How do I get my motivation back? (violin)?
When I was 2 or 3 I used to pick up my mother's violin and "play" it on my lap while singing Baa, Baa, Blacksheep. When my siblings played, I'd listen in, begging to get lessons, too. I grew up being told by everyone that I was a "wonder child" with huge potential. I got my first violin when I was 4, and immediately started playing one of Mozart's Divertimentos with my family's quartet (dad on flute, sister on cello, brother on viola, mother on violin) after I showed them that I'd picked up the leading melody by heart just by listening to them. I started playing the viola when I was about 8, and the piano when I was 10. I took lessons from one of Norway's great violinists, Terje Moe Hansen, I attended a hugely prestigious musical academy called Barratt Due, I practiced for an hour a day, and then ... it just got less and less fun. The big collapse came when my parents divorced when I was 11. My mother went abroad and my dad didn't force me to practice. So gradually I just played less and less and now that I'm 19, I'm "taking a break". I played in the same orchestra as the now-international Alexander Rybak and Vilde Frang Bjerke, I have an Italian violin that's worth beteen $10,000 and $20,000, and overall I just feel like a huge failure. My parents have invested so much money in this, and I was always told I could become professional, that I could go international. I can't let go of the feeling that there still is some talent left in me. I still play the piano (my latest piece is Beethoven's Sonate Pathétique) but that was not my original passion! I used to play Kreisler-Pugnani's Prelude&Allegro, and now when I pick the violin up raw I can hardly play Meditation from Thaïs without making any errors. What should I do to get my motivation back? I don't want to sit as an adult regretting that I never got back into it? Please give me some advice, guys. I just don't want to quit permanently. N4SXX: Send a $15,000 violin to you? To you? "Send"? No thanks :D The seller offered to buy it back from me for double what I paid. I said no way. I'm never letting go of my Italian beauty.
Classical - 6 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
I had the same issue with playing piano - all of a sudden I just didn't enjoy it as much. But I came back in full swing when I found popular music that I really enjoyed from my favorite artists or movies, and I started playing those songs instead of the typical classic music I used to play. I found it much more enjoyable. So perhaps you should try the same! Good luck!
2 :
If you don't want to quit permanently, then don't. Pick up that violin and play. It will take some time to play as well as you used to be because there is a physical element in playing an instrument. If you were an athlete and didn't play your sport for several years, you couldn't suddenly start again and expect your muscles and reflexes to be the same. You are also troubled by doubt, regrets, and fears. Fine, let your feelings out in your music. Think of music as life itself. You make mistakes in life, but you have a choice of learning from them or giving up. You will make mistakes when you play, but....? Do you have a current violin teacher? You might need to relearn things you've forgotten. As for switching instruments or genres of music, that is something you must follow your own heart and mind on. Simply switching will simply mean you will still have to work as hard or even harder, but in a different way.
3 :
"I don't want to sit as an adult regretting that I never got back into it" - sounds like you are already doing that... pick it up and play. what type of motivation advice could any of us offer you - you have done more that most here....
4 :
Hi, from what I went through a few years ago, it's a matter of finding an inspiration that picks you back up again, whatever that may be for you... I hated my violin for a while, but after making some new friends (musos) and finding new music, it slowly got me interested again. New music to me means something new and contemporary. Also, at that time, I joined a musical pit orchestra. That took heaps of energy, and it was heaps of fun. It wasn't a professional stage type thing, but it was fun. Music doesn't have to be all about solo-istic works. Even though you are capable to be the next big violinist (from what you've indicated) and become a pro violinist that I'll know the name of, go back to the basics, forget your own expectations, and just have fun! Best of luck!
5 :
listen to some tony robbins tapes
6 :
just send the violin to me and continue playing the piano and dreading the fact that you are a quitter I am 48 and wish that I had the chance to learn with a teacher BUT alas I am forced to learn on my own
