Making violin a meaningful part of your life as an adult learner | Student stories: Lisa
This blog post accompanies Violin Class Podcast Episode 38. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Advice from an adult violin student
On this podcast, I share advice that I’ve picked up in my years as a violin teacher, working with adult learners. However, I started violin young, so my own experience as a beginner was quite different than most of yours.
That’s why this week, I’m sharing valuable insight from someone in your shoes, with the perspective of someone learning violin as an adult. Lisa is one of my private students, and we’ve been working together each week for the past two years to learn violin. She shares insights about what it's like to be studying the violin as an adult and all of the things that she's learned along the way.
Lisa with her senior golden retriever, Raina
Meet my violin student, Lisa
Started violin: February 2022
From: Oklahoma City
Occupation: Marketing rep for a cardiology group
Other instruments: Piano and 42-bell carillon
Other hobbies: Reading, animal rescue, cross stitch, crochet, knitting, movies
In our discussion today, we talk about:
Her previous experience in music, learning piano as a child and carillon as an adult
How she went from being terrified of performing back in her piano days in her youth to actually looking forward to the experience and planning to perform in front of loved ones now with her violin.
What led to her feeling ready to take the plunge and really get started practicing violin seriously, years after purchasing an instrument
How she she fits violin practice into her daily life all while working a full-time job and having other musical obligations
The advice she would share for someone who is just starting violin for the first time
More Student Stories
This is the 5th episode of Student Stories, where my private violin students share their advice and experiences learning the violin. You can listen to the others here:
Advice from an adult violin student | Student stories: Julia
What learning violin as an adult is REALLY like | Student stories: Andres
Making time for violin practice as a busy person | Student stories: Olivia
From beginner violinist to playing in a band | Student Stories: Jamie
Transcript
Julia: This week's episode is one of my favorite kind to record. And I think you guys are in for a treat today because I'm here with one of my own private students, Lisa, And she's going to be sharing so many insights about what it's like to be studying the violin as an adult and all of the things that she's learned along the way. Lisa has been playing the violin for about two years now and is just a wonderful, dedicated violin student. And in our discussion today, we talk about her previous experience in music she did take many years of piano growing up. She shares how she went from being terrified of performing back in her piano days in her youth to actually looking forward to the experience and planning to perform in front of loved ones now with her violin. Others also like many people who come to the violin, she actually bought her instrument several years before she ended up being ready to actually get started with lessons. So we discussed what led to her feeling, ready to take the plunge and really get started practicing violin seriously. At the time that she did. As a side note this is something that is very common and perhaps you relate to it, but in just these few episodes that I have done recording my students. Most of them actually bought their instrument several years before. Starting to play seriously. Lisa also talks about how she fits violin practice into her daily life all while working a full-time job and having other musical obligations as well.
And what the instrument means to her. She also shares so many valuable pieces of advice along the way. And I think that listeners have any experience level, but especially beginners will really benefit from listening to this episode.
You know, this podcast is mostly just me talking into a microphone, sharing tips, advice, things that I think are relevant for people that are learning the instrument. But I think it is so interesting to hear from my students because.
Their perspective really helps me to know what's important as a teacher. And my violin students are in your shoes as an adult learner. I think it is so helpful to hear from someone who's got just a couple more years of experience than you do
Especially someone like Lisa, who has a lot of experience in music, in other instruments already. And what advice she would choose to share with someone who's just starting out. So a huge thank you to Lisa for taking the time to join me this episode.
But before we get into it, hello and welcome to violin class. My name is Julia. I'm a professional violinist and violin teacher. And this podcast is where I share my tips and advice for anyone who's learning the instrument. If you enjoy this episode, please take a moment to leave a rating and a review that really helps me to grow this podcast and to reach other violinists who are looking for this type of information. This is the fifth of a series called student stories and you'll find the other one's linked in the show notes. We referenced a few outside links and materials in this episode. And I always send those out. As part of the violin class newsletter. So make sure you're signed up for that if you want to have the accompanying links with each new episode. You can sign up at violin class.co/newsletter.
And lastly, to get in touch, whether that be for a future episode suggestions or a lesson inquiries, or just to say, hello. You can email me@violinclasspodatgmail.com. Without further ado, let's get back into our discussion.
so, Lisa, I would love for you to introduce yourself a little bit. tell me about what you do in life and some of your other hobbies and activities.
Lisa: Okay, well, hi. My name is Lisa Hart. I am, let's just get it out on the table. I'm 61 years old, and I'm gonna assume that I'm your oldest violin student. Is that an accurate assumption?
Julia: You are not, yeah, not at all.
Lisa: Well that's, that's good to know., I I am a marketing representative for a group of cardiologists. And I get asked a lot, what do you mean, what, how do you market doctors? Well, we always have new programs, new procedures that we're offering.
Every year we get new physicians right out of training, out of the residency that join our group. So I help introduce them. We always have changes going on and we have about 40 full time or part time clinics throughout the state. So I, I travel a lot. I'm on, I'm on the road, just driving to those places and being a touch point.
I'm more of a sort of a communicator and a connector. So that's what I do. And my other hobbies I love photography, love, love, love it. Although the pandemic was. awful in so many ways. I was furloughed for about four weeks, and that gave me time to rediscover some things that I loved, like cross stitching, and that sort of led to knitting and embroidery, and now I just have to take something to crochet everywhere I go just to keep my hands busy.
It's just so soothing to me. And music. Music is a big part of my life. Reading. I love classic literature. I love history. I love biographies. I love good fiction. Animal rescue. I'm very passionate about that. I have volunteered extensively in the past and my husband, we've been married about eight years.
His name is Michael. He has a couple of dogs that he has purchased and I have sort of made that okay with me by adopting two dogs as well. That's kind of it.
Julia: Wow. We have it's funny. We have so much in common. Things that I knew about, like the, the animals, we are both retriever moms, Lisa, a golden and Mia Labrador, and I didn't know about the fiber arts.
I also do a little bit of knitting and crochet, I've always said we should have like a club within the violin studio. There's a lot of my students that do,, crocheting and knitting.
, I think it, there was like a revival over the pandemic. I don't know if that's when you picked it up, but,
Cool. So you have a lot of previous musical experience as well. And one of the instruments that you play, I actually wasn't familiar with at all, , when you first wrote to me. So why don't you tell us a little bit about that, just the experience you had with music growing up and then what you do, in addition to violin nowadays.
Lisa: Okay. Well, I I guess there were, there were always people on both sides of my family that played, particularly on my dad's side. So piano music and singing was very familiar to me. Mostly From growing up in a church environment too, and my dad's family was very religious. So lots of hymns, lots of piano music, but nobody was really trained or took a lot of lessons.
, I started when I was about six, I guess. And it's just what kids did. It was, I think, maybe more common then than it is now. For, you know, for a parent to suggest that some sort of lessons and generally it was piano for whatever reason. So I started then and took all the way through high school.
I loved it. I really wanted to learn it, but I was so conflicted about it. I was terrified of performing. Absolutely terrified. For reasons that I think I've partially figured out, but not fully. And so I took a year off in college and then wanted to start back. And my parents were like, but that's awfully expensive.
And I was like, what you, I had to fight you all those years. And now I want to take lessons and you don't want me to, but I did. And then I just really never stopped playing. I went back to lessons in my early thirties. Did I think some of my best playing then and now I just play for fun. So that's piano.
I do have a piano in my home. It's it, it's 30 years old now. It's hard to believe, but I do still love it very much. And that led to another instrument I play called the carillon and what a carillon is. is a set of bells in a bell tower. I think you have to have at least two octaves to be an official, actual carillon.
So, about 23 bells or higher, I think, it goes all the way up to, some carillons have 50, 60, 70 bells or more. They're, they can be huge. And it's an, it's an instrument that allows one person to play all those bells. People tend to get that confused with, you know, pulling a rope, but that's not it.
That's something completely different. And in 2001, I just happened to be somewhere where a a Caron was playing. I'd heard Carons here in, in the States. I actually attend a church that has the only Caron in Oklahoma. But I just, something about hearing it in a quaint little village. Just the surroundings were so perfect.
The music was so beautiful. I absolutely fell in love. With the instrument and came home just on fire to learn it. And so I've been playing carillon for over 20 years and I It's really fun. It's an interesting world. It's kind of a small world and there are people who I mean, they're, they're very, very nice people, but their, their attitude, I think not just in the carillon world, but with other instruments is kind of like, if you can't do it perfectly, then you shouldn't do it.
And that's, I think, you know, you have to just. Not, and not be dissuaded by that if it's, if it's an instrument that you really want to learn, learn, don't worry about the perfection of it. Just worry about the joy of playing it.
Julia: And of course that applies so much to violin as well. I think that's something that mentality, that unfortunately is very prevalent kind of everywhere in the classical world.
But as, adult learners, it's easy to get in your own way for that so that's definitely good advice for all, all instruments all around. Just out of curiosity,, how does one practice a carillon? Because I imagine you can't go home and like just have one on your own. How do you prepare for a new repertoire and all of that stuff?
Lisa: Well, if you're lucky, you have a practice carillon. Okay. at probably where your carillon is located. And it's attached to, I would say chimes, a sort of a chime mechanism, so you can hear yourself and you can practice without everybody in the neighborhood hearing you. I don't have that, so. I just try to be respectful of other people's time and I, I, you know, you can play softly.
And you can sort of air practice. You can do this really, I think with any instrument. When I was trying to learn a piece, I think in 2019, we had just replaced our keyboard. So it was like playing a whole new instrument. And I was playing a very, very difficult duet. And so I would sit at my desk at work and look at my music and just practice the, the motions because that's, as you know, about, I, I really think about 95 percent of music is, is mental.
It's in your head, what you tell yourself. It's, it's how you encourage yourself. And if you're not. If you're, if you have a negative voice in your head, I would say, you know, tell that voice to go away. You don't need the additional pressure of, just negative thoughts about what you're doing. And so, when I practice, sometimes I go after work on Wednesdays because the building's open a little later and, just play., you know, try not to play for too long. It's, it's an instrument that's very physically tiring. , so about an hour is, is the maximum that I will play it. And so that's how I learn.
Julia: Wow. And what great advice too. I think that,, we're so lucky as violinists that we can just kind of hole up in our room and.
Worst case, put a whole bunch of mutes on and have nobody here except for our loved ones or roommates. Yeah, I can't imagine having to practice in public like that where everyone can hear everything. It makes you grow a little bit of a tough skin for performing. I'd imagine if that's something that was, stressful for you growing up, it's It sounds like every time you play the instrument now, in some ways, you're performing because someone is hearing.
So, , how have, how has that evolved for you over the years? Has it gotten easier? Or, , have you just kind of had to learn how to cope and have strategies for that? tell me a little bit about that.
Lisa: It has gotten easier, when I chose to go back to lessons and that included a few recitals, a couple of performances, and at the time I was attending a church and probably going to say the word church a lot because it was so integral to my experience with music, but I'm not a terribly religious person now, but I still love Thanks.
Bye. the music that I heard and learned there. The church I was attending when I went back to lessons, was Pretty large. So just doing a prelude or a postlude or,, a piece during the service, you've got a thousand to 1500 people sitting there. So, that was, that was very challenging for me with my, with my stress about it and my fear, but I think it did get a little easier over time.
The thing with Carillon is that,, this is the only instrument, where I live in, in our entire state. So. I don't feel like there's anybody that can judge it, really. And, plus, you're so isolated when you play. You go up, you know, steps, you go into a tower. Generally, it's just me sitting there by myself, and that kind of helps as well.
A lot of times someone will, will say, Oh, I heard you playing. Oh, that was so nice. And I'll say something like, Oh, well, I had a tough time with that piece. And maybe they're just being kind, but they'll say, Oh, well, I just thought it was supposed to sound like that.
So, , I just have fun. And, and the more that I can relax and just enjoy what I'm doing with any instrument the easier all those things become.
Julia: There's so many takeaways, I think that any instrumentalist can apply but, you know, relating to violin, first of all, it sounds to me and I completely agree that performing is a skill just like everything else and if we practice this skill, it gets easier and, I mean, playing for, you said, 1, 000 to 1, 500 people.
That's a big church. Wow. That is, I mean, that is enough to get even playing for, you know, 30, 40 people is stressful. So playing for that many people is, certainly , a way to get more comfortable. You, you just don't have a choice. And the other thing that you said, that's a really important thing to keep in mind when you're performing or listening to the performance.
As a performer, nobody knows the piece as deeply as you do when you're performing for a crowd of non musicians. If you're playing for your teacher, that's a different story. But that's so true. We get so caught up on our mistakes, but generally people just like to hear a tune that they can hum along with or clap along with.
And,, it can really brighten someone's day. So, yeah, thank you for sharing all of that.
Lisa: Sure. There's a big difference between being a kid and doing something performing because somebody else wants you to, and being an adult and performing because you want to, even if it's.
It's stressful or scary or whatever it is. It's your decision and not somebody else's and that takes some of the stress out of it for me.
Julia: Is there anything that you have figured out for yourself that does help you relax when you get in front of people on a stage or is it just over time the practice is what's done it for you?
Lisa: I
think over time the practice, I haven't Played piano in front of anyone in in quite a while in a in a recital setting and I think that's okay, too I I do I work it, you know as a marketer in health care as I said in at our office our offices In a hospital, and in the concourse of the hospital in the cafeteria, there's a pretty nice little kawaii grand.
, and so I'll go down there and practice, and that's even kind of I don't know. But, you know, I just, just, I just do it, and, and that getting more familiar with playing in front of people just definitely helps.
Julia: That's awesome. , it's so cool because , it's like opportunities with strings attached, like you can play, but you have to only ever play in front of people.
And that would be enough to turn a lot of people off. So it's really cool that you were able to conquer the, the fear that you had growing up and, , kind of lean into that and play the instruments that you want to play. It's a very vulnerable feeling, right, to, to be playing in front of people.
, there's not much that feels more vulnerable than playing something that's very hard that you've worked on a lot. Sometimes even more stressful, I think, if you've worked on something a lot to perform it, than if it's, if you're just messing around and be like, Oh, I've never played the piano, because you're, you're just sharing something really intimate.
And, , there's a lot of. Maybe baggage isn't the right word, but there's just a lot of yourself that's attached to, that you're just kind of putting out there for the world to see.
Lisa: That is so true. I, I tried for years to put into words why it's so nerve wracking... I think what it is, it feels like you're giving all of these people listening to you a chance to criticize you do you and I sit in an audience and criticize the performer? No, we don't. I don't know why I feel that other people would do that to me, because they're, they're not. Well, I have had a few with, with Caroline, be pretty critical, but, at any rate. It just feels like you're burying your soul, all of your flaws, or your potential flaws, and it's a very vulnerable thing to do, I think.
Julia: Absolutely. And I was having this conversation with another student recently. It feels like on the, just, personal level, more stressful to play for your violin teacher for lessons that you worked on really, really hard. Like if you had a really good week and you're like, okay, like this week I practiced so well, like yesterday it was sounding so good.
And when you get to playing that week, at least in my experience in that particular student experience, it feels more scary , to perform. It's like you have more to lose kind of compared to if you're like, I had such a busy week, I barely touched my instrument, , , which happens as well, but then you feel like there's, there's less risk.
You're like, I already know it's not going to go particularly well compared to if you're, if you've put your heart into and soul into something. So yeah, it's funny how, how the mind works and what, brings about stress.
Lisa: I, I totally agree with that. I I've spent years as a younger person getting so frustrated by piano and telling myself, you know, beating myself up and telling myself things like, I shouldn't be having this problem.
I shouldn't be still trying to do this or that. And that's such the wrong attitude to have. There's a Facebook group called, Something about adult violin beginners and last week I think a lady posted something like I'm 54 and I've been taking lessons for about nine months And I'm so frustrated by whatever.
I don't even remember what and I thought oh, no, You just need to get you know, relax into it. There's a lovely lovely documentary called Seymour An introduction. It's about Seymour Bernstein, the pianist, and it starts with him trying to play something and it's not working and he stops and he says, okay, well, I see what's happening.
I just need to correct this little movement. I need to move my hand a little more quickly. I just need to reach a little further. He, if something is you know, holding him back. If there's a mistake he keeps making over and over, he'll just stop and say, Okay, now I see what's happening and I'm going to figure out how to fix it.
And that's so much more useful than just getting frustrated and stop. And it's so much kinder to yourself. And it, yes, it, it, it ends up being more helping your playing more than just getting frustrated.
Julia: Absolutely. I will for listeners, I will link that. I actually would like to see that documentary.
I will link that in this week's, newsletter in the show notes if anyone wants to check that out. But totally. And that's. That's just what practicing is all about. You have to ignore , that little voice in your head telling you that you're doing it wrong, you're doing it wrong, you're doing it wrong, and, observe first of all what you're currently doing, figure out what the problem is, and then figure out a solution.
It's as, as simple as that, and it's easier said than done, but, the more you do it, the more you're able to do it without. Judgment I think and that helps a lot with the frustration and it's more direct more more productive that way. I totally Agree,
/so we've made it this far without even talking much about violin because you've had so you have so many.
, Experiences to share that are universal within music, but I do want to hear about how violin made an appearance on The scene with all of these other instruments and musical commitments. So when did you start thinking you might want to learn violin? And then what led to you actually starting and pick it up?
Because there's generally quite a bit of a gap for most people between the, I want to learn this and I have the time and energy to learn this. So yeah. Tell us about that.
Lisa: when I was about 10 years old, you may not even know the violinist Eugene Fodor, he's not much older than I am, or he, he has passed away.
But he had just won the Paganini competition and he happened to come to Oklahoma city to play the, I think it's the, a D major Paganini violin concerto that. Everybody knows and is very difficult or everybody's heard. And we went to that performance. I can remember what I wore. I can remember where I'm sat up in the cheap seats in the balcony of the Oklahoma city symphony orchestra and how, how wonderful that was/
, but I was, I was involved in piano and, and not really thinking much about other instruments then. And then when I was 19 in college and had a, a. that I was just taking lessons from, I said to him, you know, I think I'd like to play violin. And honestly, I'm not even really sure where the thought came from at that time.
I just thought it was beautiful. And again, church, we had wonderful musicians some violin professors who would play members of the Philharmonic. Who would play and I just thought it was beautiful and my piano teacher said to me, Oh no, no, no, you, it's too late, you're too old. Oh no. At 19, at 19. Oh my goodness.
Well, okay. So a whole lot of years went by and in, let's see, 2014, I made a big change in my life. I left a job that I had been doing for 25 years that had, had sort of morphed from something that was fun and, and good to something that was absolutely unbearable. And so I got out and I think to sort of celebrate that.
I wanted to give myself a gift, I guess. And one of the violins that I had loved, one of the professors had just recently passed away. And her family was selling, I don't know how many violins she had, but she had several and they were keeping, of course, her best ones and selling some of her others.
And so I found one that, that I love. And, purchased it. That was 2014. And then it sat In a closet for several years, I was starting a new job. I was learning a new career. I got married. you know, just life rolled on and on and on. And then with, with the pandemic, and I guess on top of the pandemic, a couple of things happened that reminded me that there's really no guarantee of How long we have here, how long our time is here on this earth, and that we really, we don't know.
What the quality of that time is going to be my, my father passed away with Alzheimer's during the pandemic and just, you know, all of that was awful, but you know, taught me to really, to appreciate the time that we have. And so all of those things that you want to do someday, someday is right now.
I also had a health diagnosis that is, is, is fine now, but it's ongoing with lots of appointments. And scans and things and it's all good. But another reminder, you know, that if you want to do something, do it now. You just, we have no guarantees. So I, I a friend at work had told me about some podcasts she liked.
I was, had not been into podcasts. And so I thought. Well, I wonder if there are any about violin and I happened to find you. And then during your podcast, you said something like, well, here, sign up for my newsletter. And I thought, okay, so I did that. And then the newsletter, I think, or maybe in your podcast, you said, if you're interested in lessons, email me.
And I thought, okay, so I did. And that's how it all started. And it has been pure joy. I feel like it's. It's a time of uninterrupted self expression for me when I'm practicing. It's just, yeah, it's just a joy. And it's, and it's portable! It's the first thing to, like, move around. And so I'm, I'm gonna take it, I think, to a family gathering this summer.
And possibly this spring I'm gonna go to Texas and see the total eclipse. And there happen just happens to be a little sort of a bluegrass jam in the area that weekend. So I think I'm exciting. Yeah, and they welcome everybody and, you know, all levels. And so we'll just see what happens. But it has just been such joy to learn.
Yeah, and it's something, you know, I love piano. I do. However, it's just so, you know, it's so intertwined with baggage, as you said. I think baggage is a good word for it. And violin is just for me. And that sounds selfish, but I think it's okay to be selfish in that way.
Julia: Of course. It's not selfish at all.
I think it's actually more so an act of love to be able to, to spend time with yourself and that's really what violin is. all about. And I mean, we say violin, it's a vehicle for this, but any activity where you have to spend so much time just paying attention to the most minute of details and doing something over and over and over again, day in, day out, it's really just developing a relationship with yourself, I think.
And that's what draws a lot of us to it because it blocks out everything else. If you're trying to tune your like. Be natural to your E string for the dozenth time, that day, you can't really be thinking about anything else except for that. And it's very meditative in a way.
Lisa: It is.
And I find, a piece that I might be learning a simple piece to just kind of be on a soundtrack in my head so much of the time. You can look at that two ways. If it's a, a song that I say that I hear when I'm grocery shopping and it gets stuck in my head, that might not be very pleasant.
But if it's, if it's a fiddle tune or a violin piece that I'm working on myself, I feel like, Okay, my brain is processing this. And since this is, so much of this is mental, this is a very good thing. So, it's, it's just, I, I there are a couple of, Very simple goals I have. I don't know why I think, I think as we get a little older, we get nostalgic and there are definitely places that I feel nostalgic about and I can't wait to to go to those places, especially the summer and, and play for for the people that will be there that have been in my life always.
It's just a, you know, a little goal and, and it doesn't matter if it's. Perfect or bad or whatever it is, I think, I think it will be something that that we all kind of enjoy.
Julia: There's no bigger goal than that, really. That's what it's all about, is being able to share music with your loved ones.
And, or with yourself, I think that both, are just as important. But, you know, to go somewhere, I'll, I'll share a story, with my, my husband, you know, we, we were preparing all of this difficult advanced, you know, impressive to us repertoire that we've been practicing, all the school year.
This was back when we were students and that summer we did a quick little just, you know, just a fun gig for , his family and friends. They're all musicians. So it was just a very like low key. outdoor thing. We just played a few old, old French tunes. This was in France and his grandmother spent the entire rehearsal just, taking videos of us and humming along and you know, just enjoying it thoroughly.
And for, for me, that is such a beautiful memory because I don't remember, you know, all of the stuff that we had played that was difficult and, very technical, I don't think got anywhere near as much as an emotional reaction from that. And it just felt like you're sharing something. It's not about how difficult the piece is or, how perfectly you played it.
I'm sure we made plenty of mistakes. We were probably just sight reading something, but when you can. have someone that you love listen to you and enjoy it and dance along. That's like, that is peak musicianship. I don't think you can have more enjoyment than that. And I hope that that's going to be, the kind of experience, and I'm sure it will be when you go play for your, your family members.
in Texas this summer, ,
Lisa: Yes, I, I hope so too. And here's something that's going to sound kind of weird maybe, but that I really want to do because we have this family reunion every single summer. We have since 1946 when my great uncle came home from the second world war. The only year we skipped was 2020 because of COVID.
And there's, there's a, a place, it was an old school house. It's now a community center. That's where they have the bluegrass jam now. And it's really kind of out in the middle of nowhere and across the street from the school is a cemetery where so many of my ancestors are buried and when we go there, it's.
in the summer. It's, it's beastly hot. Oh my goodness. So hot. But it's not, but as the sun goes down, it is so beautiful. And generally about that time, one of the evenings that we're all there, we'll, we'll all walk over to the cemetery together and just kind of honor our relatives who are buried there.
And, and at this point in my life, you know, some of my cousins, their, their parents are buried there now. And I just want to, I just, as the sun's going down, I just want to play my violin. Hmm. I just I just want to do that. I would love to play a piece I don't really know yet that that I may not be ready for yet, but I'm going to do it one of these days.
It's the Ashokan Farewell. Ashokan Farewell? Oh,
Julia: yes. Oh, I think you're totally ready for that. Okay. Well, that's what we're going to do in our class tomorrow. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
Lisa: That's what I want to play there. , I think that the family would love, you know, Amazing Grace. Okay,
Julia: well, but it's always the simplest tunes that are the most meaningful, I think.
And you know, we always get, well, I speak for myself. I want to play like fast, hard things. And I know a lot of people do too. But at the end of the day, I think the general public, they don't really care how fast or hard they can't tell. And it's just. something that has, some, some meaning, like a song they, they sang growing up to be able to just play it beautifully, , with a lot of emotion is all, all we really need to be able to do to, to, to connect with people.
Yeah, let's start working on that for sure. And, , I think if you go and if you have the opportunity to play it year after year, it's going to become more and more your own as you, advance in your, your skills and you, you're able to add more embellishments and yeah, what a beautiful tradition.
I hope that can inspire some of you to, to think about how you can make the violin part of your life. I always say this, it has to be part of your life not the other way around. It doesn't matter if you're not,, you know, in a concert hall doing all these things that are more part of the, the violin establishment to, for lack of a better word, just , how can you bring this instrument and your musical playing into things that are going to be meaningful for you in your life right now or in the near future?
So so much for sharing that. That's such a. beautiful image that I have for, for you. And I think it's completely possible as well.
Lisa: Well, that makes me very happy. Yes.
Julia: Teacher approved.
Lisa: That's another thing when you're, when you're a child and you're growing up and you ask, you ask your teacher, can I do this or that? And so often the answer is no. So it's really nice to be an adult and have teacher approval about some things.
Julia: You don't need the approval, but I think it always feels like, okay, I have the skills to play this piece.
And,, from the teacher's perspective, but having also been, and, still would consider myself a student of violin, I, I understand both perspectives. I think that the with a child, you have a certain amount of repertoire that you're expecting. If you go to like a high level Pre professional level that you're expected to be able to play and if you come to it too early you might bring some Bad techniques or whatever So it's really just I think to protect The student against having to relearn the piece and having to struggle with that particular piece later on But it is a bummer on the student side.
I I understand and I think again, that's one of the advantages of Learning when you're older is that, you're completely freed from that. You just like, I'm not going to go play an audition for, you know, this orchestra and that lets you be able to do so many things, have, so much less fear of making mistakes as well, because you're just doing it for fun.
Lisa: .
Right, and I think as an adult, your goals are so much more realistic than they are as, as a kid.
You know, this has really helped me see some patterns. I guess it seemed, it might have seemed what is the word I want? Impulsive? To run out and buy a violin? Mm,
Julia: yeah, let's talk about that.
Because it's actually really, this is not a story I'm hearing for the first time. This is actually pretty new. Something that happens a lot of the time that someone will start or have the intention of starting and then it's just not the right time for whatever reason and that, that gap might be 5, 10.
I've had someone 20 years between when they actually got the instrument and it was just like, okay, now is the time for whatever reason. Everyone has their, their, their why, and that's something I'm super interested in as a teacher. It's always something that we talk about, like, the first time I meet someone,, and we're, we're looking to work together, , because that's really important in knowing and that's what's going to keep you on, on track.
to and be successful in learning the instrument.
Lisa: Yeah. I I, I'm, I see now that I sort of look back and, and at, at things and can see a little bit of a pattern. I, I see Number one, how important music is to me, making music, listening, listening to music, hearing music, going to concerts. It's, it's just always been. A part of my life and I think, honestly, you know, being a little kid in the 60s when you turned on your TV with the little clicker knob, and there were four whole channels to choose from, the cartoons that we saw the Bugs Bunny cartoons were full of classical music.
I think one of them had barbers. One of them had Bugs Bunny playing, I think, a list Hungarian Rhapsody maybe or something. Oh yeah, the golden era. Yeah, and so that kind of, I guess I grew up liking it from, you know, from being a little kid on and it was, just has always been. a part of my life. And when I I've lived in this, in my home for 30 years.
It was another of those things that was supposed to just sort of be temporary. Like, you know, well, Lisa, someday when you get married, you and your husband can pick out a home together. Well, I've been, I, I'm married, but we've, we've just stayed here. Lots of other stuff, details in the interim that, that I won't go into, but when I moved into this house 30 years ago, next month I had nothing.
I mean, I had like a metal bed frame, somebody's old mattress. I had my grandparents. Really awful 1970s living room furniture and their great big Zenith box television. I mean, I had nothing. And I, I started thinking to myself a couple of months after moving in here, I would really love to have a piano.
I would love to start playing. I had a little keyboard, which had served me well when I was living in apartments and stuff, because you could plug in your headphones and practice sight, sight learning. Hmm. And I thought, I would love to have a piano. And I was thinking, what can I, you know, what can I afford payments on?
What, what do I have room for? Am I really going to do this? And I went and looked and came home with a, a six foot kawaii cricket. That I, I, I, as I said earlier, I can't believe it's 30 years old, but I love it. So much. It's the best investment I ever could have made. And so that's kind of, I mean, in a less dramatic way, I suppose the same thing with violin.
I just thought I just want to celebrate this big change in my life, leaving a job of 25 years and all that that entails and just, you know, do something. It seems like a good time. You know, this lady that was supportive of me and who I love to hear play. You know, has, has her, some of her violins are available.
I'm going to do it. And I got a, I got a couple of notes from the shop. One note, I think like a bill I had paid. I was making payments and I made part of the payments and then had a little crunch. And I remember getting a note from them saying, please catch up. Sorry. So you know. Finally got, got got it paid to, to their satisfaction.
And yeah, it's just, it's just time to be creative and explore. And I don't know how, how many American students you have versus Canadian or,
Julia: or most of them are American actually. Okay. Probably like 75%.
Lisa: Wow, okay. Any others from this part of the country?
Julia: Oklahoma Oklahoma, certainly you are the first and only.
I have another student from I won't say where, but I would say Midwest. A couple others from the Midwest, but more North. Geographically different enough, though, that I don't know. Where does the Midwest end exactly? I'm not sure. Good question. Topic for another episode, I think we could cover on
Lisa: that.
We're not in the West, we're not, we're just, we're definitely the Plains
Julia: states. Okay, yeah, Plains I would say you are one of two. Oh, okay. Northern Plains.
Lisa: Yeah, and I don't know how others feel and I don't want to get into the p word politics.
Julia: No, no politics on the podcast.
Lisa: That is a hard We're here to escape.
I just want to say it just seems like a very unsettled time and that's why More important. I mean, I I can't really remember another time feeling like this. Hmm, and it's that's why it's so important I think to find something that is creative and it kind of just soothes your spirit and Keeps you busy in a good way and mm hmm You peace and you can take it with you and you can, you can, you know, do the thing at home and just make music with your violin and, and just, that's important.
Oh, yeah. Very important. So whether you're stressed by life events or not, it's just a, a good thing to, figure out about yourself, what, you know, what brings you that, that sense of peace. And, and one thing for me is, is definitely, , learning music. And playing.
Julia: Yeah. And I think when we look at, your story through all of these different instruments, you can see that it's always been a constant.
And I think that's what one of the beautiful things with music and any instrument is that, you're in it for life once you're, once you're in it. , you may have taken a few years of lessons and it's just something big in your life has come up and you're like, I, you know, whether budget or time or just energy, it's, it's.
you have to take a break from it. , and certainly, that's the experience of, of many, if not most students at some point, something is going to come in the way. But, you know, you've put in all of this time that, maybe a year down the line, maybe five years down the line, maybe 20 years down the line.
You will find your way back to it in some way. and if it's not the, the instrument that you had started off with, sometimes it's going to be a different one. As you said, that are the instruments we play in our childhood, I can certainly relate, has a lot of baggage, really just the longer you played, the more as internalized, I think with that instrument.
That's why for fun, I like to relax playing piano, not violin. So the opposite of you, because I've never had a piano lesson in my life, but I love to play piano. I think it's such a nice instrument. It's so, you know, it's probably for similar reasons that you like. Violin, just the way it makes you feel when you play, it's just something that's that no matter where you're at in life that you can always kind of fall back upon.
And I will say that it's generally in those hardest moments whenever you've got something going on that, when you're out of the, you know, your entire mental energy is being taken up by that. When you're kind of in the recovery from that is when I think we need that the most, whether that be music, whether that be, you know, running or, or crochet or any sort of I'll call it a serious hobby.
It feels more, more than that. I think, something that you can just kind of dedicate. Time to that is just for you. You're not paid to do it. In fact, you're probably paying to do it and there you're not going to be judged by anyone but yourself and it's just something that you do because it makes you feel Good.
Lisa: Yes, I, you know, looking back also at, at my life, , the first thing I wanted to be, I think, when I was a little kid was a vet. And
Julia: That does not surprise me knowing you.
Lisa: Well, you know, then you've got the input from your parents who are also going to help finance your education.
And, and my, one of my parents said, well, if you're going to basically, if we're going to invest all of that into your education, why don't you be a doctor? Why don't you? And I thought, hmm, well, that sounds pretty good. So I, I went to college as pre med biology major, chemistry minor. And in my junior year, I thought, I don't think I want to do this.
So I got the biology degree. Then you, then you have a decision. What am I going to do with this? I'm not going to go to medical school. What am I going to do with it? So I did a year of graduate school. That wasn't a very good fit. I didn't think I taught high school for a couple of years. That was fun.
But at that time teachers made nothing. And so my, my father suggested, well, why don't you go into, you know, pharma sales maybe? And I was like, Oh, that sounds pretty good. Okay. So I did that for the 25 years and then got into marketing with this cardiology group and, and working, especially working with physicians.
I have had this sense of, you know, was I, was I kind of, failure is a, is a harsh word to use, but I felt like I just didn't put all the pieces together. I, I never figured out the career thing. It was just kind of like I drifted. You know, taking other people's advice because I didn't really know what I wanted to do.
And it has turned out well. And I want to tell you one thing real quickly. I was talking to one of our advanced cardiac care surgeons. They do things like implant artificial hearts and heart transplants and all of those things. Super nice guy. And I found out that he plays violin. Oh, yeah. And so we were talking about it and, and And he said, he was telling me that he took lessons for 12 years and then, you know, he played during college and then, and then he said, and after that, I got kind of busy, you know, going to medical school and learning the surgery.
That's a little busy. Right. Tell you how relieved I am at this point in my life to be neither a vet nor because it, the vet thing I think would be too emotionally. devastating.
Julia: Oh, I cannot imagine.
Lisa: No. And a people doctor would be incredibly rewarding. Very, very sad at times, I think, but they don't have the freedom of time to explore these other things that are so, so much a part of my life.
You know, the doctor that I was speaking to has, I'm sure, a very fine violin. He said it's sitting in a closet. And so I'm just, I'm so happy to have failed. I think I found my way sort of accidentally and it's, it's a, it's a very, yeah, it brings me peace and joy. Yeah.
Julia: Oh, that's, that's such a beautiful way of, of seeing it, and I think that's something that probably a lot of people need to hear right now, certainly I do, and yeah, just thank you , for sharing,
. I always want to ask if you could please share some of your advice to beginners, someone who is about to start or has just started and maybe is getting across their first learning hump and , it's a struggle.
What advice would you have to share with them?
Lisa: Simple things. A couple of very simple things. Number one is Find a pencil and a notepad. Something that is kind of fun for you, if you care about that sort of thing. I do. Something you, you like to write with. And take a, take a note or two during class.
I don't know about others, but I'm going to probably forget exactly what I want to work on. Or something that I. Think that you say that is important for me to keep in mind. Right. Just write it down super quickly. And it always makes me think of my piano teacher when I was young, because she would write and she would talk while she write.
And that certainly still lives just around the corner from what we spoke about. Yeah. Anyway, so make, your pencil is your friend. Take some notes. Also, on your, your music. I mean, if you are, and I do this particularly with piano, if you keep missing a flat or a sharp or a natural or something just over and over again, write it down.
Don't frustrate yourself by saying, I should be better than this. I should know how to do this. I should remember this. Nah, you will get further by just making the correction. You're not giving up. You're not, you know, you're not admitting failure. You are actually improving by just making a quick note on your music.
And I would, I would I would definitely do those two things. Take notes and, and, you know, make corrections on your music. And the other thing is, just keep in mind, your violin. Your instrument is your friend. You cannot make music without it. It cannot make music without you. Partnership. And I think treat it as such.
Just, I, I, I wasted, I won't say wasted, but spent so much time in a, in a negative frame of mind, being frustrated about piano. And that's not the way, that's not the way to do it. Above all, have fun. It should bring you joy. It should be something that is fun. , and when I, have issues with violin or make mistakes, I just laugh them off because they are kind of funny.
So
Julia: we can certainly make some funny sounding noises sometimes with the instrument. But. Thank you for the very, very important reminder about taking notes because I 100 percent agree, , and if I may add a little reason to, since we were talking about sentimental things, the notes can become sentimental as well.
I have. Like copies and I'm sure you do with piano too of violin from when that I actually sometimes will pull out for teaching that I use when I was like eight years old or maybe 15 years old and I still have my notes in there and it just instantly brings me back to like where I was at in my teacher's studio and just you know, like don't forget the sharp and have it circled a whole bunch of times and it's just it's just funny to me now and I'm glad I have those but if you open up any of my music it is Covered, covered in notes, , and we're, at least in formal settings, we're absolutely encouraged to take copious notes at your lessons.
So I 100 percent agree with that. Bring your pencils. I
Lisa: haven't looked, but I am. I can say with 100 percent certainty that if I went to my mother's house and lifted the bench of the old console piano, I learned to play on, if I looked in there, , my piano teacher's notes, her, her notebooks would still be in there.
So, some of them, so.
Julia: I mean, there are, there are items that become so sentimental because you just spend so many hours just staring at it. Yeah. And like, you know, now with you know, with. Public domain and websites that have all of these different pieces of music. You don't need to have that, but I still hold on to my my sheet music collection despite trying to cut, cut a lot of my possessions recently as I moved into my house.
It's not something I'm, I'm willing to part with, and I think a lot of you can relate to that. I think I'm not the only one. Definitely.
And that is it for my conversation with Lisa. I hope that you found some inspiration.
Or perhaps something in Lisa's story that you could relate to wherever you're at in your violin journey.
If you did, I would certainly love to hear about it. You can email me@violinclasspodatgmail.com. A big, thank you again to Lisa for coming on here with me, sharing your story and all of the great advice to. Listeners. And if you liked this type of episode,
Please take a minute to leave a rating or review in apple podcasts or wherever you listen. Be back in two weeks with a new episode. Thank you for listening. And I'll catch you guys at the next one.