Where can I get cool violin sheet music?

Most of the Andrew Bird stuff is pretty simple, since, as you know if you've seen him live, it's all looped. Granted, some of the licks may be a bit hard to transcribe (such as the opening riff from "Skin Is, My"), but I think that you'd do yourself a big favor by just learning them off the CD. This is easier than you'd think, and really, really good for your violin (/music) chops.

Andrew Bird's playing isn't any simpler because he uses a loop pedal live. But you probably aren't going to find sheet music for his songs. The closest will be guitar tabs, but those are spotty, too, so I agree that you should use your ears. Speaking of loop-pedalling violinists, though, check out Owen Pallett, aka http://www.reidtaheny.com/ff/read.html.

Great hobby! When I started, to practice I used the lesson books "All For Strings". I still play from these books when I have a chance, because it doesn't sound like practice music, it's actually fun. Occasionally I'll break out the Suzukis though. Typically you can find these used in bookstores. I've gotten some stuff from http://www.theviolinsite.com/violin_music.html but I don't think it has exactly what you're looking for. The 'good' music, for the most part, is copyrighted and you'll have a hard time finding it online. I've used http://www.everynote.com/violin.music for this and haven't had a problem.

I'm also a victim of adult onset violin. I have some advice. First, http://www.cdsheetmusic.com/ sells CDs of music for a lot of instruments. It's not free, but it's really cheap. The violin method books have more than you will be able to play in a lifetime. The Concerto and Sonata CDs would be ok, but they are pretty hard for a beginner. I also second the virtual sheet music site. For $30 or so a year you can get a ton of music, for all kinds of instruments. My son plays alto saxophone and my other son plays flute, so I use it a lot. I found it enormously useful to play the Schraedieck exercises on the first page of the School of Velocity. They are not very interesting, but they will make you fingers strong and even. Finally, fast is not as important as slow. My teacher tells me that he spends the first six weeks with any student saying "you might want to practice that more slowly" and I think that's the best advice you will get. Auer, I think, said "Slow practice is powerful" and it's right. Good luck, and hang with it. It's not easy. When I told my fiddler friend I was taking up the violin he said "Do you hate your neighbors?" You'll get there, bit by bit.

Ugh, this is always a problem. Good sheet music is hard to find, and usually costs money. The problem is not that the music is copyrighted (simply because they're mostly long-dead), but the edited editions are still in copyright. So you may be able to find copies of certain pieces online, but they won't have the same markup that a good edition would. And don't expect a cadenza. I'd say spend the money on a good book of music. My absolute favorite is a book of Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin. They are all are absolutely amazing. Some of them are moderately easy, and some rank in the most difficult solo violin works (Seriously, how many people can play the Ciaccona?) And yes, I too wish I could play like andrew bird. But I've never found any sheet music. I've just had to mess around and stumble on the right notes.

Yeah, Andrew Bird (#1 fan, whoohoo), I think, doesn't have sheet music. But I've tabbed out a few of his songs for guitar and ukulele, so I might be able to transpose (back to) violin. By looking at and listening to his Fabchannel.com performance you can learn those songs much more quickly.

Oh, and that includes "Skin Is, My"

Although you'd need a partner for full effect, I'd recommend "Mozart's Mirror Duet." It is a bit cliche for violin, but having one person play the music right side up, and another person play the music upside down is just a cool parlor trick in my book. I was fascinated the first time I saw it done.

Oh, I just remembered http://www.sheetmusicarchive.net/index.cfm, which has lots of public domain sheet music and lets you download 2 pieces a day for free. But I've tabbed out a few of his songs for guitar and ukulele, so I might be able to transpose (back to) violin. You'd be transcribing back to violin, not transposing, as none of the above are transposing instruments.