i just refinished a 100+ year old violin and i love its sound. it is a little beat up and the top does not perfectly fit because it is not the original top but i love it. only problem is i do not play violin very well i play the mandolin tuned just like a violin and is very similar in size. but when you take away my frets i get lost. is it cheating putting tap to indicate where the frets would normaly go? And if so what i deas do you have? thanks!

Lots of people start with tape on the finger board - I did! I took it off after a few months when I didn't need it anymore. I think it's good to be able to play in tune from the beginning (with the help of the tape) so you can tell if you're in tune or not later. Good luck!

I don't consider it cheating if it helps you Congrats on the 'new' violin! Have a great day!

its a learning tool. Once you are able to not look at the tape--even if you feel it and the note is in tune, try taking off the tape and playing again. SOon enough you will start to develop muscle memory for where your fingers should go.

Scales help so much, even though they're boring (for me actually they're rather relaxing, even playing a 24 note in one bow on a 3 octave scale...)

Thats good you got the violin remodeled. I get excited when I get new strings...so I can't imagine what its like for the violin to be repaired

ah, i forgot to say, there are things they sell that are actual charts that go between the fingerboard and the strings. I have seen them in a few stores online and am not sure how good they are--i would look into those.

but if you're lazy like me, you'll just get strips of tape and placing them on the fingerboard.

--mind you, the tape we usually put on aren't for all the half note frets. You will find it more useful by putting them (on the A string) for B natural, C sharp, and D.

That way you can play b flat by just putting your finger behind the first tape, C natural just behind behind the second fret, and D sharp in front of the third fret.

I guess you could put a tape for E, its good to use fourth finger as an alternative to open string sometimes, so you're not always switching strings all the time just for one note.

How did you get an ancient violin?

This sounds really weird ( it is )

but if you are waiting for something instead of randomly tapping your fingers you can practise your violin pieces on the line running across your palm
you can also practise the semitones.