"Я не играю на скрипке."
Translation:I don't play the violin.
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Same, and I am a little offended after DL first calls me late and then says I don't play the violin. Well, obviously, you don't know enough about me, Duo.
Why на here rather than в? Is it as simple as в for sports and на for instruments?
Yes, that's it. "В" is used with any games, not just sports - e.g., computer games.
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Interesting, but I don't believe so. Certainly where I'm from, they're exactly the same. A "fiddle" is usually used for folk music whereas a "violin" is used for more classical music.
It even says "fiddle" when you hover over "скрипке", but it still won't accept it.
Actually, if you play classical music, then you don't play the fiddle. If you play folk music, then you do play the fiddle. Lindsey Sterling plays violin, and not the fiddle, so it's possible that it is in fact, a violin, and not a fiddle. It comes down to what music they play.
I play (cello) in several orchestras, and people often refer to the violins as fiddles. They are the same instrument. Though, as you say, it is true that the musical style is different, but even so, many of us blur the distinction.
Is this different from "I can't play the violin"? That is, does "Я не играю на скрипке" mean 'I have no ability to play the violin' (my answer), or 'I have the ability to play the violin but I choose not to' (DuoLingo's answer)?
Can this also mean, "I am not playing the violin"? E.g., "I am not playing the violin in this session; I am playing the bass."
As a violist, I just want to say how vindicated I feel that the Russian word for violin basically literally means "lil' screecher".
Au contrair.
Firstly, "to play the violin" is a standard British way of saying it, whereas you frequently hear "to play violin" in the US. You can check the opinions of some native speakers e.g. here: http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/play-the-piano-play-piano.1564241/
Secondly, there is nothing grammatically wrong with "to play a violin". This expression would merely refer to some violin - e.g., an actual thing rather than the type of a musical instrument. For obvious reasons such usage is much less common.
If you want to have some fun with it, check the title of this book (seemingly written by a native speaker): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/learn-to-play-a-piano-robert-masterson/1112100183
It does not. The standard variations are:
- to play violin (US)
- to play the violin (GB)
In the latter case the violin is treated the same way the animal species are treated in English: the lion, the tiger etc. - it's the name of the species, not an individual animal:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger
Hi guys! I just want to ask, do you know any interesting apps, channels on the yt, blogs or any other way to lear Russian language (excluding duolingo of course)?
I'm a bit confused. Is that perfective or imperfective? Is it that I don't know how to play the violin or that I'm not playing it as we speak?
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It is imperfective. In my understanding, it can mean both "I am not playing (right now)" and "I don't play the violin (in general)".
There's also уметь, which means "to be able to".
Я не умею играть на скрипке. I am not able to play the violin.