Suddenly, Suzuki

One of the things I brought home with me (or rather, back to my sister’s home)… was my old violin. Jasmine’s just starting to take violin lessons, and there was a question as to which size violin she should use.

She’s currently got a 3/4 size, but my old one is a full size. She’s sticking with her violin for now, but I brought mine back home just as a backup – for a future time, if she continues to find the violin interesting, and is ready to upgrade.

On Friday night, Jasmine gave us a small preview of what she’s learning so far. Mostly, she’s been started off with just pizzicato – so she really literally just started. But it was fun to watch her step through the motions she’s been taught so far.

We had so many violins out. There was another case (not pictured here). My sister and I both took violin when we were younger, so there are a few extra instruments floating around (some of which are much nicer, and not really meant to for everyday/school use).

Stacey and I broke out violins for ourselves, and eeked a few snippets from some old songs. At each turn, Stacey was visibly shuddering as the memory of the songs came back to her.

I found it kind of nice to remember some of these older tunes, but she clearly didn’t have the same reaction. The interesting thing with the Suzuki Method is that it really emphasizes memorization – so much so that even now, many decades later, I still can remember most of these songs. Even though I may not have actually touched a violin in years.

Another realization: Book 3 is actually kind of hard! I thought the harder songs kicked in around Book 4 and 5, but there was some decently challenging stuff in Book 3. Who knew?

For now, my violin is back home in Indy – possibly finding new life in a new generation. Maybe some day, when we can adequately house a nicer instrument here at the house… I might bring one of the nicer violins back to Hyde Park, and practice again.

Random tidbit: Did I mention that I got to perform at Carnegie Hall, back with my high school orchestra circa 1990? I have some photos I need to dig up and scan. One of these days…

Related:
Going Home Again
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