I play violin (well, played. I quit bc it got super hard and annoying and I couldn’t deal with the neck pain anymore)
but it’s still fairly recent so I do have some helpful hints for you.
Why did you pick that instrument?
we had a thing in middle school where we had to pick something to learn so I picked violin.
I originally wanted to play cello but they didn’t have any left so I had to pick betwen viola and violin lol. (and who wants to play viola, am I right? )
How difficult is it physically?
I had to quit because it got too painful, you have to hold the violin up with your shoulder and head, and at the same time use both hands to play it.
I have a swan neck, so most shoulder rests are diabolically short for me. combine that with EDS, and you have a perfect disaster. after a lesson, my fingers were swollen from bending back too far, my wrist hurt from the rotation required to play, and my necka nd shoulder were stuck in the wriong position because of how many muscles were needed to simply hold it in place.
it was super painful, and it’s one of the reasons I quit lol.
another reason is that you have to rely on hearing every time, if your finger is a mm off, it makes you sound horrible. with my pain and issues with pitching without relative pitch, it makes for hell.
Do you have any emotional associations with it? (eg., how does it make you feel?
it actually makes me feel like i’m mute. it’s really hard for me to express anything through the music because there’s so much technique involved that I never actually get my emotions into the piece. it’s just kind of… stuck behind a wall of thinking.
Does it help to play when you’re thinking / have had a bad day? etc)
no, it just makes it worse (see above)
Do you enjoy playing?
i don’t enjoy playing, I enjoy being part of an orchestra. it’s super cool to have a community around your hobby that you really like and it’s super motivating to have that as an incentive to practice.
If you could, would you change what you play?
I’m currently looking into it, actually. i’m teaching myself to sing (and I would do it more if I could actually have somewhere I could practice without being heard) and i’m looking to play drums soon.
✧･ﾟ: * ✧･ﾟ:* Staying positive doesn’t mean you have to be happy all the time. It means even on the hard days, remember there are better ones coming. ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *
Honestly I just chose it out of impulse and aesthetic appeal. I was in a thrift store once and I found a wooden flute inside a box. It was a traditional looking one, with beautiful intricate carvings of leaves and branches.
How difficult is it physically?
Not that hard, if you have some muscle or are used to raising your arms for a decent period of time. The difficult part is the breathing exercises you have to do, and learning how to breathe in an efficient way. If you are a heavy breather you WILL feel dizzy and short of breath constantly during playing, not to mention the strain on your face. This comes with the territory of using a woodwind instrument, but it gets better over time. Also correct posture is important, especially if you are performing in an orchestra.
Do you have any emotional associations with it? (eg., how does it make you feel? Does it help to play when you’re thinking / have had a bad day? etc)
Yes, playing the flute brings a sense of peace and helps calm my thoughts. It also brings me closer to my ancestors as well; They too played the same instrument.
Do you enjoy playing?
Yup
If you could, would you change what you play?
Yeah, I need a new hyperfixation. Maybe piano? Violin or electric guitar? They’re all more chic imo. You look cooler and more impressive playing those than a flute.
My main instrument is piano, but I’ve also learned a little guitar and violin!
Mostly school, honestly, but out of the three instruments I had to learn for school, I gravitated to piano the most. It was the instrument my picky fingers liked the most
Hmm. I have small hands so I find playing piano to be fine if I’m not trying to play wide chords and stuff like that it’s just hard to play well and at a really high level. Because the piano is a wide instrument with really only one standard keyboard size, you’re at a disadvantage if you have shorter arms and fingers. Not to mention trying to maintain accuracy when jumping between different octaves.
Violin was harder at first though because it made my neck and shoulder ache. And the strings hurt my fingers. And the bow had to be held a very specific way, which took me a while to learn.
Guitar was a little harder physically than piano but not by much, and way easier on my body than violin.
Uhhh depends on the piece, the instrument, and the people I’m with
There are definitely a few pieces on piano that I had negative feelings about at one point, and lots of painful memories associated with it too, but it’s also weirdly the instrument I feel the closest to. I guess writing a character who’s also a pianist—though, unlike me, he’s actually a prodigy—helped a lot in processing my emotions with it. I unfortunately haven’t been able to practice regularly in over a year, but it’s the one instrument I can’t wait to come back to.
As long as I stay away from child prodigies and enjoy my instrument in a weird vacuum I’m good lol
I have no negative emotions with guitar whatsoever.
As for violin, ehhh. Not as many bad memories with violin, but I also don’t feel as drawn to it. My moments of wanting to come back to violin have mostly been spurred on by insecurity and hurt egos
When I have the opportunity, mostly, yeah!
Nah. I’d change whom I’d tell what pieces I plan to play, though
Felt related to this, there’s a Wattpad book I like that’s centered around a pair of musicians: The Secret Songs of D. C. Silverenn by MusicalKehleigh. It’s a fun read, and I think it may help with inspo!
guitar (the hawaiian one very basic level), harmonica mainly, harmonium and a bit of flute
just hobby I guess, started first with guitar then realised I’m better in playing harmonica, harmonium a lot of people know/learn here so that’s kind of obvious for many, and flute because was fascinated by it
the guitar felt quite hard to me, I mean I stopped learning it midway harmonica is I would say easy maybe with a bit of practice, breathing practice with it too, you kind of play with your minds help for the notes, harmonium is easy-ish, flute there are lots of finger moving so is hard might not be as much as the guitar though
playing the harmonica makes me sleepy for some reason and it’s also a kind of breathing exercise you can say I guess
✧･ﾟ: * ✧･ﾟ:* In case no one has told you today: I love you. You matter. You’re needed. You’re stronger than you think. You’re going to get through this. ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *
)
(see above)
bad day 
(love that about her tbh)