Happy Friday everyone!
So today begins a new series of post that I’m calling Faith’s Fiddle Friday! And it’s something I’m rather excited about.
In a recent post, I mentioned that I impulsively bought a violin in that after months–perhaps years–of saying that I wanted to learn to play, I finally decided to make it happen and ordered a violin. My biggest motivation was from my NaNoWriMo novel: Heritage. Peggie, my MC, is a fiddler and I really want to bring a realism to her art.
That was well over a month ago and if I’m to be honest, it really hasn’t seen much light since then. The reason for it. Well, firstly I haven’t made the time. I’ve had a lot on my plate lately, and I haven’t been able to fit it into my schedule.
The other reason? Well, a few days after I bought it, I broke a string trying to tune it. Yep. It was a rather bizarre moment when, as I was turning the knob to find the right pitch on my D-string, I could feel it tightening and just knew that too much would snap it. And yet I turned it that one more time anyway and —
SNAP!
So what happened? Well, that big and ugly ‘S’ word: I got scared. I was suddenly faced with an obstacle. Not only was I struggling to tune my violin, but I was now faced with the added task of having to restring said violin. And I was afraid of the task and decided that I didn’t want to deal with the stress of it and so I placed it in its case and left it there. Until this past Sunday.
I don’t know what inspired me. I think it was a need to accomplish something. And so, with a sense of determination, I took a new D string and my violin and pulled up a few YouTube videos and after half an hour, I had this…
That’s right! I restrung my violin all on my own. And not just that. I also managed to tune it! And after that, I was in love. I continued to watch some videos and learned how to properly hold both my violin and my bow!
It was a great two hours of learning basics and making noise that just barely resembled the sound a violin should make. It was a start, and I expect it will be a long journey to where I want to go, but I’m ready for it 😀
And so I invite you to follow me along the path of learning.
May inspiration flow like ink upon your quill,
Faith
Good luck, Faith! My partner and I have grand intentions of teaching ourselves the ukulele, but we seem to keep putting it off.
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Thank you 😀
I bought my sister a ukulele a few years back but she hasn’t really picked it up either 😉 I almost tried myself, but I’ll stick with the violin for now!
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Good for you, keep at it.
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Thank you 🙂
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Good luck with your endeavour! Perhaps, in a year, we can have a video of how far you have come 🙂
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Thank you 🙂 I’d like to post some videos as I go, as long as I can guarantee it won’t be grating for everyone ;P
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I’m be happy to watch 🙂
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What a cute title for this post. I love the way the violin sounds. It’s so lovely. I wish you the best and hope to hear you play someday.
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Thank you 🙂 I hope to share it one day soon (if not later).
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Good for you, Faith! So are you taking private / in-person lessons for the violin? Or are you doing most of your learning over YouTube and video?
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Thank you Sara! I’m going the self-taught route with YouTube right now, but if I really need to, I’ll turn to a real tutor for help.
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I can’t play any instruments (I learnt to play the drums many moons ago) but you inspire me to learn the piano ❤ Maybe one day (when I have money) I will ^-^
I love violin music, it's beyond beautiful when played by the right person. I'll have to hear you play some time 🙂
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Good luck turning to the piano when you get the chance! It’s a beautiful instrument. My sister plays it; I think she’s rather brilliant at it 😀 I love accompanying her with my guitar but I hope that I’ll be able to play the violin with her one day!
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