Piano Student

When I was a child, I used to think that practicing the piano was just another way for my mother to punish me. I can remember it all very clearly, my mom was a piano teacher and her students would come to our house all the time. They played so many fun songs and it looked like a breeze. I figured, if they can do it, I can do it too! Once my mom started teaching me I quickly realized that playing the piano was a lot harder than it looked. I became frustrated easily when she would try to teach me the notes, and it was only a short, overly dramatized stomp down the hallway to my bedroom where I could close the door and pout. I had not anticipated all the time that I was going to have to spend practicing if I wanted to get to all the fun songs the other students were playing. I really had to reevaluate my desire to take piano lessons. I was going to have to choose to practice or not play at all. Eventually I came to the conclusion that, because I didn’t want to practice, piano must not be the thing for me.

This is such a sad stigma about practicing that plagues the minds of way too many people, including my younger self. It’s almost like we’ve all conditioned ourselves to feel stress and tension when we hear or think of the work “practice”. If we could all just reverse that negativity, we could start to realize that practicing is very rewarding. Now that I’m in college, I’ve found that practicing the piano is actually fun. This may seem a little hard to believe, but it’s absolutely true. It is very interesting how, as we get older, we find the importance of doing certain things. Some of the things that I do now, like keeping my room clean, doing my homework on time, brushing my teeth twice a day, saving my money, and practicing the piano, were not as important to me when I was younger. Sometimes, it’s only when mature a little that we realize how much we can receive from doing things that might seem difficult. Now that I’m older and have chosen, for myself, to take lessons again, I know that I will be able to use my piano skills in a lot of ways, like teaching and entertaining. Knowing how to play will be rewarding to me in my career and my personal life, and it is something that I can do to relax and find peace.

Knowing how to practice and how to get the most from your practice is half the battle. It is often said that practice makes perfect. One thing that has helped me to love playing the piano is realizing that practice does not make perfect, practice only makes permanent. If we are constantly practicing the wrong thing, we will just be practicing our mistakes over and over. We will be teaching our fingers, and making a habit, of playing it wrong. It is very important, and was a valuable lesson for me to learn, that if I’m going to practice I need to be sure to practice right. It’s alright to go as slow as a slug as long as it’s correct because practice really does make permanent. When I was younger, practicing felt like endurance training, it felt like I was running a marathon. I knew I was required to practice for a certain amount of time so I would start really good, practicing every hard spot. As time would go on I would become restless. I would start to skip sections, skip songs that I didn’t like or songs that were too hard. I would eventually end up just playing something fun and easy that I already knew I could do well on, so that I could feel good about myself. After what felt like 26 miles, my practice time would finally be over and I would honestly think that the time would have been better spent sleeping!

One way that I learned how to overcome this type of practicing was by not trying to run a marathon, but by doing sprints. Practicing for 20 minutes, switching to a new technique, or taking a quick break, then doing another 20 minutes helped me to not become overwhelmed, or waste my time. Another technique to a more successful practice time would be to practice from the end to the beginning instead of beginning to end. Master the last measure of music then add a few measures each time. This type of practicing is very motivating because you always end in success. Starting at the beginning of a new piece is kind of like trying to see the future, it’s unpredictable, and unsure. One last tip for making your practice time worthwhile would be to divide up your time wisely. One-third of your practice time should be spent on technique, like scales, arpeggios, and chording. The rest of your time should be spent on two or more pieces so that you don’t become bored out of your mind practicing one piece of music every day.

Before long I started to realize that I needed more time to practice because the required amount was not enough for everything that I needed and wanted to do. If we could all learn how to practice this way it may not be thought of as such a hairy green ghost that lives in the closet, but instead, something that we can all love, and do well at. It had been very interesting to see how my motivation and desire to play developed as I got older and learned a few tricks. As I’ve incorporated these techniques into my practicing I have become a better player in a shorter amount of time. I’m not sure if my younger self would ever believe me if I told her that practicing really can be very easy, relaxing, fun, and rewarding.

Becoming Great

Is it better to be an amazing violinist with a mediocre violin, or a mediocre violinist with an amazing violin? I believe I have benefitted from learning on a mediocre violin. Playing a mediocre instrument is harder than playing a very well crafted instrument. I have worked harder than someone learning on an ideally crafted violin to perfect my sound and make certain techniques sound good. Having a mediocre violin has forced me to practice more, learn more techniques, and therefore had helpd me become a better violinist. The real reason for different levels of violins may possibly be to ensure that a beginner will start out with a violin that may need some extra hard work and practice to make it sound great, which gives beginners the opportunity to become amazing.

If you’re anything like me at my first violin shop, you are probably wondering how violins can be different. The main differences are based on the way the violin is constructed and the materials used. Different makers use different methods. The first and most important decision is choosing the wood. The best type of wood for the back, sides, neck and scroll is Maple. The best type for the top of the violin is Spruce. The type of wood used for the fingerboards, pegs, and tailpiece is Ebony because it is more durable and these parts of the violin get handled the most. The most desirable characteristics of these woods include them being light weight, strong, well shaped, and aged. This criteria produces the best sound quality once the violin is made. Another challenge that I had with learning my violin was the strings. Originally strings were made of gut (lamb intestine), but they would break often and would not stay tuned for very long. Now there are options for gut strings wrapped in metal, aluminum or steel. There are also metal-cored and metal wound strings which create greater mass so that the strings will vibrate at a lower pitch. The cheaper the strings, the cheaper they are wound and the less likely they will have a good sound quality. Cheaper strings also need to be tuned more often, which makes it harder to play because you constantly need to check them. The other aspect of the violin that makes mine harder to play than an expensive violin is the bow. The best type of wood for the bow is Pernambuco Brazil wood connected with horse hair. Cheaper types of bows use less suitable wood and nylon or synthetic hair. This causes the bow to be harder to control and less bouncy at the balance point, which is desirable for good technique. Rosin is a sticky compound that you rub onto the horse hair which causes it to catch as you glide the hair over the strings. Rosin is essential for creating a good sound with your violin.

Thanks to all of these difficulties and challenges, my skills as a violinist have improved beyond what I could have imagined. Extra time practicing to improve my tone, make my strings sing, and learning good bow control had made me confident that if I had to play on a different instrument other than my own, better or worse, I would succeed. A mediocre violin has given me confidence in my talent that I can teach and am well prepared to help a beginning violin student, with a beginning violin, sound great and learn everything they need to know. I believe that having a mediocre violin is a great opportunity to become an amazing violinist that those awarded an amazing violin right off the bat, won’t be as likely to obtain.