At nearly every gig, someone asks Kailee Vallis's duo the same question: can you add a violinist? So Kailee — a professional musician who performs three to five nights a week on bass, guitar, and more — decided to stop hiring it out and learn violin herself.

In this episode, Jessica and Kailee talk about what it takes to add a new instrument to a working career: why clients keep requesting violin, what carries over from years of playing bass (and what absolutely doesn't), how she's already using violin in live sets, the electric-violin-and-pedalboard setup she plays on stage, how to avoid buying a "violin-shaped object," and why, even as a pro, she chose a teacher over another year of YouTube tutorials.

What you'll hear:

• How Kailee built a career as a gigging musician — and why violin was the one instrument she kept coming back to
• The real demand for violin at weddings and events, and the opportunity it opens for working players
• What transfers from bass to violin and what humbles even a pro musician
• Using violin on live gigs: long tones, pizzicato, improv, and creative pedal effects
• Electric violins on stage — what to look for and what to avoid
• Why instrument quality matters so much, from warped bows to bad electric violins
• Kailee's advice for professional musicians thinking about adding a new instrument: get a teacher

Resources & links:

• Kailee's duo: 2humansproductions.com · Instagram @2humansproductions
• Kailee's electric violin: Yamaha YEV 104

🎻 Learn Violin with Me

Whether you're picking up the violin for the very first time or returning after a long break, you don't have to figure it out alone.

🌟 Join my free community for adult violin learners — a warm, encouraging space to learn alongside others on the same journey. [Join here]

📋 Download the free Perfect Position Checklist — a simple guide to playing with proper position with your violin, bow, and body the right way from day one. Also includes free sheet music with all of my fingerings included. [Download here]

Learn more at oberlinviolinstudio.com

Can you learn the violin as a busy adult with a demanding career and no musical background? Harshad Ingle is proof that you can.

Harshad is a research scientist and faculty member at the Washington University School of Medicine, studying ALS and Alzheimer's disease. Despite one of the busiest schedules imaginable, he is finally fulfilling a lifelong dream of learning violin — practicing just 15 minutes a day after work.

In our conversation, Harshad and I talk about:

• Why he stopped waiting for "someday" and finally started
• How he fits practice into a packed research career
• The mindset that keeps him going (hint: don't compare!)
• How violin is the perfect antidote to mindless scrolling
• Lessons from buying his first violin — and choosing his second
• The truth about the beginner "screechy" phase
• Encouragement for anyone who feels too old or too busy to begin

Whether you're a complete beginner or you've been telling yourself "maybe next year," this episode will remind you that it's never too late to share something beautiful with your music. 🎻

🎻 Learn Violin with Me

Whether you're picking up the violin for the very first time or returning after a long break, you don't have to figure it out alone.

🌟 Join my free community for adult violin learners — a warm, encouraging space to learn alongside others on the same journey. [Join here]

📋 Download the free Perfect Position Checklist — a simple guide to playing with proper position with your violin, bow, and body the right way from day one. Also includes free sheet music with all of my fingerings included. [Download here]

Learn more at oberlinviolinstudio.com

When Mark Dandridge picked up the violin on August 23rd of last year, he was 59 years old, a retired Air Force veteran, a high school special education teacher in Arizona — and completely new to the instrument.

He hadn't played anything since clarinet in the 1980s. He couldn't read music. It took him a full month just to learn how to hold the bow.

Less than a year later, he's playing songs he loves.

In this conversation, Mark shares what it was really like to start something completely new in his late fifties — the intimidation, the moments he wanted to give up, and the simple shift in mindset that kept him going.

He also shares the practical wisdom he's gathered along the way, including the advice that struck me most at our last student recital: "Give grace to yourself."

In this episode

• Why retirement (or the years leading up to it) can be the perfect window to pick up the instrument you've always loved
• The honest reality of those first overwhelming weeks — and how Mark pushed through "I want to give up" moments
• What "Everybody's a beginner at something" really means when you've spent decades being competent at your job
• Why structured instruction matters more than YouTube alone (Mark learned more in 8 weeks of cohort than 8 months with a local teacher)
• The cognitive benefits of learning violin as an older adult — and the research behind it
• Mark's dream of one day playing with other musicians, and why community is part of the joy
• His advice to anyone "thinking about it": just do it, and give grace to yourself along the way

If you've ever told yourself you're too old to start, or that the violin is too hard, or that you should have begun years ago — this episode is for you.

🎻 Learn Violin with Me

Whether you're picking up the violin for the very first time or returning after a long break, you don't have to figure it out alone.

🌟 Join my free community for adult violin learners — a warm, encouraging space to learn alongside others on the same journey. [Join here]

📋 Download the free Perfect Position Checklist — a simple guide to playing with proper position with your violin, bow, and body the right way from day one. Also includes free sheet music with all of my fingerings included. [Download here]

Learn more at oberlinviolinstudio.com