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I feel I’ve found a gold mine! Playing the violin has been a life long dream but with raising a family and working full time, there was never time and it always remained the top item in my ‘dream list’ for retirement. A long time ago, I bought the cheapest violin I could find and I spent years looking at it, touching it, loving it and waiting (while listening to David Garrett’s Czardas Gypsy Dance and dreaming, against all common sense, that maybe one day…)

At 63 I decided to get a head start, I invested in a better violin and bow and started taking lessons. I was still working full time so I didn’t have much time or energy to practice. Two weeks ago, the big retirement day finally arrived! The following Monday morning I was ready with my violin and determined to practice, practice and practice. But I had a problem with my bow grip. So I started to look up websites for help. Several sites later I found Violin Lab! I thought I’d died and gone straight to heaven!

Now, I must point out that I have a fantastic violin teacher. She’s very competent, patient and she can tailor lessons to her individual students� needs. But, she can’t be with me 24/7 and I can’t afford more than 2 lessons a month so often, in between, I can’t remember in detail what she showed me or what she said. Your videos are like having an extremely competent and patient private tutor at home, a tutor who explains very clearly and teaches techniques in minute details and who’s with me whenever I need. I can replay the videos over and over (love the slow motion and close ups!) or freeze a frame to study it carefully and get the benefits of a workshop even if I wasn’t there. Despite being a very accomplished violinist (I watched About Us) you are never condescending and you address challenges that sometimes I don’t even know I have, even if these challenges may seem silly to a professional violinist.

The website is very well put together, easy to navigate and it took me no time at all to feel at home. I am amazed at the extent of the material covered and the number of videos available to me for a very reasonable cost, actually the cost is very low which I appreciate very much given that I�m now on a retirement income.

And there’s another thing my teacher can’t give me a sense of community, reading fellow members’ testimonials and stories, their issues on the Community page (I seem to have them all!) the answers, the workshops, but especially knowing that I’m not the only very ‘mature’ beginner out there. I used to think I was a freak (getting the condescending smiles and ”how sweet”) but now I find that I’m a member of a very thriving community and I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am. As a 65 year old beginner violinist, you make me feel that I belong.

My bow hold is now under control (pencil in my pocket to pick up and practice throughout the day!) I just watched Laurie in the workshop (kneel the pinkie down and pray for good sound …priceless!) and I must admit that I’ve already watched your videos on techniques that are much too advanced for me at this point but I enjoy knowing where I’ll be soon if I keep up the good work.

My big dream is to become good enough one day to join a quartet or an ensemble, nothing professional of course but to be able to make beautiful music with other musicians, for our own enjoyment. In the meantime, while I dream, I’m going to keep practicing and enjoying this fantastic website and new friends. Thank you Beth!

Helene

Helene Mathers