>> I played for about 2 years, total. And that was 20 years ago...
>
> See, the impression you gave about this previously was that you had many
> years' experience playing.  2 years isn't enough to get a lot of
> expertise in playing an instrument.  You said you sucked at it.  You
> didn't say that you only played for 2 years when you were<  11 years old.
>
> That makes a difference.

I did say I wasn't much good in the first place. ;-)

As you presumably know, the characteristic sound of the violin comes 
from playing with vibrato - which is absurdly difficult. They don't 
teach you how to do that until you're already a really good player.

> If it were /easy/, then everyone could play like Itzhak Perlman.

Uh... who?

I did find some page on the Internet which shows you how to hold the 
violin itself and the bow. And then it says "already, bring on the 
Paganini!" As if anybody is going to be able to play Paganini after 
reading a few web pages...

>> Basically,
>> it's /sensitive/. That means that in experienced hands, you can do all
>> this really expressive playing, which is what the violin is famous for
>> of course. But because it's /sensitive/, it also means that in
>> inexperienced hands, every slightly glitch is magnified drastically, and
>> it sounds plain AWFUL!>_<
>
> You expect to get instant expertise.  It takes years (more than *2*) to
> get to that level of playing.

What I'm saying is, you can pick up a guitar and make a half-decent 
sound with it in about ten minutes. Because a guitar is not a 
particularly sensitive instrument. A violin is much, much harder. 
Because it's very, very sensitive. That means you can do much more with 
it, but also that it takes far more effort.

Having just said all that, I haven't played a violin for 20 years. I 
wasn't that good in the first place. But I have now reached the point 
where, provided I stick to the key of D major, I can play simple 
melodies which sound more or less in tune, with a tone that isn't 
horrifyingly awful. When you consider how long it took to get that good 
the /first/ time around, that's not bad...

>> So far, I basically haven't used the E-string at all. The pressure of
>> the bow on the string seems to be enough to put it out of tune. And as
>> soon as I put a finger on it, it becomes almost completely mute.
>
> That tells me that the pegs are definitely not right for the peg holes,
> and you should get someone to take a look at it.

It strikes me that this violin was probably on sale in a charity shop 
/for a reason/. ;-)

I'm hoping to pay a visit to the local music shop tomorrow. (Like all 
shops, they deliberately open an hour after I leave for work, and shut 
an hour before I get home again.) I'll get them to take a look at it and 
see what they say. I might also be able to pick up a new violin and see 
if there's any noticeable difference in sound quality.

>> Also, I have bruised fingertips now. :-/
>
> Yep, that'll happen until you get callouses on your fingertips.  That's
> part of the reason I haven't played in several years - I don't have those
> callouses, but I have the dexterity, and it does hurt to play.  Feels
> like I'm cutting into my fingertips with a dull knife.

Even when I was being taught by professionals, I always hated the 
E-string. That thing is /basically/ a piece of cheese wire. That's what 
it is, you're pressing a cheese wire into your fingertips. Ouch! >_<

I'm really excited to have a violin in my life again. But everybody else 
I've told about it has said "urgh, I *hate* violin!" Ho hum. Forever 
unappreciated, eh? It would be nice to be able to play well, but 
realistically I doubt I have the time or money to make that a reality. 
So I'm just going to see how far I can get with it. We'll see what 
happens after that.

PS. Ever tried playing flute? That's pretty hard too. When I was first 
given one, it took the entire household about a month to collectively 
figure out how to get a single note out of it... ;-)

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