My first adult student has reached his first big Suzuki milestone – playing through all the Twinkle variations! Quite the arduous task for any new player, with everything being so, well… new. These 5 rhythmic variations on the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star theme are the foundation on which so many basic concepts are layered and often take many months to learn and play even decently. We are progressing nicely into Book 1 and while that isn’t the only goal, I am pleased. And inspired! He has wanted to learn for many years now and is ready to put in the time he knows it will take to become at least a proficient player. So it’s been just the slightest bit of a struggle as he’s been eager to move along as quickly as possible and I have been making him take his time to learn things quite properly the first time around. We talked at the start of lessons and decided this is obviously the best way to do things rather than finding the need for some things to be fixed later on when they become inhibitors to his playing. And surely they would. Maybe not tomorrow or even in a few years, but inevitably as the repertoire got more technical any cracks in his foundation would start to show. Rome wasn’t built in a day by cutting corners. I’m pretty sure that’s how the old adage goes.
Bearing all that in mind, there are SO many things to remember when first learning any new activity and I have found it to be particularly true with those that require any small amount of physical coordination, i.e. sports, dance, acting, music etc. Not only are arms moving about in different directions performing different functions, but there’s posture and bow hold, angles and contact points, then tone and tuning and timing just to rattle off a few. Playing the violin requires considerable hand-eye coordination, muscle memory and control, digital dexterity and relaxation, surprisingly. The point is to make beautiful music after all.
And that doesn’t just come naturally, you know. It takes a lot of work. Hard work like active listening and intentional practicing, dedication and persistence. All things that adults have to do a lot of already at work and at home so sometimes it’s difficult to get us to do them again during our leisure time. But how rewarding it can be, whatever the activity, not just music. To tackle a long-awaited project or dust off a familiar hobby is a fresh kind of excitement, and the childlike wonder can often get us through the tough times.
In this season of goal-setting, resolutions, and re-aligned priorities, I would encourage us (if anybody, ever, is to see this and make it an “us” ) to look into ourselves and find something that will bring a significant amount of personal satisfaction and pleasure. Something to stimulate intellectually, socially, physically, and emotionally; something that can really be enjoyed for years to come that can’t be taken away from us. I’m very proud of my new student; for taking the first steps, meeting the first mile marker, and walking down a winding path to eventually realize a dream. Nothing can be quite so invigorating as setting a personal, meaningful goal and then going about the slow steady work it takes to achieve it. It doesn’t have to be musically-minded of course.. though that does seem to fit the bill!
Happy music making!
That Violin Vibe 