Change is the only constant in life, and that includes making adjustments as we go through our musical journey. Whether it involves learning to play a new genre, beginning lessons with a new teacher, or revamping foundation on the violin for more sustainability, the idea is to be open to the possibilities and grow in context of what life presents. This thought was inspired by Brad Stulberg, the author of Master of Change:
“A road is linear and aims to get you from here to there with as much haste and as little effort as possible. A road resists the landscape; instead of working with its environment it plows over whatever is in its way…a path, on the other hand…works in harmony with its surroundings. When you are traveling on a path you may have a general sense of where you are going, but you are open to navigating, perhaps even making use of, whatever detours arise. A path is not separate from its environment but rather part of it…it is always unfolding and revealing itself to you.” p. 16-17
Even after 30 years of playing the violin, one of my principles is to keep my cup from overflowing (metaphorically) and embrace a “beginner’s mindset” when appropriate. One of those times was when I began learning some basics about body-mapping during the pandemic. Three years ago, I met with a body mapper who works with musicians at the Metropolitan Orchestra and was “prescribed” a custom chin rest, which I happily ordered from chinrests.com. During the time I performed on that chin rest, I continued to learn more about myself and becoming more aware of what my body was feeling in various performance situations, as well as during practice. At the same time, I began to study Paul Rolland Pedagogy. After 3 years, I realized (with reassurance from one of my mentors) that it was time to return to my pre-pandemic setup. The custom chin rest was there for me when I needed it, but it was no longer serving me.
If you’d like to hear more about my thoughts behind this particular case, click HERE.
Making decisions to change something, even if it’s something small, isn’t easy. We don’t want to be rash and act impulsively because of distracting noise and trends…on the other hand it can be very tough to let go of something that we are used to.