The Violin Part II

I may have already said this but it bears repeating: One indication that someone is truly skilled in anything -- be it sports, art, music, acting, technology -- is when they make that activity appear to be completely effortless. Once again I find myself in awe of the talented musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra and other organizations in the area.

Tonight the weather was nice enough that I walked from my place to my instructor's home -- about 20 minutes -- and I have to admit that I felt a little goofy with a violin case hanging on my back as I made my way thorough Coventry and Overlook.

The lesson was surprisingly productive, and we attempted to actually play something resembling "music" for the first time. I have a long, long, way to go. The good news is that I understand up bow, down bow, and can generally find my way to a string. Making the combination of bow and string sound even remotely as beautiful as I know is possible is still a long way off. It is, actually, quite possible to make that beautiful instrument sound remarkably awful without much effort. Thank the Deity of your choice for my teacher's patience.

Posture and leading with my wrist are probably going to be the next two things that do me in. The positioning of the left hand will take some work (and apparently stretches a muscle that hasn't received much attention lately) but wasn't as bad as I had prepared myself for.