A lot of people play fiddle. Basically nobody starts by learning chords before learning melodies. But that's actually how I learned. I started with chords.
One of the nice things about learning to play violin this way is that you can go busking even when you've only had just a few lessons. When I go busking I like to go to Davis Square where there are lots of people who are excited to listen to music. Part of busking is that when people think you're good at playing, sometimes they'll give you money.
I like learning to play chords because chords are easy to learn. For me, usually, even when I've just had two or three lessons I can play a song pretty well.
My fiddle teacher is Cecilia. She's my dad's bandmate.