Last year I participated in a great holiday music party by the Hacienda Heights Orchestra. Wow! As a beginner I knew nothing. I could barely keep up with Jingle Bells. Well, this year will be different. I am already starting on the Christmas songs I will need to know this year.
The orchestra leader, who is my instructor, also asked me to bring a table of the violins I have made. I am grateful because I haven’t had the chance to do that.
It will be wonderful to see everyone again, and this time I may just get through a few songs.
On the electromagnetic spectrum, humans can see only a small amount of light, which is called the visible spectrum. We see “Roy G. Biv” (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet).
If combined, each of the seven colors of the rainbow makes white light. Sir Isaac Newton found that a prism can split white light into these seven colors.
Each Color has a Sound Frequency
•Red = C (Do)
•Orange = D (Re)
•Yellow = E (Mi)
•Green = F (Fa)
•Blue = G (So)
•Indigo = A (La)
•Violet = B (Ti)
Play them and see how you feel?
Colors Evoke Emotions
Each color frequency is connected to how we feel as they vibrate at different rates of speed, affecting our bodies. Color Therapy has been used to change people’s emotions. A well-known painter, Mark Rothko, understood how color alters us emotionally. The painting below uses complementary colors, red and green with the red being a dominant feature.
The power of Rothko’s work is the use of color to create an emotional state for the viewer that was passionate.
Mark Rothko’s Earth and Green, 1950s
Music does the Same Thing: Evoke Emotion
We listen to genres of music to experience a specific feeling. Death metal can raise anger, classical with maturity, and country with the twang and a line dance. DJs get this. They curate music for the emotional experience.
I think I know what the “rules” are for practicing an instrument. And I know that I don’t always do it that way. I don’t warm up and my fingers start hurting in the middle of my solo. When I practice scales and arpeggios, I get bored and act as though they are unnecessary, which they are. And let’s not mention that I don’t clean the violin after playing it. The violin I play most is a blonde-white, so the rosin dust doesn’t show and by the time I see it, well it’s pretty bad.
Oh, and using the tools available to me, like the metronome and recordings from the Essential Elements books. I only use them when I struggle. And then there’s the music I must practice for my lessons versus playing music I’ve composed. I feel absolute joy when I play my music, so I mix that in.
Flames Violin
I know my instructor knows. I always knew how much a student put into the work when I was a professor. So then, there’s this guilt and shame involved.
Bottom line is that I’m not respecting myself or the violin. It’s like some form of self-sabotage and it’s not the first time in my life I’ve behaved this way. I used to be a victim. I had many severe traumas as a child, so self-sabotage has been my way of getting out of doing something I’m afraid to do.
Playing violin scares me. I admit it. So, the question becomes, “How can I play if I’m scared?” My answer, face my fear. I’ve taken care of fear and victimization in many areas of my life, but music is difficult. I believe it was a squashed gift I should have thrived in doing. All this passive aggressive fear must go! So, I play, and I play, and I play.
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Violin by Jana Rawling
What I felt was exciting and new. I had only dreamt of feeling that way. I’ve watched and listened to other musicians, and I could see and feel it happening to them. It’s something I’ve always wanted for myself.
Here’s what happened. I was determined to play a piece of music for each of the violins I make to upload to my YouTube Channel @TheViolinLady. So, I got my first violin back from our local Luthier who had placed the sound post for me. I tuned the violin and sat down to play. I started playing a song that I am learning and was still not confident playing it. After a million mistakes, I decided to play a short piece that I composed myself. I figured I knew it better and if I can’t play that, I need way more practice and a better solution for sound tests.
I played the song repeatedly and then it happened. I felt the notes in my heart and stomach. It was this indescribable joy that I felt. Each note I played I heard clearly as though I was part of the sound itself. My body responded by swaying to the music as if caught in some ethereal rhythm. I finally felt it.
I felt the music. I felt each note. I felt every note blend into the next. And the best part, I felt hope. I felt it was possible that I could play that way. I could play out of my heart with passion. And now I’m addicted. I want to play that way all the time.
So, that’s my new goal. Feel the passion for each note.
On a side note: I asked God a year or so ago how to play the violin. He said, “There’s time for every note and every note has passion.” To add to that I recently heard, “Intonation is a choice for every note you play.” These words of wisdom are beginning to sink in.
I was brainstorming and I already have designs for my next four violins. It’s exciting for me to make such beautiful violins and to be able to hear them is even better. I got totally vulnerable and shot video of me playing the Amber Violin. That will be part eight of the Amber playlist of videos. I’m hoping to get my instructor to play it for me too.
I thought it might be too much to show every little thing I do as I make the violins, like the time it takes to sand it, or layer on the stain. So, with my next one I did it all in two videos with lots of editing. I honestly am not sure which is the better way. Maybe somewhere in between. I will try that next time and see how it goes.
I’m made to make art and to be creative. Getting to do that with the violin is special to me. I love to lose myself in music and in art. I surrender to the Creative Spirit within, and the ideas flow freely. All my career I had to be creative more than 40 hours per week. I learned how to set everything aside and get to it.
I always keep a sketchbook or journal with me. If something happens that raises my emotions, I write about it quickly, close the book and push it aside. Then I can be creative. It’s a form of compartmentalizing my life. I leave the drama, fear, self-sabotage, unbelief, doubt, and worry in that book. I still feel symptoms of having a traumatic childhood, as many of us do.
Creativity and Design free me to be who I am made to be. I can’t imagine a life without artistic freedom. Creating. Putting my hands to work makes me happy and fulfilled because it’s part of my purpose.
I never thought I’d love something more than figure sculpture, but admittedly I do. Violin playing sparks something in my heart that I can’t explain. I even liked violin when I didn’t know the difference between a C-natural and a C-sharp. I’d screech out sounds that hurt my ears as I prayed anyone listening would be okay. I’d get the occasional, “Keep practicing.”
Today’s comments are much more encouraging. I’m feeling more confident—sometimes. If you asked me why I play I’d have difficulty explaining because it’s a mystery. It’s as though I was being led by a supernatural force that wells up deep from within. I’m not trying to be poetic it just is.
Hitting the Right Note
I used to be obsessed with golf, though I can no longer play due to being disabled. Hitting the ball perfectly made me love to play. There was a ping sound when the perfect swing connected with the ball. Watching the ball fly exactly as planned made every other crazy shot worth it. I went to the driving range several times a week and played every weekend—always at pace with the guys.
Golf is extremely technical to play. There are lots of pieces to put together to play the game. My left and right brain appreciates the complexity. Playing violin is the same for me. Hitting the right note with perfect intonation feels like hitting that golf ball just right.
We all need wisdom in at least one area of our lives. So, I ask for wisdom often. I ask for wisdom about relationships, finances, friendships, and life. Why not ask how to play the violin?
There are many religions and many gods. And a popular acceptance of the “Universe” for many characterizes the indescribable power of life. Don’t worry, I’m not trying to recruit or change your belief system. But I want to share this:
I asked God how to play the violin after beginning lessons. God told me, “There’s time for every note and every note has passion.”
Then, just last week, I heard, “Intonation is a choice for every note you play.”
Wisdom is Truth
Time seems to slow down when I play ever since hearing those words. I take every note seriously before it becomes part of who I am. I work on what notes I need to play, the rhythm, bowing, and dynamics (thanks to my amazing instructor, Jinette). And finally, I feel the music in my heart. The emotions of the music, especially when I play something I write. The music wells up from deep within my being. I feel the music in every cell of my body, as though I were made to play.
I believe in the power of asking wisdom questions. I won’t stop now. And maybe, just maybe, I will play with passion and meaningful intonation for others. Why? Because I want everyone to experience the beautiful mystery of music. Music that soothes the soul.
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