Do I wish I could play violin like Lindsey Stirling? Yes. Have I have ever finished sight reading through a whole piece of hers? Not until today…
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Though, I played through it at a very different speed, velocity, and acceleration…in fact, at a quarter of the original tempo. It’s not as impressive as hitting her lightning fast thirty-second notes, sure, but I still played it through a different lens. I slowed down time to see each note, of each measure, of each line, of each page of the story.
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I quickly realized, I had the hardest time doing this as I was always just a note ahead, anticipating the next measure. I didn’t want to see this painful frequency distribution over a longer time period.
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Why had I not tried this before? Usually, I just gave up when music became too complicated to execute, then moved onto a different part of the piece that seemed easier. I was not trusting of myself to be able to learn it.
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Once we read between the lines at a slower frequency, we start understanding why patience and taking a step back (or three-fourths of the tempo) can help us see the details and the whole picture more clearly. We can actually play life’s melody with far better intonation when we let things unfold, without forcing the complicated notes to execute from the page to the ear. It’s a conversation with yourself to play music, are you listening to yourself? Are you just playing without worrying about how in tune you are? Are you expressing happiness, anger, sadness, or confusion? Are you feeling flat or sharp?
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Perhaps you are just playing the notes without much feeling at all, too worried about playing the right notes as they are written and then ultimately sounding robotic and indifferent. Instead, it would be far better to play because it makes you happy, to improvise and have fun, and to express your emotions and musicality. For following the latter means you are naturally staying true to you and your interpretation of life’s music.
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I certainly wanted instant feedback at first, but then realized there was a larger story to piece apart, to fine tune slowly, in order to learn how to play the full composition. It takes a much longer time, a much more controlled movement between my mind, eyes, and both hands. It’s pretty exhausting to get through ten pages of music at that pace, but think of the journey and end result…
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With more reflection, care, and allowing ourselves the trust we deserve, we can play the notes just like Lindsey Stirling can one day. It’s your own journey to listen critically to yourself and adjust your pitch, your tempo as complications arises, to then learn how the complexity is comprised of just smaller and easier measures to understand in a larger story.
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The harmony is always there to back you up as long as you listen close enough and play to resonate and respond to it as a musical conversation. All will come together beautifully if you stay true to yourself, at your own tempo, to play your life’s melody with love.
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InkYourHeart 