Playing the Violin

So I've been going to violin lessons for about a month now. It's been pretty hectic and very different from how I was taught a long time ago - I love it.

I have learned so much, that it's really unbelievable. I mean, I don't think I even learned this much in the 4 years I played before. Well it's understandable since you can't really proceed fast with a child but still - pretty amazing.
 
Some of the things I have learned so far are:

• To make flute sounds with the violin. Ha wut, I wasn't even aware you could do something like that! I've felt like a little kid with a new toy when I've been practicing them all, I'm like all snickering to myself thinking how cool I am. xD
• The blues scale. Man, I am really loving playing other things than just classical pieces. There's nothing wrong with classical music of course, but that's everything playing the violin used to be for me. Not anymore though. Without any mercy I have been made to come up with solos using the blues scale ever since the first lesson. God my attempts sounded really horrible at first (hell I've never improvised with the violin before!), but now my solos do sound like music. I'm getting there!
• To play not only from the first position but also from the second position. The second positions means to position the left hand on the neck of the violin in such a way that your first finger is where your third one would be normally in the first position. It should slide there smoothly, but currently my hand is too tense. orz Oh well... practice practice!
• And today I began practicing doing vibrato. Oh my god my hand is so stiff it's not funny! At first my attempts were so feeble I was pretty sure there was no way I could ever do this, but after a while it started to look more hopeful. My teacher reckons that I'll probably get the hang of it with a couple of days of practice. Talk about confidence. :'D I'm not that convinced myself, but I'll do my best haha.

I still have a long way till my playing actually sounds beautiful I feel. Though my teacher did say that I played Amazing Grace really beautifully today, so I guess I am getting there too! Once my hands become less stiff I think my playing will get a lot better. Apparently I do have a really good bow hand, my teacher was actually amazed at how well I hold it and said that it's the thing that most violin players have a lot of trouble with when they begin, her included. She asked if anyone had ever told me my bow hand was great when I played before, but I don't think anyone did... Would be actually really funny if my bow hand used to be really crap back then. x'D

Oh yeah and my teacher asked me what songs I would like to learn to play and so I told her. She listened to them and without any mercy she gave me an assignment - write the notes for NAKED FEELS by ear before Christmas. HOLY HELL HOW DO I DO THAT? I have never written the notes for anything, I've always had the sheet music rubbed in my face. That's the main problem classical violin players have according to my teacher - they can't play without being given the notes. Ahahahahaha, so I've tried once so far to write something and god it was crap. I think I know what my problem was though, so hopefully next time won't be so depressing. I have to say this task is pretty frustrating, but there is no way for me to learn this very valuable skill other than by gritting my teeth and fighting through it one step at a time. Once I have this skill mastered the sky's the limit and I can learn to play whatever I want! Hell yes, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

Notes - YOU'RE GOING DOWN!

And that's all for today. :) I have to say I am really glad I have the chance to play the violin again, I really like it this time and it provides some light into the very stressful life I am currently leading.