Learning the violin...and you?

[JoBelle]

Following in my preschool aged son's footsteps, I've decided to learn to play the violin. Having spent a lifetime playing a variety of woodwinds, and considering myself quite proficient on the flute, I'm rather pleased with myself for having the nerve to pick up a new instrument. I'm trying to break out of my musical comfort zone.

SOME people (Red) might suggest that I just buy a cat and stomp on it to produce the same sound, but I'm just going to use the bow and strings and see what happens. I've found I don't suck too badly at it s'far! Thank god for the Suzuki method! 😉

This led me to wonder if any others here started a new hobby as an adult that required long term committed effort?

Joby

 

[asutickler]

This led me to wonder if any others here started a new hobby as an adult that required long term committed effort?

Heh! I don't know about others, but I avoid anything requiring "long-term committed effort" like the friggin' PLAGUE... 😛 😛 😛

 

[lite]

I bought a guitar...

and I have yet to learn how to play it. Why can't I just learn it through osmosis, or telepathy...or something? 🙂

I'll get there, I'm sure, although the piano seemed far easier to learn. Kudos to you, JoBelle, and thanks for asking. 🙂

 

[Moses25]

This led me to wonder if any others here started a new hobby as an adult that required long term committed effort?

Joby

Sadly, anything started as an adult requires a long-term commitment, JoJo Ma.

Never knew you had the gift of music, yo? Must be an environmental thang. 😉

You should lay some tracks from your other, proficient instruments so that we may all have a listen.

Cheers.😀

 

[Oddjob0226]

Went through a "Prozac period" back in '95 and started painting and painting and painting. Things are better, but still painting. Abstract and impressionistic stuff, and with no training, so the appeal of these things to anyone else out there is minimal - my paintings are visually like cats being stepped on I guess - but I paint for me so that's what matters most.

And sometimes it gets me a chance to see naked women! Try THAT in the brass section!

 

[SimplyRio]

Joby, I'll just bet you're making beautiful music in no time at all 😀

This led me to wonder if any others here started a new hobby as an adult that required long term committed effort?

Joby

David and I just began taking ballroom dance lessons!

 

[Ghost2004]

Other than losing weight , getting my LOONG

overdue degree and repairing the ashes of my life following a failed relationship? LOL😉


Since I was a child I have been a writer of sorts,mostly historical fiction, set in the Revolutionary war and Civil War periods( both of which I am a student of) , and just a writer in general. I've had various pieces of my work( essays and such)published in newspapers and educational journals, but this year I have decided to go into the "bigtime" and ressurect the novel I began @ age 13. In the next couple of years I intend finish it and get the damn thing published.

LOL When I get the guts, I also plan on posting some of my tickling stories( a lot of them written in my teens also) to the TMF

From one musican( I've played the flute since age 7)to another, good luck Joby

PS On a somewhat related note,have you ever read the Anne Rice Novel "Violin"

Ghostie

 

[red indian]

Speaking as...............

.......a former violinist myself, I know what a tough instrument it is to learn, a graph showing effort put in, against detectable improvement, tends to stay very flat for a very long time!

In terms of a race for proficiency i think all instruments are very much the same, but the violin is very much the tortoise as apposed to the brass instrument hare.

So I wish you all the best Joby in your quest to follow in the footsteps of Heifitz, Stern and "Stuff" Smith!

I also have plans for a similar form of resolve, those of you that know me a little, will know I used to be a very busy jazz piano player, but an incurable disease has put paid to that. So I need to retrain on another instrument, vibraphone looks to be possible, but do i have what it takes to start all over again and get to a standard good enough to go out and start spreading the gospell again?

 

[Limeoutsider]

Re: Re: Learning the violin...and you?

Heh! I don't know about others, but I avoid anything requiring "long-term committed effort" like the friggin' PLAGUE... 😛 😛 😛

Yea, me too. Well, I hone my gaming skills

 

[Faramir]

Awhile back, soon after I got this computer (my first), I thought I might like to learn Web Design, but since have decided against it. I don't want to mess with code, and don't feel I have the patience to go back to school (not to mention the finances). The last REAL job I had, in the computer field, drove me to 'Stress Factor 1000', what with all the compiling and coding...not to mention the fact I lived out of a suitcase and on an airplane. I don't EVER want to go back to that again. It was great $$, but I lost things that were much more important at the end of the day.

 

[Mischief]

Ballroom dancing (second year!)

Good luck with the violin. I'm glad to hear Suzuki method is still out there and kicking.😎

 

[P50]

It is taking quite a long-term committment, but I have embarked on a pursuit of skydiving while painting on canvas and playing the trumpet.

Originally I had tried the harp, but that became somewhat expensive, and the local dealers in town began to refuse to sell me replacements. Something about responsibility to the musical heritage or some such sentimentalism.

Not being able to purchase replacement harps, I tried the piano, and within 6 weeks, it was the same old "we won't sell to you because you just tear them up" treatment.

So I tried the trombone, but it took both hands to play.

So now I'm with the trumpet, and I'm beginning to make some progress.

 

[JoBelle]

P50, Humor? 😕 How about an answer for real now?

Everyone,
I'm feeling quite confident in my conquering a new instrument now. I figure, a few of us can get together and play, while other dance, or paint or ...ermn....somethin'!

Thanks for the spiffy answers, y'all.

Joby

 

[Oddjob0226]

P50, Humor? 😕 How about an answer for real now?

His long term committment is obviously to comedy and keeping humorous storytelling alive.

And his committment hasn't been long enough! A-hahahahahahahaaaaa! Whooo....

I want to be creative with others, like a big space where I'd paint and someone else would write, or play music or something.... we'd be together, and conversation wouldn't even be needed, becuase the "silnece" wouldn't be uncomfortable because it would simply be a part of the "scene" - we'd be dedicated to our own companionship and creativity. See, there are where my very creative friends failed me! I knew some VERY creative people, rough crude and unhoned, but the finesse comes with time. Well, they really all just wanted to be drunk or high and chase women/men. THEN they all wanted to get married and have babies. Now they're all divorced. The two that are somewhat successful are the ones who STUCK together and looked out for each other. Jerks. Jerks. Where's that "Who do you hate" thread??? I will kill them all! Kill! Kill!

 

[Mischief]

I want to be creative with others, like a big space where I'd paint and someone else would write, or play music or something....

I can relate, OddJob. Boy, can I ever relate!

The sad thing is that all the creative activities/outlets that I enjoy rely upon the cooperation of other people. They approach me about, for example, learning more about ballroom dancing. They swear they are serious, but when it comes time to put in the time/practice, they are never around.

 

[Oddjob0226]

I can relate, OddJob. Boy, can I ever relate!

The sad thing is that all the creative activities/outlets that I enjoy rely upon the cooperation of other people. They approach me about, for example, learning more about ballroom dancing. They swear they are serious, but when it comes time to put in the time/practice, they are never around.

Yes! You see! These are the kind of people I want to punch.

 

[BigJim]

Does Tae Kwon Do count?

As for music, well I was a mean euphonium player at school, but not for many years now. ( Listen to me, I make myself sound as old as Qjakl and Ven! )

 

[JoBelle]

Of COURSE it counts!
Are you back to pacticing it Jim? I thought you'd put it on hold for a while.

I had a wonderful ensemble class last night! It's actually quite humorous to sit in a room with such a mix and watch us all struggle with something! There are republicans, democrats, old and young. There is a neurosurgeon, a couple of work-from-home moms, an industrial engineer, a lawyer, a couple of teachers, a couple of artsy types, one college student, and a grandmother. Each of us accomplished in some aspect of life, and yet struggling to play as well as each other, and better than ourselves.

I think the world would be a better place if each person were to join a group where everyone was equal if only for the one issue that brought them together. Take down a few of our perceived walls, and we'd find that others are not much different than ourselves. Alas that will likely never happen as some people's egos are too big to "step down."

Anyway, I'm enjoying learning the violin almost as much as I'm enjoying learning the personalities of the other people!

Now, to have them all in my studio while I'm painting, and watching Rio and Big D dance! 😀 I've always fancied the idea of a group of artists, reminiscent of long ago....*dreams*

Jo

 

[giggleygirl25]

after clearing out a closet i recently found my flute from the 6th grade....and after i clean it up...i'm gonna find some music(basic pieces...yankee doodle and the like...) and try to re-learn how to play it after nearly 15 years.

 

[BigJim]

Of COURSE it counts!
Are you back to pacticing it Jim? I thought you'd put it on hold for a while.

I have. Must be nearly 3 years since I trained regularly now. Shame, cos it was good for tickling opportunities. 😉