Would it work to RE-learn Piano AND learn Violin?

April 8, 2008 5:39 PM

Given that I have a somewhat substantial history playing the piano, how difficult would it be to take up lessons for the piano again after years out of practice AND start, for the first time, lessons on the Violin? How beneficial would such "cross training" be? How difficult would it be to find a teacher who could guide me on such a hybrid path? Other Thoughts?

I have to say, from the start, that though I played for more than a decade, I never considered myself all that musical, so forgive me if any of this sounds overly simplistic.

I played the piano from when I was 5 or 6 up until I was 18... however I had many teachers and ended up with a quasi "Suzuki" method, never really learning to sight read or any theory. Also I quit for varying lengths of time due to power struggles with the parents.

It has been 5 years without seriously touching the keyboard and aside from the key movements of one or two of my favorite songs, I feel I have retained nothing from years of practice.

I kinda feel like if I take up a new instrument along with resuming piano practice it may allow me to practice the fundamentals of sight reading and theory on the violin while still playing the more impressive pieces I used to on the piano. Additionally I always loved the sound and sight of a violin, in all its forms.

Is this dual approach misguided or too simplistic? Does it have any merits? Are Piano and Violin theory and sheet music similar enough that this cross pollination would work or are they like oil and water?

Also, what should I do for a teacher (or teachers)? Two separate teachers or just one?

posted by DetonatedManiac to media & arts (5 comments total)

I would think as long as you commit to practice time for each, and not just a combined practice time for whatever, it could only help. Even better would be a first-year class on musicianship and theory at a community college (with piano lab that comes with it). I learned piano pieces, but never really got them musically until I did that.

I play piano and guitar (both meh, no time for lessons right now) and don't find that one interferes with the other. I do find that I practice whichever I'm better at at the moment more than the other - more fun. So watch out for that.
posted by ctmf at 6:04 PM on April 8

Are Piano and Violin theory and sheet music similar enough that this cross pollination would work or are they like oil and water?

The theory and sheet music are exactly the same, the only thing that's different is the technique.
posted by ludwig_van at 6:53 PM on April 8

I am a Suzuki Method violin teacher, former Suzuki student and trained in Japan. How is your ear? If it's good, you might find that learning the mechanics of violin playing first, using songs you can play by ear, is easier and more fun than just starting with sight reading scales or even pieces. Taking some kind of theory class separate from playing, as ctmf mentioned, is a great idea to give you the fundamentals of note reading if you haven't done that before. Then, you can apply what you've learned to deciphering simple songs on the violin and/or piano once your technique is in good shape.

As ludwig_van mentioned, the only thing that's different is the technique...but it's a BIG difference. If you were already proficient at the piano, refresher lessons might get you back to where you want to be with room to grow and improve from there. Picking up the violin might be more challenging, so you will probably want to give it a little more attention in the beginning.

Lastly, the best way to learn anything is by doing. It's a shame that so many American Suzuki students grow up with the experience of not learning to read music -- in Japan it's taught, albeit separately from the rest of the repertoire. I didn't get really good at sight reading until I went to Chamber Music Camp at age 13 (yes, yes, "This one time? At Chamber Music Camp? ;)). So once you get to the point where you are playing and reading somewhat comfortably, it might be fun to find another person or persons who want to play some songs together. It's great motivation. Have fun and good luck!
posted by chihiro at 7:18 PM on April 8

I play both the piano and the violin. (Started with Suzuki method for piano, and semi-Suzuki method for violin... but went on to non-Suzuki teachers.) Piano was the first instrument I started out with.

Re learning the violin: most people sound bad for (at least?) the first two years or so. It's easier to sound bad on the violin than the piano. The technique involved is very different. You need good ears to play the violin (as compared to the piano), because of all the microtones that one can produce on the violin. In other words, it is much easier to play notes out of tune on the violin than the piano, if you don't have good, precise ears. Correct bowing technique isn't easy to master; even the basics. (After I'd played the violin for about 4 or 5 years, I switched violin teachers and the new teacher told me I didn't have a good foundational technique, which was making it harder for me to progress beyond the point I was at. So I spent about half a year just playing open string exercises (i.e. just learning to bow with the right hand, no left hand involved) and one-octave scales.) I think one needs more patience learning the violin than learning the piano, because generally you have to tolerate sounding bad a lot more, and for a longer time (as compared to the piano)...

As an adult, it may also be harder to learn the violin (as compared to learning it as a child); I tend to see much steeper learning curves for my friends/acquaintances that pick up the violin as a teenager or adult than those that started learning as children.

Re sight-reading: I suppose it could be easier on the violin (than on the piano) once you have the basics in place, since there's only one staff to read. But it does take quite some time to get a decent grasp of the basics, on the violin.
Like the others have said, the theory and sheet music aspects should be much, much less of a problem since they're similar enough between both instruments.

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Maybe you should stick to the piano for now, and really work on improving your skills on the piano? After 10 years, I decided to stop playing the violin to concentrate on the piano. :) But, different people have different preferences... for me, I liked the idea of being monogamous, and devoting myself entirely to one instrument, at that time. (But who knows, maybe you will be a natural at the violin and it will really become "your instrument" as opposed to the piano... )
posted by aielen at 8:48 AM on April 9

Clarification: when I was talking about grasping the basics in the sentence about sight-reading, I meant grasping the basics in terms of technique and actually knowing how to play the violin.
posted by aielen at 8:50 AM on April 9