Her mother's attitude at the beginning was that she could "have a go and see what happens" but she held a little concert for them yesterday at her lesson and she treated it like a real concert and had a round of applause after each piece. One of which I was extremely impressed by because she was following the music, distinguishing the long notes and short notes and she kept a steady, even tempo throughout the piece. It was fabulous and she even did a little bow at the end of the performance. She is loving it and I love that I am giving her the opportunity to learn the violin. It gave me confidence and a profound appreciation for music and I hope that she can find that within herself too.
It has changed me as well. It's changed the way I look at my violin. I played violin since the age of 8 and it was a roller-coaster ride of polishing my violin out of love and addiction and the struggle of not quitting. I love violin but it's been very much a love/hate relationship. Practising can be painful to go through - the sound(!) and after a while, your arms and clavicle bone gets sore. I played throughout my entire school career and I experienced so many exciting opportunities through my violin. I played in the annual school shows in a string ensemble and in the county string orchestra which was truly a magical experience. I finished playing for the orchestra on first desk of first violins and loved the sound that we created together. We performed every Spring in a concert hall and it gave me so much ownership of the music and so much self-importance.
The adrenaline that goes through your body and the energy that is created is wonderful! It's almost orgasmic playing as part of an orchestra. It allowed me to bring black blobs on a page to life and play good music and I cannot thank my teachers enough for allowing me to learn how to do this. Through doing violin, I was able to make new friendships, meet the love of my life (J - my partner) and actually teach someone else the same skills.
The great thing about teaching her how to play the violin and to read music is that this will improve her development in her numeracy work and literacy work as it has been proven by research to benefit these areas. I know that it's feeding her soul too. She is excited by what sounds she can create and she is proud of what she produces. She is keen to perform and do things herself and it is fantastic to watch and listen to her grow. I am so proud of her and I hope that she sees that I am proud. I hope she is proud of herself and I hope that she continues to like playing the violin.
I actually stopped playing the violin after I finished high school and I was very nervous about getting my violin out of our spare room and dusting off the cobwebs! It was almost as if the violin warmed and brightened the room as I opened the case and I got myself familiar with the beautiful instrument yet again. It was only a year and a half but it was quite nerve-racking. It is surprising how much my body remembers about playing the violin. I was soon playing all my favourite tunes again with so much happiness. I want to thank R very much for giving this back to me. I want to give the same to her. I want to thank R for getting my violin back in the space it belongs. I am looking forward to seeing her progress further and I can't wait to see what it will bring her in life because I know she will continue to be great.
