Soon to be sitting in the string section

One place I never thought I'd sit is in the string section of an orchestra. I always thought that the long, arduous path to perfecting a string instrument must be impossible for someone who didn't grow up playing the instrument at a Suzuki school.
Wrong I was - at least I believe so now. I've been playing the violin for nearly three weeks now and have already become fascinated by the tone and the possibilities of producing new sounds, ones impossible to make on the piano, the guitar or even with the human voice.
After being shown how to hold the instrument and the bow by my teacher on Jan. 30, I came home and started reading the books she gave me (Basics by Simon Fischer, Ivan Galamian's book on Fundamentals and Methods of Violin Technique, and two beginner's books for children) and began practicing what they preached and what they offered. 
I also discovered Michael Sanchez's YouTube channel with his short videos with tips for violinists. He explains things fairly well (though he often says, "This is so important...", so I have to check those tips against what is in the books). And then I have read lots of beginner's books on Scribd, sort of a YouTube for documents, which have helped me put the various schools of violin playing into historical perspective. That platform also offers lots of recollections of Dorothy Delay's methods for teaching her violin students. They will be helpful for me when teaching my piano students, things like:
‘People can learn almost anything.’
‘People are capable of doing so much more than they are.’
‘You can teach anything if you can figure out how people learn it.’
‘Teaching is helping people learn.’
‘Learning is becoming more aware.’
‘People learn best when they feel successful at it.’
‘People learn best when they’re having fun.'

 It seems that violin pedagogues - from what I've seen so far in tutorials and master classes - are far less sadistic than the traditional piano teachers, who would hit your fingers with a ruler if you played a wrong note. Perhaps this difference can be accounted for by the fact that, sooner or later, all violinists are in the same boat when they play in the orchestra, so there's more of a sense of camaraderie.

You need to learn where all the notes are played
on the fret board. I'm still in the first position
(though I've read about how to move up to the 3rd).
I'm also learning to be patient with myself and to heed the advice I give my piano students. I can't expect a new piece to sound great the first time I play it. I usually need to play the scale of the key the piece is in - ascending and descending - to make sure I know where the half-steps are in the piece. Some books suggest you put marks between the notes where the half-steps are; that's very helpful for a beginner. I also like when the fingering is included, but the bowing caused me great problems at first. There would be a mark for a down-bow on one note and then an up-bow on the second and then no clue on the next three notes. But I've since learned that on those notes you have to get your bow ready to do what the next mark says to do.

 I'm looking forward to my second lesson tomorrow to find out all about the importance of the up- and down-bows and a ton of other stuff. I have roughly kept track of what pieces I have played and what I've read and what questions have arisen. I've averaged about an hour of practicing a day.

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