It took me eight years to learn that I loved the violin. I started in first grade, but after a few years it became a chore and I just played it to fill my music requirements. A lack of effort caused my practicing to be lazy, my technique to be horrible, and my playing to be subpar. Even when our middle school teacher pushed us to excellency for the Heritage Festival in seventh grade, I could not help but dislike every minute spent practicing. In other words, it did not seem like the violin was for me.
When eighth grade rolled around, I only had one year left. Making it through one year did not seem so bad. I remember a few weeks after the winter concert when I shuffled into orchestra class and was shocked.
“The spring seating charts are posted,” informed my friend Kyra. “Let’s go look.”
“Well it’s not like there’s going to be a major change,” I replied. Usually the same people got similar seats each concert. The better musicians in the front and consequently, the rest of us filled up behind.
“Congratulations!” exclaimed my friend, Kate, as we approached the chart.
“On what?” I asked, bewildered. Questions ran through my mind. What did I do? Did I win something? Was I moving up a stand? Kate pointed to the paper.
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Choudhary-Page 2 “I made first violin?” I asked in disbelief. I knew I had improved a bit, although it did not seem like enough to be promoted to first violin. “Yes you did,” answered Kate. “That’s amazing!” Kyra whooped, “Yeah it is impressive,” I admitted. Even so, I was not sure if I really wanted to be first violin. In fact, just looking over my parts made me want to move down. There was shifting, vibrato, accidentals, and just about everything I never cared to learn well. The dominant part of me wanted to give up. I could take the easy way out with second violins. Yet, a small whisper inside of me told me to try my best this time; to actually learn. It was comparable to being pushed off a cliff. Fear ruled over me and I wasn’t prepared at all, but I had to at least try to survive. I had to attempt to be first violin. That night I descended into my basement and practiced, except this time, I concentrated.
I went one note at a time. Then a measure. A whole line. The entire page. To my wonder, I was not bored. Taking the time to focus made playing the violin seem new again. It was as if I had discovered a secret world chock-full of new things to explore. All of a sudden, my surroundings were a blur.There was just me and the rich, resonating vibrations of my instrument. I played with fervor, as if to gain back all the years passed. As a result, my nostrils were engulfed with the earthy smell of rosin, the tips of my fingers were raw from holding down notes, and my shoulders ached, but above it all, I heard the music. The music that I had never adored before had
become Choudhary-Page 3 the music that swallowed me up whole, and transformed me into a girl who loved the violin. I did not even know how much time had passed, until someone came thundering down the stairs. “Don’t you want to come upstairs? You’ve been down here for hours,” interrupted my sister. “What?” I asked, in a daze. “Just come upstairs,” she ordered. “Okay,” I responded, “just let me pack up.” My sister nodded and left. As I placed my instrument in my case, I had a heavy heart. I wished I could have played more. To think that up till now I had never known how much I would love violin, was astonishing. How could I not even know myself? It seemed like I knew myself inside and out, but in reality I had no idea what I might like or do. It took me eight years to discover that I really did love violin. What would I learn next? Though, in essence that is what life really is: finding myself.
I can’t touch music, but it touches me. I cannot exist without it. Music surrounds me and envelops me. The music isn’t just background noise, it has power. The lyrics beat and intensity can fill me with angst, sadden me, pump me up and help me relax. Music is life and it has power. It helps me delve deep into my personality and individuality and has helped me discover a more introspective side of myself. However, it wasn’t always like this.
For almost 8 years of my life, playing the cello has influenced my life in so many extraordinary ways. Choosing the cello over any instrument, was probably one of the best decisions I will have ever made, in the 5th grade. The violin was way too high, the viola was way too small, while the upright bass was way too big. I knew at that very moment that the cello was the instrument that I wanted to play. The warmth of the instruments tone, and the powerful sound that came out of the f-holes drew me in so quickly.
Why would you ever want to be?! Is mainstream violinist what you want to be? Do you can to blend in with everyone else and not stand out? Violins are the smallest instruments in the orchestra. Who wants that tiny thing? It’ll get lost easily because of that size! They are the most played instrument and tend to have a large group of players so your sound will probably be masked by the others. Many times violists start on a violin because it’s a smaller size, but then change over to the viola as they grow older (that’s because we’re amazing). The violins are also the self-centered instruments because they always want to have the melodies and they think they’re the best when in reality they aren’t. OH! When they are played wrong, it is one. Of. The. Worst. Sounds. Ever. They sound like dying cats on that E string if they are out of tune! I can’t imagine anyone would intend to play
Nothing lasts forever. Everything, whether good or bad has to come to an end. But people do say that sounds and voices do not die. Melodies we hear in our life lives on for generations and ever after. No matter who we are or wherever we come from; in whichever situation we were in, at some point of our lives, we have come across certain melodies that still live in our heart. And I am no different from others. There are certain musical pieces that have not only influenced my life, but have made a significant impact to change me for the better.
6th grade, and I was saying hello, and now 8th grade has come and it’s gone from introductions to goodbyes as my last days as a middle school student wind down. 8th grade, 8th grade from the opening day to the signing of the yearbooks. This is the year of memories, goodbyes, and regrets. 8th grade and I’m still realizing that there are people in the world that would die to go to a school like this.
“Do you understand the impact of your music and the magnitude of influence that you had for many?” I said excitedly hoping for a reply.
My fingers ran in a blur over the black and white keys, hitting the right notes at the exact moment—it was mindless work. The chords struck true until the end of the piece; once I finished, it was time for me to repeat.
The obstacle I had to confront a problem my freshman year in high school. I entered into orchestra class to learn the basics of playing violin. I use to play before, but I forgot how it was played. Our teacher gave us a book to read called the “The Inner Game of Tennis.” Told us to look through it and find the deeper mean towards the book. I found it interesting that he gave us a book of tennis theme. The thing we should focus on is the position of our finger patterns and note names.
Music is one of the most fantastical forms of entertainment. Its history stretches all the way from the primitive polyrhythmic drums in Africa to our modern day pop music we listen to on our phones. It has the ability to amaze us, to capture our attention and leave us in awe. It soothes the hearts of billions, and it is so deeply rooted in my life that it has touched my heart as well. Everyday I walk to the beat of the song stuck in my head and hum along to the melody. For me, to listen to music be lifted into the air by the hands of your imagination and float around for a while. You forget about your worries, your troubles and find peace within the sound. Every chapter in my life is attached with a song. Every time I listen to a certain song, thoughts of my past come flooding back
I stood up, as the loud vibrations of the church bells seem to touch my heart. I crossed the long, seemingly endless stream of soft healthy green grass to the black box, which lay just as I had left it in its own solitude. Inside of it lay the violin in which I had devoted a lot of my middle school life to. I had spent many hours practicing on this wooden contraption. Now all of my hard work, all of my hours practicing, would go into making this one piece sound amazing, spectacular, and memorable. This wasn’t something I was doing for myself. This was something I was doing for my family, friends, and most importantly the sweet, cherished soul of my dearly departed grandmother. I wanted there to be one last remarkable token of my love for someone who had made such a large impact on my life. I knew that my grandmother had absolutely loved the fact that I play a violin. She had always said that I held so much talent.
Reading and writing has always played a vital part in my life. From toddler to adult, pre-elementary to college, I’ve managed to sharpen both skills to my liking. However, even though it significantly helped, schooling was not what influenced me to continue developing those skills into talent. Many different things shaped and influenced my learning, and now reading and writing have become the safety net of my life. I know that even if I have nothing else in the future, I’ll still have my talent and knowledge. To ensure my success, I hope to further develop those skills so that I may fulfill my wishes.
Ever since I was a small child, I have loved music. The strong, steady beats, the
Playing any instrument is immensely time consuming and requires a substantial amount of time practicing. I felt as though it took me what seemed like forever to learn a piece of music. I also didn’t like the idea that you were never done working on a skill, because there was always something that could have been done better. All of my free time was used to work on these skills making me unable to branch out and try new things. Playing the clarinet became something that was repetitive to me, and I eventually grew bored of doing the same thing for such a long time.
Waves I am a raging inferno of emotions. When I feel, I feel every single part of whatever it may be, even the ones they might think to be most insignificant. When I am cold, it feels as if hell has frozen over Earth. When I am sad, I do not find an ounce of happiness in the whole world.
After immigrating to Canada in 2013, I lost my best violin teacher, I got nobody to rely on. I was lonely enough that I had thought of giving up on violin, but now I am glad I did not. I made a decision to continue my journey because I realized it was the joy of music that made me overcame nights of finger numbness and hardship, and my violin teacher was just a part of the joy. Ergo, slowly I started to play violin again. Four years ago, I made a decision to preserve in playing violin. Through days of practice, I have enhanced my techniques even without my teacher.