to ask our orchestra teacher if she would be willing to give me a few lessons.  I was so nervous when asking, “do you think you could give me some lessons.”  Why would anybody want to teach an adult with little hope of achieving anything?  Wouldn’t it just be …

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.