Today I started learning to play the violin. This has been an ambition of mine for a very long time. I am learning at Browning Street Studios in West End, not far from work. In fact, that was the major motivation for selecting this studio.
I hired a violin earlier in the week from Morris Brother Music Store for the princely sum of $55 for a school term. Yes, they usually hire to school students and now they have hired to me. I also bought a shoulder rest, which was not mandatory but is almost always used.
For the first lesson I was shown how to hold the bow and the violin. Holding a bow was not as simple as I thought it would be, especially when I could not relax my fingers enough for the teacher to place them as she wanted. Holding the violin was easier. The lesson continued with some theory. I know how to read music so I knew most of what I was being covered. What I did NOT know, and enjoyed learning about, was how the two musical staffs came into being. After this I was taught about the four open strings of the violin and how to play pizzicato. This included playing each string (G, D, A, E) individually, and adjoining pairs of strings (GD, DA, AE) as well as all of them together. We finished off with a piece of music composed by the teacher called "The Golden Harp".
I really enjoyed my first lesson. I learned a lot and revised things I already knew. One thing I really liked was that I was able to go home and play my first piece of music on the violin that same day. Not only did this reinforce everything I had been taught, but it also gave me a sense of accomplishment.
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