I learned violin in school orchestra, never took lessons except for a couple of weeks during high school, and I was so intimidated by the teacher and her students that I didn’t stick with it. So my entire (violin) music education–until five years ago–was in public schools. And one thing I learned at the very beginning was writing finger numbers above notes in order to aid music reading. Now I was also taught that these finger numbers were a crutch, a tool, and shouldn’t be overused and relied upon. But finger number=note was very, very ingrained in me. A second finger on the D string was always F (or F#). And I carried this into adulthood. I taught myself to play in 3rd position when I was faced with music that went higher than B on the E string. And 3rd position was only for that occurrence. Why would you use it any other time? I was happy with 1st position, thank you, and I would shift constantly in order to be in 1st position. (I also taught myself vibrato–a really bad idea.)
So, as an adult, and taking lessons for the first time, I relied on these crutches and continued these habits as long as I could. I didn’t have to rely on the finger numbers being written, but I definitely thought them, even though I told myself I shouldn’t. And up into Suzuki book 3, which I was using for repertoire, I was happily situated in 1st position. Then my teacher says we’re going to try this piece in 3rd position (one of the Seitz student concertos). And I’m like…why? It perfectly sits in 1st? Why shift to 3rd? What’s the point? My teacher was a professional symphony musician, so I had to trust she knew what she was doing. So I learned it, and I started to understand the why. I also started to learn and understand the whole concept of fingerings and making choices depending on the music written and the timbre of each string. And also working with the strength of the instrument I’m playing.
The first thing I had to learn, or unlearn, was that finger number does not equal a note. Finger number is just a finger number. I also had to learn to know what I’m doing rather than translate it from 1st position, much like a person learning a foreign language has to at some point get past translating from the native language to the new one and just learn to think in the new language.
Now, this was a long process, and is a continuing one. And fingerings can be a touchy subject among string players. It’s something I’m constantly faced with in orchestra music. In fact, playing in a high level orchestra has been a trial by fire, and has probably really helped the intellectual understanding of these things, if not necessarily the practical application of it.
So I grew comfortable with 3rd and 5th position, to a point. And then was introduced to 2nd and 4th. When I first joined a community orchestra and asked on a violin forum for some help and advice, one of the things I was told was “learn the even numbered positions.” Now, really, what is the point of the even numbered positions? Why not just use 1st or 3rd, or 5th? Don’t they basically do the same things? But, again, these were people who knew what they were talking about. So, when the time came that they were introduced, I diligently worked on them. And sure enough, they were right.
Of course, for the first two years, and still some today, I had to ask the advice of my teacher for fingerings, even in orchestral music, because thinking in terms of positions and fingerings has not been natural to me. However, once joining Play Ethic, I started to challenge myself to try something myself, write in the fingering (back to writing in fingerings!) and then ask for my teacher’s opinion. More and more, it was coming natural, and my fingerings were sensible ones.
The challenge is to utilize all the positions, even the ones that aren’t comfortable. And in looking at music, I’m discovering that those even-numbered positions are really, really handy. A couple of programs ago, it seemed like we were constantly in 2nd position, because that’s just where the music lay. I started to go back through the Whistler even-numbered position book again in order to really get it. And I realized that 4th position was still very weak, so challenged myself to work on it on my own. Lo and behold, the last two programs of Play Ethic music have utilized 4th position probably 50% of the time, if not more.
Unfortunately, I do still need to write in fingerings. But I’ve learned that this isn’t always a bad thing. If you rely on them to read the music, it might be a crutch to do away with. But when they’re used to aid in the playing of music, they’re a tool. I write in fingerings where I want to shift, or where my eyes and fingers aren’t quite working together properly. My challenge now is to read the notes. To know the notes and where I am on the fingerboard, but also to read by interval, so I don’t have to think “4th position, 2nd finger, F.” These are two different things, and both useful and necessary as the repertoire gets more and more difficult.
Playing the violin can be a fascinating intellectual exercise, and that part appeals to me, because I’ve always been better at the intellectual than the artistic. Learning to play music (rather than let the music play me, as my teacher likes to put it) is a whole other ball game. 
