- Amanda McKinney
Fiddling Around

So I unexpectedly had some free time at home between interpreting jobs today, so I decided to head to the basement and practice playing my violin for a bit. I'm terrible at practicing daily(I never do), but I am still learning. I am working on a portion of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto at the moment, not because I'm good enough to play his Concerto well, but because I'm able to practice a couple different techniques within the piece. Anyway, I had been practicing for a bit, cringing every time I played a note slightly flat or sharp & when I can't get the trills to sound fluid, etc. I paused a moment and suddenly I had the begginings of a poem in my head. I then stopped practicing, sat down to mull it over, and ended up with this....
Trills & staccato,
Vibrato & slurs..
Takes patience to learn them,
And mere moments to Err.
From the nut to the tip,
Then back again I bow.
Speeding only when needed,
And slowly, I grow.
Cringing when it squeaks,
Elated when done right.
Those few moments of success,
Provide motivation on this plight.
Impatient with slow progress,
And forgetting from where I've come;
Looking back at where I started,
And remembering the fun.
Turning on some Sarasate,
Schubert, or Bach.
I sit back and revel,
In the great masters' work.
The Lord so blessed their composition!
Such Magnificient scores!
With joy and elation,
My soul quickly soars!
I return from the heavens,
And with resolve to stay;
I take up my violin,
And continue to play.