The teacher who wrote the musical, that I conducted the pit orchestra for, asked me after one of the performances, “How long have you been playing the violin?”

I answered. “Two years.”

She looked at me funny, “I thought you had played forever?”

I shook my head. “I’m a flute teacher. I’ve played the flute forever, but I’m a violin beginner.”

She was surprised because I arranged the music for the orchestra and seemed to know what to do with the violinists.

I found that being a beginner was helpful in arranging the violin parts for the elementary students. I didn’t write parts that I couldn’t play.

It was fun that she thought I had played the violin for longer than I had played. Though if she had ever heard me play violin, she would have known I was a beginner.

I’m getting to the part where I need to practice more, my violin progress is getting bogged down. With the musical rehearsals in February and March, I haven’t gotten much practice in. My violin teacher noticed an improvement in my intonation after I spent three days conducting the pit orchestra in rehearsals. I guess listening intently to the elementary school players and correcting wrong notes helped my pitch.

I’m getting to the point where I have a gut feeling if there are wrong notes being played, but I can’t always tell what section they are in. When I have each string section play separately then I can find the notes and fix them.

I’ve been taking lessons for fifteen months now. Slurring with a bow instead of tonging feels more natural now.

It’s easy for me to sight-read. My years of playing other instruments really helps in this area.

I’m starting to learn shifting. There’s nothing like shifting in flute playing. It’s like using a capo on guitar. I use shifting when I play piano, but on violin there are no black keys to use as guide posts while I’m sliding my left thumb around. I have to memorize the muscle movements.

In June I moved off my student 3/4 violin, to my newly repaired full-sized violin. The repaired instrument is a student violin owned by my great-grandfather. It was purchased before 1945 because it says “Made in Germany.” I don’t know what year it was manufactured. It has a richer sound then my 3/4, but all the spacing is different. I’m still having trouble placing my right hand’s fourth finger far enough down the neck. Sometimes my D’s on the G-string and my B’s on the E string are a little flat.

I enjoy playing violin, it feels so different from flute, clarinet or piano. I especially enjoy the challenge of sight-reading new music that’s at my level and seeing how quickly I can progress. I wish I had more time to practice.

I started my ten-year-old in Suzuki Violin October 2010, my five-year-old also wanted to start so she began November 2010. I was feeling left out so I started in June 2011.

I’m a Suzuki Flute teacher and active in my state Suzuki music teacher group, so I’ve observed violins in joint recitals since 1998.

It’s easier to teach an instrument then be a Suzuki parent. As a teacher I get paid to work with a student for a short time each week. As a parent I have to pay her (my now six-year-old) to focus and work with me on practicing. My eleven-year-old practices independently, but she finds it tough to stay motivated when she meets a new challenge on violin.

I love playing the violin. It’s much easier for me to memorize on violin then on flute. The finger patterns make more intuitive sense. More fingers down equals a higher note. I played on the spring recital, it was strange to feel nervous and not have to worry about having shaky air support!