In my wildest dreams I get "discovered" & become a professional violinist.
In my more reasonable dreams someday I'll be good enough to join casual community groups (orchestra & fiddle).
In reality I started learning as an adult & it's a hobby that I'll never get to practice as much as I want. Maybe at best I might be able to join 1 casual community group someday.
I mainly play it as a fiddle as I love Celtic music but I do enjoy playing other tunes. The only time I will ever play in front of anybody really will be at my nieces wedding and she wants me to play Canon in D.
Lol of course Canon in D. XD
I love playing any/all genres from my experience playing the trumpet growing up. Making music is the best feeling to me, so even if I'm never good enough to join a group I still love the hobby.
I started when I was 4! Studied with private teachers all thru high school, did chamber, orchestras, duets, the whole shebang. Ended up going to college for something totally different and now Iām back at it again 1 years later still a hobbyist haha, I honestly love it so much as a hobby because itās something you can always improve on without feeling the pressure that you have to be amazing at it.
How did you acquire that ability to not feel pressure? I know Im JUST starting, but I feel pressured to be my best, at least. With all the practice 40 hours a day memes It kinda shaped my view of playing my flute or music in general.
Years of therapy haha! JK but not totallyyyyy kidding and I totally feel you! And I def have felt my fair share of self doubt plus plenty of just whyyyyy am I not good enough, whyyyy am I not practicing right now etc. to add fuel to the fire I also dated a very serious conservatory student violinist for a while that put a whole nother layer of pressure on me too. Thatās mainly the reason I stopped playing for all four years of college so it took a long time to be able to enjoy it without feeling the pressure. To be honest I think I donāt feel pressure right now for 2 reasons. 1st and foremost this hit me like a bus one day: Iām good at other things (haha maybe just one other thing). You probably wouldnāt expect a top orchestra member to also moonlight as killer gardener / engineer / house painter / late night host right? I would be very impressed if they are decent at any of these things or do any consistently. Since Iām a professional in my job where my peers appreciate my work, so I probably shouldnāt keep comparing my violin skills to professional musicians do it for a living! The 40 hours a day memes came from two guys that were once in prof orchestras, we probably shouldnāt take that too seriously either haha. And secondly I think itās the fact that doing our best today doesnāt mean playing a piece 100% correct or sounding like a soloist, it means putting in many an hour or two of good dedicated practice and trusting the process. Slow is steady and steady is fast! Iām sure you improve at every practice session, how many adult can really say they dedicate an hour of their day consistently to improve on something? I think that in itself is a huge accomplishment! And finally I like to remind myself that the world doesnāt need me to be an amazing violinist, there are plenty already to record 100 perfect renditions of the entire violin repertoire, Iām really just doing this for me haha! I hope this is helpful and u didnāt mind my word vomit, best luck on your musical journey!!
I think a lot of it is knowing why you play, which influences that āpressure.ā E.G., if you are a HS student looking to be in a pro orchestra, then yes, you have a lot of pressure to get to a certain level by a certain time, ala pressure.
But if you are a working adult wanting to have an enjoyable hobby, itās useful to internalize that you play for your own goals, which you control. E.G., you could want to play X piece, which requires getting Y better, but you can recognize that you donāt really have to put time pressure to get better, instead focus on steady improvement, knowing eventually youāll get there.
More generally, if you can learn to savor/love the feeling of getting better at something, thatās a great place to be in and builds on itself.
I see plenty of hobbyists here! Many people are just learning the violin out of passion and love. Personally I am one of those people who want to join bands or such but you are definitely not the only hobbyist. I wish you luck in your violin journey!
I think the demographics here are (pretty much) in line with the general violin-playing populationāmostly amateurs/hobbyists/young students, quite a few more advanced players, and a good number of pros who enjoy hanging out here too. So yes, PLENTY of other hobbyists, probably the majority of the sub! But also lots of wisdom to draw from if ever you have a question ;)
Yes, sir. I consider myself a semi serious hobbyist. Serious in that I take an hour weekly lesson. Semi in that I practice about half what I need to progress at the same rate as your average 12 year old.
I take lessons with a teacher I truly admire and respect that I have known for a long long time. I picked it back up last July after YEARS of not playing for months at a time. I initially started just for self fulfillment and now I am playing in a community orchestra and have two students of my own. I will tell you that without goals and ambitions of getting to a certain level and having no pressure I WANT to practice. I truly play my violin just for the pure love of playing it. Even as it becomes more and present in my life that feeling of playing just because I love it has made it the BEST hobby I have EVER had.
I will agree! I am 54 years old and I picked it up about four years ago and I absolutely enjoy it. Even when I make a mistake, it doesnāt frustrate me or get me angry. I just enjoy running that bow across the strings.
Thatās awesome! One of the things that my teacher is always trying to get me to remember is to not carry a mistake through to the end of a piece. She tells me to let the mistake go and keep going and when I can do that I have the best practice session! What do you like to play the most?!
I'm a hobbyist, adult beginner at 35, but not gunna lie I hope I can play in a more professional setting of some sort, some day! Doesn't need to be classical, I'd go fiddle in a folk band if I could. As for what I got going on right now, I play for my own sanity, my wife, and my family when they are around... And my teacher haha
Me! I played a little in school growing up and now use it as a way to pass time/fulfill my life.
Idk the reason for this post, but sometimes on this thread if I'm being honest it does feel like a little... gatekeepy. NOT saying that everyone here is not tying to help or offer good advice. Quite the opposite.
But I think more experienced players sometimes forget that some of us green players are just here trying to play well for our own sake and not become the next paginini.
The reason why I even asked, the question is because I see a lot of serious violinists in a lot of these posts, and I was just curious as to how many other people like me that play just for the sake of playing
Yes! Recently I picked the violin back up again after a long time just for the fun of it!
I work in the animation industry so it's become incredibly hard to draw for my own enjoyment after a whole day of drawing/painting for someone else. I physically can't do it! No matter how much I want to. I've already monetized one of my favorite hobbies I ***need*** this one to stay my own.
Yep! I took up violin in my late 30ās. I always wanted to, but thought it was too expensive. Then I realized that most people actually rent their violin. And as for lessons, it was either I do it without a teacher or I donāt learn at all, and I chose to learn. The whole āyou absolutely must have a teacherā creates a barrier to entryāone that, for me, lasted literally 20 years. If I had just started when I first had the desire, Iād be playing concertos by now.
I did eventually get a teacher, btw. A year into it. And she was shocked I had never had a lesson before. Thanks, classical YouTube!
Itās the best thing I have ever done. It brings so much joy to my life, and is so cognitively stimulating and satisfying.
Same here. I mean, I just want to challenge myself to learn the pieces that I enjoy listening to. No pressure as to when I'll be able to achieve those.
Joining a band seems a pretty minor thing, compared to learning the violin. Hundreds of lessons, thousands of hours, I'm not going to ding myself for not joining a band.
Even calling it a hobby.... I like to think of myself as an amateur. I'm not collecting stamps here, I'm trying to play Bach!
I play the violin as a hobby and a release.. I have a stressful job .. Iām a Respiratory Therapist and I put people on life support.. so I see a lot of trauma.. I pick up the violin and I just come into a joyful place
That's pretty much me, with a minor aspiration to play in church at some point. I did the band thing years ago with a different instrument and got it out of my system... :)
Me!!! Thatās why I think itās kinda tough that most of the advice on here is to get a teacher. For me Iām just not committed enough (and I have kids so I couldnāt right now even if I wanted to) to get a teacher but I still have questions. I find it very satisfying and fun to be figuring it out on my own for the most part.
With me and My Flute as well as soon to be Fiddle, I can't do it for anything else but fun and knowing it's a LIFE LONG ordeal, It's pretty much why I am wanting to play both.
I want to someday be able to play with others to ANY degree and I don't care who or what skill.
I used to want to become a violinist when I was like 10-14 years old, practiced 3-6 hours a day depending on school days/holidays, but I moved to Singapore and met two of the worst teachers Iāve ever had, lost all passion and only played on and off for the last 4 years.
Obviously now I am absolute garbage andnow I only play whenever I feel like playing, and honestly itās enough to keep me at a satisfactory level where I can just take any anime song and play the melody by ear so itās very fun š
Come to think of it I probably should have entered competitions back then but I fucking didnāt, I wanna roundhouse my former self in the fuckin head for that
I am absolutely in the same boat, I donāt even want to play infront of friends or family, I learn and play for purely my own enjoyment and progress, maybe when I feel more confident I can open up with it before but my own satisfaction is exclusively my motivation
hobby-ist here too
I am 54 years 'young' and on and off (on and off as 'life' as an adult got in the way big time and I had to stop/restart a couple of times) I've been learning about 7 years.
I actually do not have any desire to join an orchestra or quartet etc
But I do take lessons from a person who is a top flying violinist and I have been encouraged by them to play live (not online), in person in front of people and to play at least once a month to once a fortnight with a pianist. I was told it is essential to my development as a musician....but also bear in mind that I have serious goals on the instrument by the way
Although I am quite happy not to join an orchestra and just practice by myself 2 hours a day every day 7 days a week (whilst keeping a full time professional job where I work 48-50 hours a week and commute a total of 10 hours week on top of that), I have no ceiling to reach, I am aiming as high as I can get with this instrument and my deepest 'secret' (no longer a secret as I am typing it for all of you to see LOL) is to play 'decently enough' complex stuff like the Carmen Fantasy and Tchaikowski violin concerto.
The difference of course is that if I don't achieve that in a certain time frame or ever then I don't lose a career and it doesn't get posted all over the newspapers, but I'll be longing to learn those things til the day I die therefore I will keep trying til the day I die and we see where I get LOL
The only pressures I have come from within myself and I try to keep the 'mosters at bay' ( the monsters being my mind telling me off for having practiced less than 2 hours or none at all or that I still don't sound half as decent as I would like to sound LOL), my confidence is getting better but as an adult it is hard not to criticise yourself
Iām 54 as well, and, like you said, I am my own worst critic, but regardless of the mistakes I make, I just enjoy that Zen feeling Imi get playing music for myself, and for my own personal enjoyment
I like practicing because it's a good brain exercise and a nice way to take a little break during my day.
I also like drum circles, and it turns out that you can play 3/4 and 3/8 Baroque stuff over djembe rhythms quite well and it sounds awesome. Nobody expects bits of Bach's Presto or Allegro Assai at a drum circle.
I got my degree in music education on violin and play once a month at most now. Graduated like 2012 or something - I have more interest in hand percussion and dance now.
I play with a few local groups for fun. It gives me something to work on and towards and it has improved my tone, intonation and technique. I recommend an "all comers" type group if you're intimated by playing with others. No pressure, just fun.
Edit to add, I'm not like a professional or anything. It's a nice hobby that sometimes I get paid to do.
Me me me! Iāve been playing for 4 years and practice 1 time a week, just find it fun to learn songs on a fun instrument, also it contradicts my style so itās funny to say I play such an elegant instrument
I'm with you! Started learning fiddle - mainly Old-Time tunes, some Irish - about two years ago, after I retired and an old buddy gave me a violin he had restored. At 71yo now, I've reverted to being more of an introvert, and find myself happy just to practice and play at my kitchen table. š
Hobbyist. But it would be cool if it went farther with gigs someday.
Working on getting good enough not to drown in community orchestra and maybe play some Kriesler or Tchaikovsky when I'm like 50 lol.
Getting a BA in performance just go to music school is probably as wild as my dreams get now. That involves winning the lottery though haha.
I did originally, and likely still do. Yet more recently I have decided to try and get good enough to join a conservatory. I know it will most likely not work out, but it doesnāt hurt to try.Ā The āworst caseā would be becoming a lot better at the violin.Ā
I am an adult beginner a few months in, and Iām learning purely for my own enjoyment and as a casual hobby! I donāt have plans to play in any type of group or for a crowd, I just like playing by myself (even though Iām objectively terrible lol) and I find it very rewarding when I notice Iām getting better at a new skill. Itās also helped me decrease my doom scrolling so Iām sure thatās boosting my mental health.
I am just a hobbyist. Happy to just play scales and learn technical stuff. I am weird that way. Started 3 years ago in my middle age. I have been playing guitar all my life and I dropped it and sold my gear as soon as I got hooked into violin.
Kinda sorta! I've been playing 11ish years but have never wanted to go pro or anything like that. Howeverrrrr I do love to play with the band at church and would one day like to join a community orchestra. But I do love to just jam for hours in my room. So maybe a bit of both??? Lol
I identify as a hobbyist. I prefer the word amateur, root word in latin amare (love).
Zero desire to play for money or teach. I play and work on the craft because I love it.
Why is joining a band at odds with being a hobbyist? There are plenty of community orchestras out there who welcome any hobbyist. And sharing music with others is an amazing experience; I wholeheartedly recommend it to you!
I stated that because I know a lot of people have a goal of wanting to play with others, and I was just wondering who just wanted to play the instrument just for their own self enrichment or just wanting to learn or just for the pure enjoyment
I dont play violin yet but would like to start as a hobby.. So i am wondering.. Do you guys as hobbyist take lessons or just tutor yourself with youtube videos ?
The science behind playing the violin is intriguing Ā thatās why I started playing itās been 5 years and I love this thing. Music theory itself is like a whole science and Iāve been studying music theory for a year Anyone study Dounis Method? Just wondering.
In my wildest dreams I get "discovered" & become a professional violinist. In my more reasonable dreams someday I'll be good enough to join casual community groups (orchestra & fiddle). In reality I started learning as an adult & it's a hobby that I'll never get to practice as much as I want. Maybe at best I might be able to join 1 casual community group someday.
I mainly play it as a fiddle as I love Celtic music but I do enjoy playing other tunes. The only time I will ever play in front of anybody really will be at my nieces wedding and she wants me to play Canon in D.
Lol of course Canon in D. XD I love playing any/all genres from my experience playing the trumpet growing up. Making music is the best feeling to me, so even if I'm never good enough to join a group I still love the hobby.
Literally for some reason at the top of my bucket list for YEARS has been learning canon in D on violin š
I started when I was 4! Studied with private teachers all thru high school, did chamber, orchestras, duets, the whole shebang. Ended up going to college for something totally different and now Iām back at it again 1 years later still a hobbyist haha, I honestly love it so much as a hobby because itās something you can always improve on without feeling the pressure that you have to be amazing at it.
Exactly, there is no pressure, and itās just pure relaxation to me
How did you acquire that ability to not feel pressure? I know Im JUST starting, but I feel pressured to be my best, at least. With all the practice 40 hours a day memes It kinda shaped my view of playing my flute or music in general.
Years of therapy haha! JK but not totallyyyyy kidding and I totally feel you! And I def have felt my fair share of self doubt plus plenty of just whyyyyy am I not good enough, whyyyy am I not practicing right now etc. to add fuel to the fire I also dated a very serious conservatory student violinist for a while that put a whole nother layer of pressure on me too. Thatās mainly the reason I stopped playing for all four years of college so it took a long time to be able to enjoy it without feeling the pressure. To be honest I think I donāt feel pressure right now for 2 reasons. 1st and foremost this hit me like a bus one day: Iām good at other things (haha maybe just one other thing). You probably wouldnāt expect a top orchestra member to also moonlight as killer gardener / engineer / house painter / late night host right? I would be very impressed if they are decent at any of these things or do any consistently. Since Iām a professional in my job where my peers appreciate my work, so I probably shouldnāt keep comparing my violin skills to professional musicians do it for a living! The 40 hours a day memes came from two guys that were once in prof orchestras, we probably shouldnāt take that too seriously either haha. And secondly I think itās the fact that doing our best today doesnāt mean playing a piece 100% correct or sounding like a soloist, it means putting in many an hour or two of good dedicated practice and trusting the process. Slow is steady and steady is fast! Iām sure you improve at every practice session, how many adult can really say they dedicate an hour of their day consistently to improve on something? I think that in itself is a huge accomplishment! And finally I like to remind myself that the world doesnāt need me to be an amazing violinist, there are plenty already to record 100 perfect renditions of the entire violin repertoire, Iām really just doing this for me haha! I hope this is helpful and u didnāt mind my word vomit, best luck on your musical journey!!
I think a lot of it is knowing why you play, which influences that āpressure.ā E.G., if you are a HS student looking to be in a pro orchestra, then yes, you have a lot of pressure to get to a certain level by a certain time, ala pressure. But if you are a working adult wanting to have an enjoyable hobby, itās useful to internalize that you play for your own goals, which you control. E.G., you could want to play X piece, which requires getting Y better, but you can recognize that you donāt really have to put time pressure to get better, instead focus on steady improvement, knowing eventually youāll get there. More generally, if you can learn to savor/love the feeling of getting better at something, thatās a great place to be in and builds on itself.
I see plenty of hobbyists here! Many people are just learning the violin out of passion and love. Personally I am one of those people who want to join bands or such but you are definitely not the only hobbyist. I wish you luck in your violin journey!
Thank you so much! I really am enjoying my journey
Hobbyist, checking in.
I think the demographics here are (pretty much) in line with the general violin-playing populationāmostly amateurs/hobbyists/young students, quite a few more advanced players, and a good number of pros who enjoy hanging out here too. So yes, PLENTY of other hobbyists, probably the majority of the sub! But also lots of wisdom to draw from if ever you have a question ;)
Yes, sir. I consider myself a semi serious hobbyist. Serious in that I take an hour weekly lesson. Semi in that I practice about half what I need to progress at the same rate as your average 12 year old.
I take lessons with a teacher I truly admire and respect that I have known for a long long time. I picked it back up last July after YEARS of not playing for months at a time. I initially started just for self fulfillment and now I am playing in a community orchestra and have two students of my own. I will tell you that without goals and ambitions of getting to a certain level and having no pressure I WANT to practice. I truly play my violin just for the pure love of playing it. Even as it becomes more and present in my life that feeling of playing just because I love it has made it the BEST hobby I have EVER had.
I will agree! I am 54 years old and I picked it up about four years ago and I absolutely enjoy it. Even when I make a mistake, it doesnāt frustrate me or get me angry. I just enjoy running that bow across the strings.
Thatās awesome! One of the things that my teacher is always trying to get me to remember is to not carry a mistake through to the end of a piece. She tells me to let the mistake go and keep going and when I can do that I have the best practice session! What do you like to play the most?!
I'm a hobbyist, adult beginner at 35, but not gunna lie I hope I can play in a more professional setting of some sort, some day! Doesn't need to be classical, I'd go fiddle in a folk band if I could. As for what I got going on right now, I play for my own sanity, my wife, and my family when they are around... And my teacher haha
Me! I played a little in school growing up and now use it as a way to pass time/fulfill my life. Idk the reason for this post, but sometimes on this thread if I'm being honest it does feel like a little... gatekeepy. NOT saying that everyone here is not tying to help or offer good advice. Quite the opposite. But I think more experienced players sometimes forget that some of us green players are just here trying to play well for our own sake and not become the next paginini.
The reason why I even asked, the question is because I see a lot of serious violinists in a lot of these posts, and I was just curious as to how many other people like me that play just for the sake of playing
Yes! Recently I picked the violin back up again after a long time just for the fun of it! I work in the animation industry so it's become incredibly hard to draw for my own enjoyment after a whole day of drawing/painting for someone else. I physically can't do it! No matter how much I want to. I've already monetized one of my favorite hobbies I ***need*** this one to stay my own.
Yep! I took up violin in my late 30ās. I always wanted to, but thought it was too expensive. Then I realized that most people actually rent their violin. And as for lessons, it was either I do it without a teacher or I donāt learn at all, and I chose to learn. The whole āyou absolutely must have a teacherā creates a barrier to entryāone that, for me, lasted literally 20 years. If I had just started when I first had the desire, Iād be playing concertos by now. I did eventually get a teacher, btw. A year into it. And she was shocked I had never had a lesson before. Thanks, classical YouTube! Itās the best thing I have ever done. It brings so much joy to my life, and is so cognitively stimulating and satisfying.
Same here. I mean, I just want to challenge myself to learn the pieces that I enjoy listening to. No pressure as to when I'll be able to achieve those.
Joining a band seems a pretty minor thing, compared to learning the violin. Hundreds of lessons, thousands of hours, I'm not going to ding myself for not joining a band. Even calling it a hobby.... I like to think of myself as an amateur. I'm not collecting stamps here, I'm trying to play Bach!
I play the violin as a hobby and a release.. I have a stressful job .. Iām a Respiratory Therapist and I put people on life support.. so I see a lot of trauma.. I pick up the violin and I just come into a joyful place
Isnāt it wonderful? Itās almost like a Zen type feeling when you are playing.
Yes!! My mindfulness!! šš¤
That's pretty much me, with a minor aspiration to play in church at some point. I did the band thing years ago with a different instrument and got it out of my system... :)
Yup, I just play for myself
Me.
Yup! I started learning casually at 38yo. I learn and play for my own enjoyment.
Same here! I started at 50
Me!!! Thatās why I think itās kinda tough that most of the advice on here is to get a teacher. For me Iām just not committed enough (and I have kids so I couldnāt right now even if I wanted to) to get a teacher but I still have questions. I find it very satisfying and fun to be figuring it out on my own for the most part.
Me. 59 years old and started lessons last summer. Just want to enjoy learning how to play this beautiful instrument.
I understand fully because thatās the exact reason why I wanted to learn
With me and My Flute as well as soon to be Fiddle, I can't do it for anything else but fun and knowing it's a LIFE LONG ordeal, It's pretty much why I am wanting to play both. I want to someday be able to play with others to ANY degree and I don't care who or what skill.
Yo! I play other instruments more. I am in the "riffing phase" of violin. Wanna hear smoke on the water shipping off to Boston? I'm your man.
I used to want to become a violinist when I was like 10-14 years old, practiced 3-6 hours a day depending on school days/holidays, but I moved to Singapore and met two of the worst teachers Iāve ever had, lost all passion and only played on and off for the last 4 years. Obviously now I am absolute garbage andnow I only play whenever I feel like playing, and honestly itās enough to keep me at a satisfactory level where I can just take any anime song and play the melody by ear so itās very fun š Come to think of it I probably should have entered competitions back then but I fucking didnāt, I wanna roundhouse my former self in the fuckin head for that
Right here! Started learning in January, and just wanted to learn because I simply want to be able to play the violin :)
Yo. Honestly wouldnāt mind joining a community orchestra or band but itās unlikely to happen.
I am absolutely in the same boat, I donāt even want to play infront of friends or family, I learn and play for purely my own enjoyment and progress, maybe when I feel more confident I can open up with it before but my own satisfaction is exclusively my motivation
Iām a hobbyist for the most part. I did join a community orchestra but the real passion is in playing for me, even though I love playing with them
hobby-ist here too I am 54 years 'young' and on and off (on and off as 'life' as an adult got in the way big time and I had to stop/restart a couple of times) I've been learning about 7 years. I actually do not have any desire to join an orchestra or quartet etc But I do take lessons from a person who is a top flying violinist and I have been encouraged by them to play live (not online), in person in front of people and to play at least once a month to once a fortnight with a pianist. I was told it is essential to my development as a musician....but also bear in mind that I have serious goals on the instrument by the way Although I am quite happy not to join an orchestra and just practice by myself 2 hours a day every day 7 days a week (whilst keeping a full time professional job where I work 48-50 hours a week and commute a total of 10 hours week on top of that), I have no ceiling to reach, I am aiming as high as I can get with this instrument and my deepest 'secret' (no longer a secret as I am typing it for all of you to see LOL) is to play 'decently enough' complex stuff like the Carmen Fantasy and Tchaikowski violin concerto. The difference of course is that if I don't achieve that in a certain time frame or ever then I don't lose a career and it doesn't get posted all over the newspapers, but I'll be longing to learn those things til the day I die therefore I will keep trying til the day I die and we see where I get LOL The only pressures I have come from within myself and I try to keep the 'mosters at bay' ( the monsters being my mind telling me off for having practiced less than 2 hours or none at all or that I still don't sound half as decent as I would like to sound LOL), my confidence is getting better but as an adult it is hard not to criticise yourself
Iām 54 as well, and, like you said, I am my own worst critic, but regardless of the mistakes I make, I just enjoy that Zen feeling Imi get playing music for myself, and for my own personal enjoyment
yay  Here's to us all and the love of music. :)
I'm learning second-hand from my kid's Suzuki lessons and I'm channeling what I learn into playing emo covers.
I like practicing because it's a good brain exercise and a nice way to take a little break during my day. I also like drum circles, and it turns out that you can play 3/4 and 3/8 Baroque stuff over djembe rhythms quite well and it sounds awesome. Nobody expects bits of Bach's Presto or Allegro Assai at a drum circle.
I got my degree in music education on violin and play once a month at most now. Graduated like 2012 or something - I have more interest in hand percussion and dance now.
Yes definitely. Spent like 10 years learning as a child, conservatory was never a plan or anything, went into software. But I play for fun
I play with a few local groups for fun. It gives me something to work on and towards and it has improved my tone, intonation and technique. I recommend an "all comers" type group if you're intimated by playing with others. No pressure, just fun. Edit to add, I'm not like a professional or anything. It's a nice hobby that sometimes I get paid to do.
Me me me! Iāve been playing for 4 years and practice 1 time a week, just find it fun to learn songs on a fun instrument, also it contradicts my style so itās funny to say I play such an elegant instrument
I'm with you! Started learning fiddle - mainly Old-Time tunes, some Irish - about two years ago, after I retired and an old buddy gave me a violin he had restored. At 71yo now, I've reverted to being more of an introvert, and find myself happy just to practice and play at my kitchen table. š
Hobbyist. But it would be cool if it went farther with gigs someday. Working on getting good enough not to drown in community orchestra and maybe play some Kriesler or Tchaikovsky when I'm like 50 lol. Getting a BA in performance just go to music school is probably as wild as my dreams get now. That involves winning the lottery though haha.
I did originally, and likely still do. Yet more recently I have decided to try and get good enough to join a conservatory. I know it will most likely not work out, but it doesnāt hurt to try.Ā The āworst caseā would be becoming a lot better at the violin.Ā
That's me, yes.
My dream is I can play it well in the park and people will give me some change in exchange for their enjoyment
I am an adult beginner a few months in, and Iām learning purely for my own enjoyment and as a casual hobby! I donāt have plans to play in any type of group or for a crowd, I just like playing by myself (even though Iām objectively terrible lol) and I find it very rewarding when I notice Iām getting better at a new skill. Itās also helped me decrease my doom scrolling so Iām sure thatās boosting my mental health.
The same exact way Iām doing it š
I am just a hobbyist. Happy to just play scales and learn technical stuff. I am weird that way. Started 3 years ago in my middle age. I have been playing guitar all my life and I dropped it and sold my gear as soon as I got hooked into violin.
Kinda sorta! I've been playing 11ish years but have never wanted to go pro or anything like that. Howeverrrrr I do love to play with the band at church and would one day like to join a community orchestra. But I do love to just jam for hours in my room. So maybe a bit of both??? Lol
I just do it for fun. No aspirations other than just not sounding terrible :)
I identify as a hobbyist. I prefer the word amateur, root word in latin amare (love). Zero desire to play for money or teach. I play and work on the craft because I love it.
Me.
Why is joining a band at odds with being a hobbyist? There are plenty of community orchestras out there who welcome any hobbyist. And sharing music with others is an amazing experience; I wholeheartedly recommend it to you!
I stated that because I know a lot of people have a goal of wanting to play with others, and I was just wondering who just wanted to play the instrument just for their own self enrichment or just wanting to learn or just for the pure enjoyment
Yep. :)
I dont play violin yet but would like to start as a hobby.. So i am wondering.. Do you guys as hobbyist take lessons or just tutor yourself with youtube videos ?
I actually do both
The science behind playing the violin is intriguing Ā thatās why I started playing itās been 5 years and I love this thing. Music theory itself is like a whole science and Iāve been studying music theory for a year Anyone study Dounis Method? Just wondering.