
Violin
Since I was little I have wanted to learn an instrument, but there was no opportunity to do so. After my husband and I moved into our new home, my life settled down and I decided it was time to learn an instrument. In December 2018 I decided I wanted to commit to learn to play the violin. In the last week of December I had my first introductory lesson. And things went on from there.
“It takes about 5 to 10 years before you can really play something”, so I was told. “If you want to play something cool fastly, pick another instrument”. And yes, after almost 4 years now, I still mostly play simplified pieces. Oh, and I still sound like a dying cat! But I enjoy this journey! I do learn something new each week! And I have learned to almost always love that!

Piano
Learning both the violin and piano was once on my wish list. I started with violin lessons at the very end of 2018 as it seemed a more practical instrument somehow! At that time I had also just discovered some beautiful violin concertos that inspired me to pick the violin first. It was always my plan to learn the piano after 5 years of violin. But then the pandemic happened. Time spend less socializing so I thought it would be a perfect time to start my piano journey a bit more early than planned! I bought a piano and started to practice from February 17th, 2021 and on.
On the piano you have the ability to play something recognizable from day one. Which is totally different on the violin, a simple piece I played after a few months on the violin can be done after 30 minutes of practice on a piano. This makes piano a fun instrument to start on. But then the rapid development of music theory and shifting comes into it! Making it a challenging and thus fun for me to play around with.

Lessons vs. Self-teach
I take violin lessons every week. The positive thing is that a teacher can intervene quickly when I do something wrong. But when you are someone who pushes oneself (too much) it can become a burden sometimes to have music to show for in a lesson each week. I only want to show perfection. With teaching myself I miss that external push but it gives you moments where you can say... now is not the time. It does give me the hardship to sort out everything myself when I am stuck. Honestly, to learn two instruments, one where I have lessons with and one where I do it myself is the perfect combination for me.