My question when I started my Free Inquiry was “Can I relearn the violin?”. I can confidently say, yes!
I was initially quite nervous to begin with as I had some pretty bad experiences that have left me with anxiety surrounding performing and playing violin; and although I don’t think that those fears have disappeared they no longer inhibit me from presenting/performing in front of people.
Music is a language, and being able to read the notes on the page is just like learning how to read a new language. I began reading music in Grade 3 during my regular music classes with Mme. Carruth. The way she introduced music literacy was engaging and worked really well for me as a young student in love with rules. However, just like any other language you have to use it or lose it, and it had been a couple years since I had really read sheet music. This Inquiry project gave me the opportunity to relearn this amazing skill.
My goal by the end of the semester was to be able to play multiple scales and pieces with 90% pitch accuracy and musical dynamics. The scales were G and A major and their harmonic minors as well as the corresponding arpeggios, and the pieces were and Etude in C minor and a Concertino in G minor. Unfortunately I don’t think I succeeded in attaining 90% pitch accuracy, but I was able to play the dynamics and bring a feeling of musicality of my solo pieces. Dynamics and musicality make the song, and although playing the right notes is also important if a musician misses a few notes here and there they are forgotten in the emotion and movement of the song.
Overall this has been a valuable learning experience and has helped me overcome my fears, relearn the language of music, and learn a beautiful piece of music.
Photo by Stefany Andrade on Unsplash
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