Learn the Violin As an Adult - You Can Do it As Easily As a Child!

I never fail to be inspired by the number of adults who have the courage and enthusiasm to try to learn the violin. The point of this article is to give some tips to those brave people to help them along the path to learning the violin. These are my five tips for any aspiring adult violinist.

1. You CAN learn to play as fast as a child learner. I have lost count of the times one of my adult students has uttered the hackneyed phrase "you can't teach an old dog new tricks". In my experience the "old dog" is not only capable of learning something new, but with the correct attitude can actually progress faster than a child learner.

Attitude is absolutely key. Many adults come to learn the violin with the attitude that they ought to be an expert before they have even started. While children are happy to learn at a pace dictated by their parents, adults on the other hand expect results fast. They are used to listening to Strauss or Beethoven or other classical favorites at home, and measure themselves against a totally unrealistic standard of violin playing. When they don't reach this standard quickly they become frustrated.

Some of my adult students come to lessons feeling nervous and unsure. Not used to being a rank beginner again, they don't take well to any perceived criticism, no matter how constructive and quickly become frustrated. With many adult learners, from the first lesson I give them about six weeks before they give in.

In short, adult students do better when they remain positive, open minded and willing to except mistakes and often slow progress as a natural part of the learning process.

2. Keep playing those old pieces! Students should continue playing their passed-off pieces as a warm up after they have outgrown them. It is a very visible indicator of progress when you now play a song fluently that you were struggling with a few months back!

3. End on a high! This is a trick well known to sports psychology which can also be applied to learning the violin. You should always make sure you end any practice session on a strong positive. It is tempting to "give up" for the day after playing one piece particularly badly; do not do this. If you train yourself to end every session on a high your mind will become hooked to the rush you get from practice and you will feel compelled to practice every day. Also do not use a timer - aim for 30 minutes every day, but be prepared to shorten or extend this if you need to.

4. Learn at home! With computers it is very easy to at home. Home study courses give you the flexibility to learn at your own pace. You can rewind and review as much as you need to, you can start and finish lessons in your own time and you get your money back if you are not completely satisfied. Pick up a home study course today, this is the best way to learn the violin. Give it a try, I guarantee you will not be disappointed!