I regularly ask my violin students to stretch far past their everyday boundaries.
Sometimes those lessons produce an unanticipated effect. A sense of overwhelm. An unanticipated jitter. Even an unexpected welling up of tears.
The results, even if less than perfect, are irrelevant. It is the resolve to pursue the path and the will to endure your inner resistance that is transformational.
That’s the whole point of undertaking the violin journey.
I don’t mean: “is it complicated?”
What I really want to know is, “how much PHYSICAL EFFORT is needed to play?”
I mean, how hard can it be?
A five year old can do it? A THREE year old can do it.
Still, we all squeeze, push and force sound from our instruments.
When we really need to COAX the music out.
Allow it to flow.
It will.
Allow it to ring through the room, filling us all with its glow.
That part can’t fail, if we’ll only just let it succeed.
It’s not effort that is needed.
The universe is on your side when you choose the violin.
If you are going to play the violin (or any instrument) for a lifetime, choose projects that are meaningful to you. This as opposed to chasing trends or selecting music you think might be popular to others.
When all is said and done, it’s only the projects you care about that end up adding more value to others.
Do this, and 20 years from now you’ll still be playing your violin, while others’ instruments are merely collecting dust.