Playing Violin in an Orchestra

[greg]

I have an idea.... but i want advice on this first.
I'm thinking about asking for a violin for Christmas, but I won't ask if certain conditions aren't met.

I'd like to learn how to play, but in the end it will either be useful for something or a waste of time that i could be spending doing something else.

These are my questions: if I get a violin, practice it for years, and then get good enough to join an orchestra, could I? (i've did searches and found orchestras wanting violinists, and they didn't even have to take music in school or anything for that). If it's possible, does it pay enough?

This is just a job i'd like to think is possible, after having a secure job year from now. It really seems impossible to get any type of job doing what i really like considering my interests, but if i could be involved in music in at least this way, that'd be amazing! 

if this isn't a good idea, i'll just forget about it

[Mark G. Simon]

It's possible if you practice your buns off, and I mean really put in mega-hours every day for a number of years, that you might be able to play at a professional level. Most of the string players I know that make their living off of playing belong to several regional orchestras, and teach a lot of students. The very top orchestras are very competitive to get into, though there are certainly more violin positions open than clarinet!

[Guido]

Most orchestral violinists will have started at about 5 or 6 years old, worked for several hours a day during their teens, and up to about 6 per day at a 3 or 4 or 5 year college degree before gaining experience in orchestras of gradually increasing quality. So starting at your age, there would probably be little or no hope in getting to a top orchestra, and they are the only ones where you could actually live purely off the salary. String instruments are probably not the ideal instrument to choose - Percussion seems to be the only thing where you wouldn't have to start young to be in with a good chance, but then of course there are only a few of these positions available. The 'easy route' would probably be singing - You could get really good with hard work in much less time, but that relies on you having a naturally good voice too. But as a guide - for how different the rate of progress can be - I know people who have got to grade 8 ABRSM in less than two years, whereas piano or violin might take about 10 years on average. All depends on how much you are willing to work.

[greg]

Most orchestral violinists will have started at about 5 or 6 years old, worked for several hours a day during their teens, and up to about 6 per day at a 3 or 4 or 5 year college degree before gaining experience in orchestras of gradually increasing quality. So starting at your age, there would probably be little or no hope in getting to a top orchestra, and they are the only ones where you could actually live purely off the salary. String instruments are probably not the ideal instrument to choose

most of them probably have little talent to begin with if they have to practice THAT much 
i can understand a pianist having to practice that much, but violin?..... is it really that hard to achieve a good tone and intonation?

i never practiced that much when i first started guitar- the first couple of years, i practiced a few hours a day (started when i was 13), and the last few years i rarely practice. After like 3 years i started playing shred stuff which is like Paganini for the guitar (oh yeah, i don't know if you remember that one time i posted a file of me playing Paganini's 16th Caprice on the electric guitar  )

i'm sure it's possible for a lot of people to play Paganini on violin after playing just 3 years, but why do they have to practice so much after that? To memorize more music? To maintain their technique? I've heard of guitarists doing the same thing, practicing hours and hours a day, and i don't see why they'd need to play THAT much 

Percussion seems to be the only thing where you wouldn't have to start young to be in with a good chance, but then of course there are only a few of these positions available. The 'easy route' would probably be singing - You could get really good with hard work in much less time, but that realies on you haveing a naturally good voice too. But as a guide - for how different the rate of progress can be - I know people who have got to grade 8 ABRSM in less than two years, whereas piano or violin might take about 10 years on average. All depends on how much you are willing to work.

percussion- totally out of my field, singing no way 

[Mozart]

i can understand a pianist having to practice that much, but violin?..... is it really that hard to achieve a good tone and intonation?

Hilarious!

[greg]

Hilarious!

seriously, the violin can even sustain more than two notes at a time, the only thing hard about the instrument at all has to be tone (making sure you're perfectly on pitch) and intonation.
I've tried seriously practicing the piano for awhile, and even though it has an easy layout and all, it just involves so many notes that it's insane. 
Most of the time with the violin it's just one note at a time, and succession of chords is rarely played fast. Not to mention you never have to bend a string in pitch, you don't have a whammy bar to deal with, you don't ever have to learn a 5 or 6 note chord, and there's way less notes on the violin, just to name a few things.

[Guido]

I actually can't believe that I'm reading this!

[Greta]

This is like the funniest thing I've read all year. 

[c#minor]

I hate to burst your bubble but your s.o.l.

Violin is one of the hardest insturments to learn how to play, trust me i have tried and failed.

Try a horn, or something with a reed, or bang on some drums.

Strings are hard to play, unless the are without a bow and have frets. 

[Renfield]

I actually can't believe that I'm reading this!

Well, I can barely believe I'm reading this, if it helps.

Seriously, Greg, I am also fairly certain that the violin is one of the hardest instruments to learn.

Not that the piano is exactly easy, or any instrument for that matter, but the violin pretty much tops the (conventional instrument) difficulty charts, more likely than not!

[Mark G. Simon]

seriously, the violin can even sustain more than two notes at a time, the only thing hard about the instrument at all has to be tone (making sure you're perfectly on pitch) and intonation.

The violin doesn't have frets. And the notes are rather close together. Then there's the vibrato thing.

I think you should try it just to see how much goes into playing the violin. It's sure to help you in writing for strings.

[lukeottevanger]

seriously, the violin can even sustain more than two notes at a time, the only thing hard about the instrument at all has to be tone (making sure you're perfectly on pitch) and intonation.
I've tried seriously practicing the piano for awhile, and even though it has an easy layout and all, it just involves so many notes that it's insane. 
Most of the time with the violin it's just one note at a time, and succession of chords is rarely played fast. Not to mention you never have to bend a string in pitch, you don't have a whammy bar to deal with, you don't ever have to learn a 5 or 6 note chord, and there's way less notes on the violin, just to name a few things.

Greg, I play piano and cello, which is near enough to the violin that I feel able to comment. Trust me, the piano is child's play in comparison, for me anyway. 'Number of notes at a time' has nothing to do with it, I'm afraid.

[Larry Rinkel]

if this isn't a good idea, i'll just forget about it

It's not, Greg.

[BachQ]

It's not, Greg.

(((OTOH, it is remotely possible that Greg has a deeply latent gift for playing the violin)))

[Montpellier]

**


 

[greg]

ok, fine, you all have persuaded me to not play it 

it's very hard to see how this instrument can be so hard when you don't play it......
but i guess that's better than finding out the hard way 

thanks everyone for all the advice

[BachQ]

Do you have any other dreams that we can rip to shreds, G...R...E...G... ?

[Mozart]

Do you have any other dreams that we can rip to shreds, G...R...E...G... ?

I've tried to rip those apart but he just keeps persisting!

[greg]

Do you have any other dreams that we can rip to shreds, G...R...E...G... ?

yeah, i'll try to think of something

I've tried to rip those apart but he just keeps persisting!

they've already been ripped apart by fate 
i couldn't help but persist, since it's only human to try to get what you want......
that was the last way i could think of doing music as a living..... maybe i'll think of another dream that can be ripped to shreds..... let's see, there was the conductor thing, the music professor thing, and now the violin thing.....

[Renfield]

yeah, i'll try to think of something
they've already been ripped apart by fate 
i couldn't help but persist, since it's only human to try to get what you want......
that was the last way i could think of doing music as a living..... maybe i'll think of another dream that can be ripped to shreds..... let's see, there was the conductor thing, the music professor thing, and now the violin thing.....

I don't see why you couldn't bust your bottom and pursue that one, assuming you've got a good ear and plenty of dedication...

To my knowledge (correct me if I'm wrong), there have been a number of conductors to "start late", some of which became very great.