I’ve seen my violin students make great progress already this year on their instruments. Lately, after lessons, I’ve been almost giddy with excitement because of how the lesson went. I had violin lessons with the two older Barilla kids yesterday and lessons with two of the other girls today. All of the lessons went incredibly well once again this week. I’m more organized; I’m expecting more of the students; and I’m seeing a huge difference. Each of my student’s is showing great focus and improvement from lesson to lesson. I’m thrilled with their hard work!
For a while now, one of my students has been complaining of pain in his bow wrist when he plays. The pain starts just five minutes into his practice time. Now, pain is never a good thing. While there may not be a serious problem right now, something is sure to develop after playing the wrong way for an extended period of time. I had given him a few suggestions, mainly telling him to always keep a loose wrist, but it was hard for him to know how to actually “do” the theory I was presenting to him. Since I have a better internet connection this year, I decided to scour the internet to find some help. I didn’t find too much information, but I did find one website with tips on relaxing while playing. Last week, the two of us worked on how to loosen up before practicing. We stretched and wiggled and flopped our arms all around. As crazy as it sounds, the method actually worked. At his lesson yesterday, my student reported that he had rarely felt any pain during the week. And he had a beautiful, relaxed bow hold!
Despite the great progress I’m seeing from the kids, this year has also brought rather unexpected challenges in the violin realm. Now, at this point, I’m going to get pretty technical about violins. Please bear with me, as I try my best to clearly explain the issues.
While I was looking up violin relaxing strategies online, I decided to try to find measurements to help with sizing children to the right violin. The four-year old’s ¼ size violin is just too big, but I wanted to see how close she was to fitting the violin. The wonders of the internet never cease! I found a list of measurements that one violin teacher swears by. Unfortunately, when I measured her, I discovered that she’s several inches away from fitting the ¼ violin. In fact, according to the measurements, she should probably be playing a 1/16! Well, I don’t have access to a 1/16, but I do have an 1/8 at home in the States. I think I’m going to have to try to get that out here sometime this year. Pray that I can keep the four-year old interested in music and in the violin until we can get the smaller instrument out here!
Rainy season in Africa wreaks havoc on violin. There’s so much humidity in the air that parts of the violin begin to swell. Then, just as the violin gets used to all the extra water around, dry season abruptly arrives, causing the wood on the violin to shrink. Right now, we’re nearing the end of rainy season, but it’s definitely leaving a mark on the instruments. One of the instruments in particular is really struggling with the humidity. One of my student’s parents mentioned to me that they were having difficulty tuning one of their instruments. I tried to tune the violin. Sure enough, the pegs had swollen so much, they refused to budge. Well, actually, the part of the peg outside of the violin turned, but the part inside the violin didn’t. At this point, the peg definitely needed to be replaced, so the dad went to work getting the peg out of the violin. I had my student’s mom order a new set of pegs, knowing we would need them. Thankfully, someone was coming over to Cameroon for a short ministry trip, so we were able to get the pegs. Now, one important thing to know about violin pegs is that they have to be fitted for each violin. In Africa, we don’t have violin shops or luthiers. Neither do we have any of the special tools a professional would use. So, we’re going to have to manually sand down the pegs to fit the violin. After that, we’ll have to drill a small hole through the peg so that the string can be strung on the violin. I did a lot of research on the internet (like I said—it’s a wonderful tool!), and I found enough information to reassure myself about the process. Although it won’t necessarily be easy, I think it’s manageable.
If only those were the only problems with that violin…. Naturally, removing the strings from the violin loosened everything else on the violin: the bridge, the tailpiece, all of it. What I didn’t realize was that the tension from the violin also holds the sound post in place. Yesterday, I realized that the sound post had fallen out of place, and I began to despair. (The sound post is located inside the violin and is carefully positioned through the f-hole and secured under the bridge. This is not a location easily accessible. The smallest positioning can severely affect the sound produced from the instrument.) I ran to the internet to scour its resources and find wisdom. Over and over, I read, “Do not attempt to replace the sound post yourself. Take your violin to a professional immediately!” That’s a great recommendation; however, that’s not a feasible solution in Africa. At first, I thought to just leave the violin alone, without worrying about trying to put the sound post back in place. Then, I read how vital the sound post is to supporting the structure of the violin. Who would have thought?!
Well, I figure a working violin is better than a cracked violin, and I’m the best this poor violin has. I believe in the next week or so, I will acquire a new title: violin doctor. Thankfully, the wonderful resource that is the internet explained a little about creating a tool to properly place the sound post into the violin. I also found information about the best location for the sound post. Had I known back in college the things I would one day have to do to a violin, I would have taken a few different classes. But, despite my trepidations regarding this procedure, I’m a little excited to try to replace the sound post. I know this is a rather small issue in the grand scheme of things, but I really would appreciate prayers for wisdom and patience as I work to resolve the violin issues.
Well, maybe after all of these experiments with the violins in Africa, I’ll be brave enough to make my own violin. I have to admit, I think it would be a fun experience to make a violin—especially if the violin ends up sounding good. And truthfully, I don’t think I would trade any of these experiences for anything! I know that even the small incidents in life are a part of God’s plan in making and molding me more into the person of Christ. I’m suddenly reminded of how we, just like an abused, damaged, seemingly worthless violin, are being transformed into priceless treasures in the hands of the Master. Only He can reveal the full potential hidden in weak instruments for His glory!
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Adventures in Violin Land
