Learning to play the violin

Is it ever to late to learn to play the violin? I know everyone will say-you're never too old to do anything etc, but in reality I think i might be: Im 25, and reckon it would take at least a yr or maybe two to be able to paly something other than Fiddlers Green, and then if I wanted to be really good...well we're talking yrs yeah??

Has anyone been succcessful in picking up an instrument in later life?

I pick up Scogs' guitar regularly when he forgets to clean it up, and I'm going on 47.
But seriously: Give it a go. My Ma started playing the piano when she turned 64 and can play easy pieces fairly well considering her arthritis.

As with languages, you will never be as good as if you had learned as a child but that shouldn't discourage you. It takes at least a couple years for anyone, no matter what age to be able to play much more than Fiddlers Green on the violin anyway.

Your main concerns with learning the violin at an older age will be manual dexterity and sense of pitch. Manual dexterity you can work on but a sense of pitch is to some degree a genetic thing but pitch training from an early age can help. Unfortunately once you've hit your age, if you're tone deaf then no amount of training will do much good and it only gets worse as you age. Also, having learned other instruments before makes a big difference. If you can read music you are already ahead of the game.

There is nothing worse than a tone deaf string player but if your pitch is alright, give it a go you may never be a virtuoso but you can still get good enough to turn it into a satisfying hobby.

Hmmm, I played the violin for 9 years and flute for 4 but I started when I was 10 and 15 years old (respectively). Due to my extraordinary laziness I never got as good as I could have, but oh well... kinda stopped playing when I started uni.
I do think it is possible to pick up playing the violin at an older age as well, but it'll take a long time till you play it really well. If you have some basic knowledge about music (you can read and understand music, the score), I don't think you'll have to deal with more problems than a younger person.

Every time someone mentions playing an instrument, I am like, man I really should pick up playing the violin again, but it hasn't happened yet.

Yeah i unfort. gave up playing the piano...ahhhhhhh so annoyed I did. So have some basic , basic knowledge of music.

Like anything in life, if you practice it regularly, you'll probably get fairly decent at it.

Well, you can still read music then though, or you'll get back into it very quickly. Reading music sheets for violin should be easier than for piano anyway. (I never played the piano but seeing as you can only play max. two tones at a time on a violin that's what I figure.)

a music teacher told me when i was taking music lessons a loooong time ago that it takes years to even become proficient on the violin. so parents, beware if you kids want to learn it!

proficiency is relative

I agree with Eleanor -- it's never too late to learn, but you need a bit of natural talent (at any age)

If you can clap in time to music, and hit the notes when you sing, it's no problem to learn to read notes and play the violin.

I played the viola for years and quite enjoyed it--even competed in a quartet at State Level (in Utah) and did well. Never wanted to be a soloist, though. To me the wonderful thing about playing a string instrument is the collective sound of an orchestra.

Hey, anyone interested in getting a group together of rusty old musicians?

I learned to play the flute at 10 and played for around 15 years and then stashed it away for the last 15 - so I'm very, very rusty although I keep saying that I want to start playing again...

I dont play an instrument (I used to play the treble recorder at school). He/she who can play an instrument has something special.

Here is a great fiddle/electric violin player:

Do you still remember how to play all the tones on it? I played for 4 years, and haven't played for the past 5 years, and I don't think I remember most of them.

Practise, practise, practise. If you're really motivated to learn and your heart's in it, it'll be possible. How long? It depends how good you want to get. There is no level you reach where you think - ok, now I can play the violin, that's done with. There's always something to improve on, whether it be vibrato, 6th position, harmonics, style, posture etc.

@Mariposa - oh yeah. My niece is learning now and getting really good at it. I was still able to run the scales and stuff so I guess I could just pick it up again without too much effort.

Yes, practice, practice, practice.

Ahhhh, yeah, I would probably have to re-learn most again, though I guess it would be quicker than the first time.

After nearly 24 years of pissing about on the guitar, and hearing other piss about on guitars, and seeing people learn to piss about on guitars, I'm still don't know how to answer people who wanna learn an instrument. Basically, have a go, see how it goes. Thats all I can say. How long will it take? Am I too old? Dunno man.

Learning the technical stuff will take longer if you are older I reckon. When you are a kid, you are at school, you are always learning, but as you get older, you ain't in the same knowledge-sponge state of mind man. Manual dexterity is harder to acquire as you age aswell probably - but you are 25, you hardly have calcium deposits on all of your joints like Rocky.

Thing is, violin sounds like complete and utter shit until you are quite proficient - with piano or guitar, you can make something sound like "music" in the first bloody lesson, but violin is a totally different ziplock bag full of beetles.
I'd say, yeah learn to play man, instruments are a right laugh - however, I'd admire your gall at taking a vioin as first choice. Just learn guitar man, then buy an e-bow and impersonate a violin. Much more versatility. Actually, thats given me an idea - learn violin, but learn on an electric violin, so when you get frustrated that you sound like complete shite, you can at least whack loads of ring modulation and delay on it, and enjoy jamming to Hawkwind.

Thats the thing I have also been worried about with the violin-the fact that you will have to wait a while before you can play something decent and recognizable, but that goes for a lot of things I suppose. Its about getting over the hump at the start.

I picked the violin, because as I hit 25 and went wtf have i been doing for the last 8/10 yrs...finishing school, then boozin, druggin, boozin, and don't get me wrong its been fun, but I don't want to wake up at 35, and go wtf happened in the last ten yrs and it only to be druggin and boozin.

Well, it is a challenge, but if you enjoy a good challenge it will be fun!

I learnt as a child, so not sure, but don't think age is necessarily a major handicap if you can already read music and are not tone deaf. Your patience and self-motivation will probably be greater and there are definite advantages to being able to start on a full-sized instrument too. A lot depends on natural talent and you might find you're better in two years than someone who's been playing for five... or you might play for years without getting past a certain level. It's a very individual thing, bit like learning a new language. Similar interplay between talent and perseverance - each can compensate for the other to a certain extent but never totally, so you always need some of both.

It's true that the hump at the start is particularly large with string instruments. Can be fairly painful to listen to and you'll have to be patient and persevere. The other thing you're likely to find at the start is that your arms and shoulders get sore quickly, as the posture takes some getting used to (at any age - I knew a 4 year-old beginner who found the same), so you need to build up practice time gradually.

Different instruments suit different people, and you won't know that till you try. Once you've been playing for a few months, you should start to get an idea how much natural talent or feel you have for the violin and whether something else might be better for you. I knew a cellist who tried to start the violin and loathed it, for example, as well as people who've crossed over from strings to wind and vice versa. (Just like some people struggle to learn German but find they have a far greater aptitude for romance languages, while others can do both.) Your teacher will have the best idea where you should be when and should sense your potential quite quickly. Oh, and that's the other thing: try to find a teacher you get on with personally, not just someone who's been recommended as technically proficient. Makes a huge difference.

Good luck! Would be really interested to hear how it goes.

Do you have the possibility of borrowing a violin and try out a few lessons before committing straight away and spening the money? Electric violins do sound nice, but they are a lot more expensive btw

I can't play the violin, but I can play a mean tune on the piano. I started playing when I was like 4 or something, which is way too early. I also learnt the flute for 1 year when I was around 12, but I found it to be boring and unchallenging.

I think the prime age to start playing an instrument is around 10. That's when you can learn really fast and develop really good technical skills.

But if you want to play the violin for your own enjoyment or to further enrich your life, then don't let age stop you. Also, if music is one of your strengths or if you are already really good at an instrument, then I think you could get good within less than a year if your heart's in it!

Best of luck to you!

I started playing the flute when I was 10 and the piano at 13. I started playing the violin at 15. The key like everyone said is practicing and that with consistency. Each week day I used to wake up really early in the morning and play the piano for an hour or two and in the evenings I would play the violin and the flute each for an hour or two. (I could not practice during the day cause I was attending school). I would also practice extensively on the weekends.

I love this girl. I am going to marry me a musician one day.

Might take a few years, yes, but at 25 you've still got lots of years ahead of you. Believe me, there is still life after 35!

Don't know anything about violin, but I started learning guitar 4 years ago, when I was 48, and I'm very glad I did. It took maybe a year before I was able to get a decent sound out of the instrument, and my playing is still not good, but it is gradually improving, which I'm quite pleased about, considering that I no longer have a teacher, and not a lot of time to practice.

Wow, that's fantastic GT. Keep up the good work. You are an example for those who want to learn at a later age.

Ah, it ain't that bad.

So if you learn to play the violin you can say "I drank, I boozed, and I learned to play Mary had a little Lamb" -- I think finishing school isn't a bad accomplishment, either, by the way.

p.s. I used to have lots of hobbies when I was "younger" - karate (black belt), ballet, fencing, viola playing etc etc. Then when I stopped practicing some of those hobbies I felt like I became a less interesting person. But it's who you are that counts, not what you do. You should learn to play the violin if it will be a source of enjoyment to you, not because you feel it's some kind of good, cultural thing you should do that will impress people...

Ruthie - black belt karate - why didn't you mention this before, there is this woman that I want roughed up.

Me too, I sometimes feel like I barely have any hobbies any more, because I did so much when I was still in high school!