Making the Transition from Violin to Guitar!
In a big effort to 'do something I've always wanted to' I signed up for group guitar lessons at my local community centre with a mate from work at the start of 2013.
Initially I thought I would be at an advantage to the rest of the group as it seemed I was the only one who could read music and I had also played an instrument before.
Our teacher (who teaches primary school students during the week) pointed out that, due to the frets on the guitar, you are pretty hard placed to play a wrong note on the guitar, unlike the violin where you need to play every note precisely without any kind of guide. So I was pumped to get started and enthused that the transition from violin to guitar would be relatively easy!
After the first few lessons though, I realised that there are some fairly major differences between guitar and violin, for example:
the fingers you use to play each note are completely different between instruments
the distance between notes is physically much larger on guitar
the strings are lined up flat on the guitar, whereas violin has a curved bridge
guitar has six strings to deal with compared to four strings on the violin
you can see where you are putting your fingers on the violin whereas if you hold the guitar correctly you can't really see where your fingers are.
So basically the guitar feels completely massive and way too roomy compared to violin, and unless I really concentrate, I automatically go back to the fingers used for notes on a violin.
It has been a fun and sometimes frustrating journey so far, but a couple of weeks ago I think I turned a corner and I am getting the hang of it.
You will be happy to know that I can now play O When the Saints, Frere Jacques, Hot Cross Buns, London's Burning, Molly Malone and a whole heap of other short songs.
I'm now just wondering what will happen when I pick up the violin again - will I start trying to use guitar fingers or has nearly 30 years of violin playing securely ingrained violin technique in my head?
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