Am I too old to start learning a new instrument?

moonquack78

I don't understand how people can read sheet music, there just seems to be too much going on at once for me. I'm guessing that is something you should probably learn at a young age - but then again lots of great musicians can't read sheet music. I bought a violin from a second hand shop thinking it would be fairly easy to pick up after playing the guitar for so long, but I actually do sound like one of those people on TV programmes or cartoons who are supposed to sound awful, like a cat being strangled. I always thought that was just a joke and that nobody could sound that bad, but it is remarkably hard to play without it sounding awful. I have yet to figure out how to make even a single note sound good lol.

mrcow

moonquack - the answer is to not give up.

Reading music becomes second nature through habit. Sounding good comes with practice.

My son is grade four violin and still can sound awful at times. Other times, he can sound wonderful. Keep going with it.

googler

moonquack78 wrote: »

I don't understand how people can read sheet music, there just seems to be too much going on at once for me.

If that's the case, you're looking at music that's above your skill level, and you need to work on simpler stuff until that becomes internalised. If you're struggling to process key signature plus time signature plus note pitch plus note value plus ornamentation plus dynamics all at once, you need to remove some of these elements and strip it down to basics.

I'm starting saxophone at the moment, and the first exercises I have are repeating one note for the whole exercise, with different time values, no dynamics, and no other fancy stuff. Once that's mastered, move on to exercises with only two notes, etc. Little steps.

If you've just picked up the violin, look on eBay for books relating to sight reading at preparatory or Grade 1 by ABRSM or Trinity College, amongst others

Like these;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Sight-Reading-Source-Book-Violin-For-Grade-1-118-Graded-Exercises-Music-Book-/151000823215?pt=UK_Music_SheetMusic_RL&hash=item232859b5af

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IMPROVE-YOUR-SIGHT-READING-VIOLIN-GRADE-1-BOOK-/110336625323?pt=UK_Music_SheetMusic_RL&hash=item19b0934aab

Regarding getting a good sound out of it, the technique of bow against string, etc., I would imagine a few sessions with a good teacher will set you straight on the fundamentals..... or look on YouTube for 'Violin 101' or 'Violin fundamentals' or similar terms over the weejend, and call the teacher on Monday.

monicaG84

ALL the research shows that it is never too late. (a crazy fact: If you learn a new language after the age of 25 it reduces your chance of alzeihmers by up to 50%)

There is a lot of information out there about meta-learning or life-hacking. these tools all help you accelerate learning and are very effective. good luck, at 59 you're also not too old to use the instrument for some good old sex appeal

newdad123

Go for it - and don't be afraid of learning to read music either - it's not as hard as it seems at first

culpepper

If you have trouble with sheet music for violin,try violin tabs,they are very simple.
They show which string to play on and which finger to play with.

I am learning violin and guitar this year. I do read sheet music due to having tackled some piano and recorder with the kids when we did homeschooling but the tabulature way of reading music is much easier if you cant get your head around that method.

There is a website called fiddlehub which has some free lessons to get used to violin . He asks you to register but it is free and you are not obliged to buy anything or download anything .

There are free tabs for quite a few instruments if you search .
I have some for violin and guitar and OH uses them for Mandolin.
You can download a program called TefView which is free and plays tab files (in .Tef format)with the tab and the normal stave shown onscreen so you can play it to listen to (to know what it is meant to sound like) or just use it to display the tabs as you play.

cheesemelts

I tortured my parents for many years with the violin, then I started playing it.......lol.

GoldenShadow

I have a dream to learn the violin. I am aware its supposed to be ridiculously hard, but I'm not sure how hard?!

I play piano and have done for 12 years now (since I was 9). I'm almost a bit scared to effectively start anew and be completely rubbish

I had a fabulous piano teacher and for anyone struggling to read sheet its a matter of not enough practise/understanding what is in front of you. I did music theory as I learned to play and that really helped, too

cheesemelts

My sons piano teacher had a student of 79, so you're never too old to learn.

googler

GoldenShadow wrote: »

I have a dream to learn the violin. I am aware its supposed to be ridiculously hard, but I'm not sure how hard?!

I play piano and have done for 12 years now (since I was 9). I'm almost a bit scared to effectively start anew and be completely rubbish

You're 21 years old! You've got years in front of you to try Violin, Saxophone, Trumpet, whatever. Who's going to judge you, even if you don't master it?

You've got the basics of music under your belt already, all you need do now is master the physical aspects of bowing and fingering.

Take the plunge.