Tips & Tricks: Playing the Violin is not Always Fun, and Why That is OK!

I recently heard a 5 year old student of mine talking to her mom as she walked away from lesson one day. Her lesson that day had not gone as well as usual, possibly because she was tired and possibly because she had not managed to practice as much as usual during the week. “I thought that playing the violin was going to be fun” she said to her mom. Playing music looks like fun, but the truth of the matter is that there is a lot of hard work that goes into it. It will not always be fun, and that is ok.

I think it is important for everyone learning an instrument to know that there is hard work to be done. There are days that you will not want to practice, there are rehearsals that you will not want to go to, and there are definitely times that it will be frustrating. As a professional musician, I still experience all of these things. I don’t necessarily want to practice every day. There are times that I don’t want to go to rehearsal, and there are times that I get discouraged because I am working on music that challenges my ability.

The good news is that overall playing music is fun! It is fun when you finally manage to play a piece that you have been working on and struggling with. It is fun when you get to play music with other people. There are many times that even though I didn’t want to go to rehearsal, I have a lot of fun once I get there. In the end, it is definitely worth it!

So, to all those of you who are struggling, feeling frustrated, and wondering when this will actually be fun, take heart. There are days when it won’t be, but the times that it is fun will prevail!