I believe that all of us experience at least one difficult moment in our lives. That moment normally can be described as shocking and earth shaking. The thought, “I never thought this would happen to me….never.”
I started having to deal with painful events and life shock at the early age of eight. I never knew why life had to be so hard, but as I reflect, I believe that grief can either be an internal weapon or channeled into an instrument to be used towards something great. For instance, I believe that if I hadn’t experienced what I had, I wouldn’t have the emotional capacity to write the music I do.
But to be honest, it’s taken me a long time to re-channel my pain. For a long time, I felt like I was the Santa Claus of grief—happy and jolly on the outside—but carrying a heavy load of pain in a sack on my back. Interestingly though, every time I would pick up my violin to play, it seemed as if someone took a spoon and shoveled out a little bit of pain out of my sack. So, I just kept practicing and kept writing music—and every day, I felt my burdens get a little lighter.
If you are like me and have experienced your share of hardships, don’t let that pain sit and fester. It’s not good for you. Channel that energy into something good—like your music!
I am stepping out on a limb. Do you remember the TV show Home Improvement? If you do or if you don’t–the show was about a family where the father was the host to a home improvement show. Every time he heard something he liked or didn’t like–he would respond to it with a special grunt. Now, I’m going to be an absolute nerd—because I’m going to try to spell out the grunt for you–but you have to first start in a lower pitch and go higher, “ooorgh” That’s the best I can explain to you online.
Today, I found an online key signature test for you to take. I am going to include the link–and once you have taken the test, your test results will be given to you right away. If you score a perfect score, give yourself 5 “oorgh, ooorgh, oooorgh’s.” But even if you don’t get a perfect score, give yourself a few “oorgh, oorgh’s.” And last but least, if you completely bomb, tell yourself, “I don’t think so Tim.” Study and try it again.
This is my one nerdy post for the day—I promise that I will restrain myself for the next 24 hours. Here is the link:
Do you remember Home Alone I? Think back to the scene where Kevin’s mom–while on the plane–realizes that she left Kevin at home. At that point the weird Uncle Frank looks back at her and says, “Horrible, simply horrible.” At that point, she needed him to say–”You’re ok. You’re a great mom. Accidents happen.”
You know something, as musicians, I think that we all go through the same trauma. We may have a practice, performance, or who knows what–that may have not gone so well. And unfortunately, from being in the public eye–we all have that weird person–lets call that person “Uncle Frank” that makes us feel like dirt.
Remember, even though you may encounter a thousand “Uncle Frank’s” in your student or professional career. You have to be the one to decide how you handle their criticism. I for one, have had to make personal choices to not let people define my future success. I have had to decide that I am not what people tell me I am and that ultimately, the Creator of the Universe made me for a great purpose. And believe me, I AM a people pleaser–I naturally want to agree with people’s opinions, even the bad one’s –so I also find my own advice difficult. But really, persevere, don’t let people or situations lead you to quit dreaming. Ask God for help, and I believe He will answer your prayer.
You don’t have to tell me–I already know this blog post has a cheesy title–but my dad tells me from time to time that I’m the Cheesiest. At least I can own title to something.
Alright class, here is the subject of this lesson—examining your daily practice routine. I have walked a long road perfecting solid practice principles. I know that a few of you are asking me—what’s so hard about developing a good daily practice routine? Because, let me tell you. Some of us are really good at being disciplined and obedient—and some of us are not.
When I was a young student, I had a habit of getting distracted in my practice routine. Interestingly, I never was sidetracked by the usual–t.v., friends, etc. I was distracted by the star quality of Sarah Chang, Itzak Perlman and yes—Gil Shaham. I wanted to be them–to be part of the gang. I wanted to walk into an orchestra audition–and have the music staff almost pass out with excitement, “Amy, wants to join our group—we are so blessed. Make her the concertmistress–no audition.” (Like I said I am the cheesiest.)
So, to become the wonder of wonders–I developed a method to my madness. 1.) Practice up to 8 hours a day 2.) Even though the music teacher has assigned the Violin Suzuki book number 9–I like Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy better, so I’ll practice this instead and 3.) Scales? There’s enough of those in Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy.
I continued in this madness for years, until one shocking moment in high school. I started attending a music institute on the weekends–and then, all of the sudden the institute decided that they were going to have me study under a new French violin teacher. When I met my new private teacher, we sat down and he said, “Pull out a piece of music you have been working on and play it for me.” I proudly pulled out Beethoven’s Concerto and placed it on the stand (It happened to be one of my pieces that I had been working on under the radar). I plowed through the first page and stopped. My teacher paused for one moment and then–I think that I heard his thoughts, “QUEL HORREUR.”
From then on, my days of glamor seeking were over. You would never guess where my new private teacher started me—Violin Suzuki Book number 1:) From there, I went on a steady diet of humble pie. My new teacher read straight through my silliness and didn’t allow me to dilly dally. I went into violin bootcamp—and had to start completely over from the very beginning. It was painful—but oh so worth it.
Moral of the story. Don’t mess around with your practice routine. When your teacher says that you should practice scales and etudes for 25 minutes–just do it. Also, pour your heart into your assigned lessons and do your best. If you commit yourself to being obedient and diligent—you may just end up with a Violin All-Star invitation without the drama. I wish an All-Star invite and good, proper practicing for every single one of you–no matter what instrument you play:)
And yes, my students and blog followers—I am talking about you. What if you are it? What? What if you ARE the next John Williams, Michael W. Smith, or Karl Jenkins? Pretty cool thought. Interested? If you take up music composition–or music arrangement, you need to know first, that composition is a science. Follow this link today, and take a first step towards learning what it takes to score music. You never know—you could be writing the score for the 35th Harry Potter movie!
Today, I had the opportunity to observe a summer string camp rehearsal. Lots of violins, two viola’s, two cello’s and two double base. The conductor, though very knowledgeable, really didn’t know how to talk to the students. He would say to the viola’s, “Alright, you aren’t playing the f-sharps accurately, raise your second finger. Try measure twenty-two again–and this time I want to hear you play individually, so Brian, I want you to start at measure 22 and play to 30.” Poor, poor Brian, he was like a deer caught in the headlights.
The thing about this situation was that I would say Brian (not his name) had been playing for maybe two or three years. He really wasn’t following the conductor well because the conductor was too technical and dry for his level, and now–because the conductor put him on the spot–his perception of playing the viola for fun was quickly deteriorating. I felt Brian’s misery.
When I was growing up, I had similar experiences over and over again. It’s hard to be put on the spot—but here is some good advice. If you find youself put in a situation like Brian, don’t let that moment define you. You are just fine. Do your best–and if in your best, you play something that doen’t sound so good–LET IT GO:) And one more thing, everyone in your situation generally feels the same exact way. So remember that.
This weekend I was reminded those great old feelings of dread that I used to carry with me while warming up for an orchestra audition. Generally, it seemed the pre-audition warm-up area was held in a huge, empty lecture hall of some sort. I would look around the room, listening for the competition, and would generally find two prominent attributes amongst the competitors. If you were to divide the competitors into two groups—one group would have a humble quality and the other would have a rather arrogant quality.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “And the first shall become last?” So I am asking you, what group do you think generally has technically sound players—the humble or the arrogant? I’m sure that you won’t be surprised by my answer, but the humble group generally are the better players. Why? Because they have nothing to hide. The humble player doesn’t have to pretend that they are good–they are comfortable letting their talent speak for itself. So, this is the challenge for each of you–1.) Never hide behind arrogance, be confident in your ability–just as it is and 2.) Make humility a habit–believe me, no matter what you do in your life–it will always be respected.
