Practice, Practice, Practice

Way back in 1958, when I was in second grade, a new music teacher came to our school.  Her name was Mrs. DuPuis, and she met with each class and talked about music.  She offered to teach Private music lessons to anyone who wanted to learn how to play an instrument.  I don't remember at all what she said to the class, or why it hit such a nerve with me, but when I got home that afternoon I announced to my mother, "I want to learn how to play the piano!"

My grandma had an old player piano with those rolls that you could insert into it, turn on the switch and it would play itself.  The piano had some foot pedals underneath the keyboard that you had to pump with your feet to make the air flow throw the holes in the paper roll. My sister and I would sit side by side pumping furiously to keep the piano playing.

It always fascinated me to watch the keys go up and down as the piano roll turned around reading the holes in the paper. I remember lightly laying my hands on the keys and "feeling" what it was like to actually "play" a piano.  It was magic, and I so wanted to learn how to do that.

All the excitement that was bubbling up in me was almost immediately burst when my mother said, "Well, you can't because we don't have a piano!"  It was like a shot to the heart, but instead of being defeated, I replied to her, "Well, then, I'll learn violin!"  You see, my dad had a violin, and I loved to hear him play.  I figured I could use his violin and all my parents would have to pay for were the lessons.  

Seeing it from my perspective now as an adult, juggling the budget every month to balance our wants with our needs always with an eye on our income, I realize what a tall order doing even that was.  My family was not rich, but we always had money for the necessities.  My mom was very frugal, and that didn't allow for many extras.  But, she also loved music, and played the piano herself.  I think she understood my desire to learn how to do that.

So we went to the school along with my dad's violin, to sign me up for lessons.  Unfortunately, because I was so young, my dad's violin just didn't fit in my arms.  My parents had already agreed I could play, so they just had to put out the money for a 3/4 size violin.  I don't remember what it was like to actually hear me play in those early years.....to me it was wonderful!  My sister tells me now that when it was time for me to practice, she would go outside and run to her friend's home a block away so she didn't have to listen to the squeaking and squawking.

Learning to play an instrument generally takes a while -- learning to master it takes years.  Learning the finesse of the violin can take decades.  My learning curve was no exception to that rule.  I had to practice every day, and my mom never let me get away with skipping a day.  If they were paying for the lessons, I was going to practice!  As I got better my practice time went from 15 minutes to 30 minutes to eventually two hours at a time.  It didn't matter if I was sick, if we were on vacation, or if the Packers were playing football on Sunday -- Practice came FIRST.

Years later, I learned to love the violin even more when I learned to play by ear.  Following the rules of the notes on the page is one thing, playing by following the melody in your heart is a whole other gift.  As I got better, I began to perform in various venues:  at my church, in a community youth orchestra, in our annual music festival in school, in pit orchestras for local community productions of musicals.  Playing before an audience means a whole other set of skills that have to be learned, including dealing with the nerves that come with perform in front of others.

The lessons learned about playing violin stuck with me, and are suiting me well as I prepare for Worlds. There is something that can be done every day to hone the skills needed to succeed at this sport.  Some days everything seems to work like a finely tuned violin -- and the disc soars in the wind like a beautiful melody on those strings.  Other days, it is just scales and etudes -- something to learn with every throw.  Sometimes, it just seems you can't get the instrument in tune and things are just awful, such as the days when you seem to hit every tree on the course!

Playing in competition, whether it is handicaps on Saturday morning, or World Championships, is all about getting over nerves and uncertainties, just as it was auditioning for a higher seat in the orchestra. In some ways, it seems like I'm back in grade school learning again from all those weekly lessons, and I'm finding that the lessons are part of the fun.