HELLO!!!!!!!!!!I am new here and I want to ask anyone:
I am playing piano,guitar and mandolin for 7 years! Is it possible for me to learn to play a violin by myself because I live in a small place and there is no teacher. I play piano in church,but we need a violin for next year,so I want to learn it to play it in church(songs are easy-in C major,2,3 lines)PLEASE advice me-should I buy a violin or no??? How long does it take for me to learn it?? I adore violin,my dream was always to learn it.........I will have much more questions later,after this,but I have to see you answers and support first.THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! SAD JOSSIE

I don't know how old you are, but I have been playing guitar since 1982. I also lived in the foothills of the NC mountains. None of the Blue Grass, Rock, Blues, or Country musicians around there had ever met someone that could read music or know anything about theory, unless they moved here from out of town! You would have to go to a city 50 miles away, such as Charlotte NC, in order to find an educated music reading person or teacher. It would be a 100 mile round trip just to go to a lesson. Back then I would buy these Hot Licks tapes for $20.00 that had about 20 or 30 licks on them. I would sit around for weeks trying to figure out all that stuff, and it was pretty rough sometimes. I burned up several cassette decks in the process!

I just got my first violin not long ago. This past weekend I did a google search for Violin Theory and Violin Lessons online. I downloaded tons of Theory, Lessons, and Videos for free. Google Video and You Tube has a bunch of beginner lesson videos at no cost. Some sites have all types of scales, chords, and mp3 files for you to play along with.

We did not have this when I was growing up in the 80's, we just had to wing it, and figure out most stuff by ear. Right now my computer is packed full of Guitar and Violin lessons, and I got everything completely free. It may take you a week or two to find a bunch of good sites with videos, and lessons, but you will collect enough stuff to keep you busy for a long long time!

I am by no means saying not to take lessons from a real teacher, I'm sure that it would be great, but there are thousands of Guitar, Piano, violin, etc. lessons online for free. You just have to dig for them!

I am 17 years old,and I am playing guitar 7 years,I am also playing mandolin which is same like violin,just have no frets...So you think that I could learn it by myself? I have a lot of material too,my computer is full of violin too ;-)) pictures ,lessons,history,videos...The best site is VIOLIN ONLINE where is everything about the violin,also finger placement and tapes for violin,positions and everything for the begginers.There is also site VIOLIN MASTERCLASS where are videos too,and forum about violin.My only problem is instrument now.I have no instrument yet,because I'm not sure to buy it,because I'm scared-what if I couldn't learn it by myself...!Here in my place the choice is not big,there are just cheap chineese violins and they cost about 90 $. Is that violin worth of buying?I mean,I am not professionalist,so I don't need something extreme,jut for myself.Another thing is rosin.How often should I use it? Once a month or a week or...??Where should I buy it?In music shop?
I am surely very boring with my questions,sorry,but please answer me!!!! Thank you sooooo much! This question is not the last one for sure....I have a lot of questions about the bow,shoulder rest and much more,but next time! Sorry about my English,I live in Croatia(if you have ever heard for it).

I realize that you don't want to spend, or don't have much money to spend on a new violin. Instead of buying one for $90.00, it would be better to wait a while until you can get a higher quality instrument.

I have been a guitarist for 20 years. A guitar that would cost $90.00, would be considered a kids toy. A beginner would have a lot of problems trying to play a really cheap made guitar. The string action would be too high, it would probably sound terrible, and they would have a very hard time pressing down the strings. For example: A high quality guitar requires almost no effort to press down on the strings and allows the guitarist to become very fast and accurate. I would imagine that this is the same for a violin.

I am not the person to ask technical questions, because I am also a beginner.

If I were you, I would look up some really good violinist on the net, and listen to their mp3's. If they are really good and sound great, email them with your questions.

Most musicians that I email are usually nice enough to answer my questions.