The Musician | Teen Ink

The Musician

January 13, 2010
By violingoddess GOLD, Mesa, Arizona
violingoddess GOLD, Mesa, Arizona
10 articles 9 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
It ain&#039;t bad being good<br /> when you feel like you can no longer stand- get on your knees<br /> Curiousity is the mother of discovery


Tired eyes, sore from reading nothing but black notes on a page. Fingertips callused tough after long hours of beatings given by strings. Ears not letting what had been rehearsed escape the brain, Night on Bald Mountain to be exact. Rehearsals have been growing longer because of the preparation to perform in Carnegie Hall. “Getting to New York is going to be tough,” said the orchestra director, “but it’s going to be worth the money and practice.” The musician sighed and packed up their instrument. *Lock * Lock* went the case. When the musician got home, they took out their instrument and plucked the strings G D A Eeeee the E string sang. The musician smiled “In tune as always…” As the musician played, they imagined themselves at Carnegie Hall performing a beautiful solo in front of a large crowd. You see, this musician has fallen in love with performing Mozart, Brahms and Bach. Their favorite violinist has always been Joshua Bell. But this musician wasn’t a child prodigy like Mr. Bell; they were “normal” and never had over a year of private lessons. And money can’t buy this musician a new instrument as amazing as Joshua’s Gibson Stradivarius. No matter how hard this musician practices, their orchestra teacher has told them not to even think about performing a senior solo. Just because they never could afford private lessons or have enough motivation to audition for All State. But this musician will not give up for they are strong. So here I stand… with my violin in my hands. Practicing until I get that solo and into All State. I will do whatever it takes to get to my goal.


The author's comments:
I wrote this piece because my orchestra director told me I couldn't be worth enough for a senior solo at the end of this year. So I wrote about it. I was sick and tired of being told "you can't". So I wrote this piece of work. What I get from this is more self confidence.

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JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 7 comments.


on Mar. 17 2010 at 10:29 am
violingoddess GOLD, Mesa, Arizona
10 articles 9 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
It ain&#039;t bad being good<br /> when you feel like you can no longer stand- get on your knees<br /> Curiousity is the mother of discovery

ya the orchestra I am with, that is going to Carnegie Hall, practices after school for another hour... so most days I have 1-3 hours of nothing but orchestra! YAY! lol I never took Suzuki lessons but I am getting by just fine ;) I learned a lot too and I noticed a big change in the way I perform :) keep on playing!

on Mar. 15 2010 at 3:48 pm
celloizmylife PLATINUM, Atlanta, Georgia
27 articles 0 photos 72 comments

Favorite Quote:
Around here, however, we don&#039;t look backwards for very long.<br /> We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we&#039;re curious.....And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.<br /> -Walt Disney

By the way, violins are awesome too (depending on the musician...cough, my orch class screeches, cough...). But if you really want to learn cello, it's never too late to try. You'll find it's very hard for a violinist to learn a cello handhold though (sometimes kids try because they think it's easier; I think it is, but some people just can't get their fingers apart enough). And thank you for the compliment, cellos do rock!

on Mar. 15 2010 at 3:41 pm
celloizmylife PLATINUM, Atlanta, Georgia
27 articles 0 photos 72 comments

Favorite Quote:
Around here, however, we don&#039;t look backwards for very long.<br /> We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we&#039;re curious.....And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.<br /> -Walt Disney

What's annoying is that it wasn't like your experience at all for us. Sure, I did pretty bad in the audition, but the judges seriously just lost the scoring sheets, and guessed at who should be in. My friend (who is also the first violin of our amazing quartet) told me that so many people sound like beginners its not even funny. In 7th grade, she made 8th chair 1st violin; this year, she's 13th 2nd violin, and there is no way they raised their standards that much.

paperflowers said...
on Mar. 11 2010 at 6:40 pm
paperflowers, Imaginary, Indiana
0 articles 0 photos 176 comments
I sometimes wish I had learned cello instead of violin because it's awesome :) this is like two years ago I auditioned for an orchestra and a younger person who wasn't as advanced as me got in and I didn't... I mean, she has really good tone but my teacher and the girl and her mom were all surprised and we think it might just because I'm tall/older and they're going for a younger look.

paperflowers said...
on Mar. 11 2010 at 6:35 pm
paperflowers, Imaginary, Indiana
0 articles 0 photos 176 comments
wow, you practice after orchestra. that's dedication. I begged my parents to let me take violin lessons and there was a violin under the christmas tree a few months before I turned 5, so I've been taking private lessons for 10 years. I had one teacher refuse to teach me because I'm not a prodigy, lol, but then I found a suzuki teacher and am now in suzuki book 7, getting ready for auditions this fall. keep practicing! I improved a LOT last summer just from practicing 2 hours a day.

on Mar. 8 2010 at 5:58 pm
violingoddess GOLD, Mesa, Arizona
10 articles 9 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
It ain&#039;t bad being good<br /> when you feel like you can no longer stand- get on your knees<br /> Curiousity is the mother of discovery

hahah! that's totally awesome! ya I auditioned for Region and didn't make it- so I am just practicing really hard for Carnegie Hall :) Keep up the Cello because musicians are the ones who are feeding the hungry ears of listeners all around the world ;)

on Mar. 8 2010 at 5:52 pm
celloizmylife PLATINUM, Atlanta, Georgia
27 articles 0 photos 72 comments

Favorite Quote:
Around here, however, we don&#039;t look backwards for very long.<br /> We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we&#039;re curious.....And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.<br /> -Walt Disney

Cool! You must be dedicated. I don't practice quite all the time, much less late in the night. I most definitely don't know what type of cello Yo-Yo Ma has (but I did do a report on him). I first started private lessons in 5th grade when my teacher told me I wasn't good enough to compete in All-State. She didn't even give me the chance to do poorly! Since, I was considered the best. Then in 7th grade, a better cellist moved from Ohio and has been competing against me ever since. We both tried for All-State with my amazing violin friend, and I got out in the first audition. Of course, the other cellist didn't make the second audition. This year, the 3 of us again auditioned. I made the 1st round! but not the 2nd because the scoring was messed up and/or lost (it was pathetic; kids who had scored badly made it, while amazing others didn't; I'm not just saying that, violinists who have the best teacher in the state, possibly one of the best in the country, didn't make it). My friend and the cellist made it all the way, but they complained about their seating (the seating was messed up too). I realized I'm ranting about my own experiences. Good luck with your solo!!!