Dec 31, 2023·edited Dec 31, 2023Liked by Kathleenkellymusic
Thank you for this challenge. I am all over it and encourage more of you to join us. As for my personal amateur hour, a neighbor gave me a violin they'd found in an apartment this fall. I have degrees in piano and voice but had never tried another instrument, save guitar in middle school. Anyhow, they asked if I could tune it. Sure, I thought. How hard could it be? Then I broke every string but one more than once. Youtube was no help and I knew I needed a professional. So, I took it to Sam Ashe in midtown Manhattan, and the repair shop guy fixed it up and told me about a violin studio for adults in midtown Manhattan - the NYC Violin Studio (www.nycviolinstudio), run by two women young enough to be my kids. I immediately signed up for private lessons. After four lessons, my teacher talked me into "playing" Christmas carols as part of a beginner string orchestra on the studio's 3 HOUR Christmas concert, because I could read music, not because I was making good sounds. Never mind that I skipped measures I couldn't play, which were many! I had a ball and loved being part of this incredibly diverse group of adults (20s-60s) who were studying violin and viola in their free time. It was inspiring! I'm hooked now. My eyes and heart have been awakened to musical possibilities I've never dreamed of, and I'm wanting to make more and more music. I'm also listening to music I wouldn't have given the time of day to before. And I'm thinking, how can I use the musical skills I do have to give back while I'm learning all of this cool stuff with the beginners and as a beginner? Fast forward a few weeks: I have the requisite callouses now and I'm starting to veer off the blue tape into the keys of C and G. Not pretty. And very slow going. But FUN! And as the consummate alto and former accompanist that I am, I find myself averse to the first violin part. I am digging the second violin line and have aspirations to take on viola in a year or so, once the finger span on my left hand opens, and I can manage a bow! And when I move on to viola, I'll give the violin back to my neighbor, tuned up and ready to go, with a note thanking them for giving me this incredible opportunity and encouraging them to embark on their own amateur hour. Happy New Year!
I love this and am so inspired by you! And I just found out that one of my neighbors out here has started learning the violin. Duets are on the horizon!
> If you are a parent who’s going to your kids’ events, taking them to music lessons, helping them practice, making stuff for the bake sale - you are already doing the thing!
Success! We're playing a lot of pizzicato hot cross buns in this house.
Thank you for this challenge. I am all over it and encourage more of you to join us. As for my personal amateur hour, a neighbor gave me a violin they'd found in an apartment this fall. I have degrees in piano and voice but had never tried another instrument, save guitar in middle school. Anyhow, they asked if I could tune it. Sure, I thought. How hard could it be? Then I broke every string but one more than once. Youtube was no help and I knew I needed a professional. So, I took it to Sam Ashe in midtown Manhattan, and the repair shop guy fixed it up and told me about a violin studio for adults in midtown Manhattan - the NYC Violin Studio (www.nycviolinstudio), run by two women young enough to be my kids. I immediately signed up for private lessons. After four lessons, my teacher talked me into "playing" Christmas carols as part of a beginner string orchestra on the studio's 3 HOUR Christmas concert, because I could read music, not because I was making good sounds. Never mind that I skipped measures I couldn't play, which were many! I had a ball and loved being part of this incredibly diverse group of adults (20s-60s) who were studying violin and viola in their free time. It was inspiring! I'm hooked now. My eyes and heart have been awakened to musical possibilities I've never dreamed of, and I'm wanting to make more and more music. I'm also listening to music I wouldn't have given the time of day to before. And I'm thinking, how can I use the musical skills I do have to give back while I'm learning all of this cool stuff with the beginners and as a beginner? Fast forward a few weeks: I have the requisite callouses now and I'm starting to veer off the blue tape into the keys of C and G. Not pretty. And very slow going. But FUN! And as the consummate alto and former accompanist that I am, I find myself averse to the first violin part. I am digging the second violin line and have aspirations to take on viola in a year or so, once the finger span on my left hand opens, and I can manage a bow! And when I move on to viola, I'll give the violin back to my neighbor, tuned up and ready to go, with a note thanking them for giving me this incredible opportunity and encouraging them to embark on their own amateur hour. Happy New Year!
I love this and am so inspired by you! And I just found out that one of my neighbors out here has started learning the violin. Duets are on the horizon!
> If you are a parent who’s going to your kids’ events, taking them to music lessons, helping them practice, making stuff for the bake sale - you are already doing the thing!
Success! We're playing a lot of pizzicato hot cross buns in this house.
Your idea of classical music dying and not dying reminds me of Joseph Kerman’s wonderful book “Opera and the Morbidity of Music”.