When I was a child I could hear our neighbor’s daughter practicing playing the violin. She was no good at it but I had no way of knowing that at the time and I thought that she made heavenly music with her playing. I was envious the first time that I heard her playing because I wanted to learn violin as well. The music produced by the violin still affects me in the same way today as it did years ago. Violin music can convey human emotions like no other musical instrument can. That is why I felt that if there is one instrument that I am meant to learn then that is the violin.
Unfortunately, I was not to get the the opportunity of studying how to play the violin when I was a child. My Mom could not afford to buy me a cheap violin let alone to pay for my instruction. She did not have to tell me that sad little fact, I just had to see her struggle with having to feed me and my siblings. So I just kept my dream to myself just like most of the dreams of kids who were not born to rich families and I just hoped that some day I would be able to make it a reality.
Years later I have a high paying job and I live comfortably. I remembered my dream and how much I wanted to learn how to play the violin. I wondered if I could still go on and try to pursue it? Will it still be possible for me to start learning how to play the instrument now? I began to ask around. Is it hard to learn violin? Here is what I have discovered:
I found out that the answer as to whether it is hard to learn the violin depends on the commitment of the student. I learned of old people who started having musical lessons only when they were in their 60s and they were able to achieve a high level of mastery in playing the instrument and practicing over several years. What really matters is the level of commitment of the student and his willingness to spend time in learning the instrument.
There are even some online courses now that are available that claim that you can learn to play the violin on your own. While that kind of undertaking is really difficult to do for someone with no previous musical experience, it does demonstrate the fact that learning the violin is not an impossible task even for someone who is relatively old like myself.
Here are a few tips that you can use when learning the violin. I know that these work, because I have used them myself. Plus they make learning violin easy:
1. Do not be discouraged. Everybody has to start somewhere and it’s a given fact that you will sound awful at first but don’t let that bring your spirits down.
2. Listen to violin music all the time. Watch great players making music. You just soak it all up.
3. Flex your fingers and start making them flexible again.
4. Keep your fingernails short especially the ones on your left hand.
5. Seek expert advice.
6. The most important tip of all: Have fun!
So, in a nutshell, is learning violin hard? No, I wouldn’t say that it is hard to learn violin if you have determination, commitment and good instruction. Anyone can learn to play the violin even old people and young people. So if you’re asking yourself “is it hard to learn violin?” I’d say, no harder than learning the guitar or trumpet.