My joy at listening to violin/fiddle music is only eclipsed by the joy I feel when playing. Although I'm just at the barely-intermediate level, I still get so much fun out of playing it. Some days it's a struggle to play it, so I'll put it down, but the next time I pick it up it's like it plays itself. It's alot of hard work but for each week that passes by and each new technique and song I learn, it is so worth it. I'll never be at the performance-for-others level, but that's OK - maybe one day my children will see me playing (in the privacy of my own home, of course!) and want to learn. Playing is a great stress reliever. Creating music, no matter what instrument you choose, should be a part of everyone's life. A violin is perfect, because it's much more portable than a piano, is just challenging enough to keep things interesting and, let's face it, it's a very versatile instrument. You can play cajun fiddle, Irish fiddle, bluegrass, Texas swing, classical, blues, jazz, etc. and each style is entirely distinct. For everyone who has ever been interested in playing the violin (or fiddle, they're essentially the same thing) but feel that they are too old, I encourage you to swallow your pride, find a good starter violin and take a couple of lessons. When I first began playing, I was intimidated because I felt that if I didn't start at the age of three that I'd never be able to play. But when I bought my first violin last year, the guy who sold it to me said he had a student that was 78 and learning for the first time. I figured if a 78-year-old could pick it up for the first time, I could too!