While we were in New York for the holidays, I bought a used violin for Penguin Girl from a guy on Craigslist. It's taken a beating over the years but it sounds okay. I cleaned it up, put on new strings and a new bridge. This past weekend I gave her an introduction to the parts, showed her what you do to maintain the bow, and what rosin is for. I cut little strips of painters tape to show where her fingers go. I recall having 3 different colors of neon tape when I started learning. Hers is not so fancy--all 3 strips are just blue.
I told her we're not going to have scheduled lessons. I'll give her a lesson and material to practice. When she feels like she has practiced enough so that her playing somewhat resembles what I demo'd for her, we'll have another lesson. Yesterday, I gave her her fist lesson wherein she actually put bow to strings and played. At the end I asked her if playing violin is more complicated than she envisioned. She responded with some vigorous nodding.
