Vaughn Vs Violin

March 13, 2011 at 6:19 PM

My name is Ryan Vaughn and I've given myself one year to master the violin. As an adult beginner, I should be learning Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Instead, with the help of my teacher (and wife) Danielle Belen, on faculty at the Colburn School, I am tackling Paganini's Caprice No.24. Yes, this is for real.

Follow my adventures here and on my blog at www.vaughnvsviolin.com

From Laurie Niles
Posted on March 14, 2011 at 2:40 AM

Ryan, you DO have a great teacher! Enjoy your big challenge!

From Alice Kowalski
Posted on March 18, 2011 at 10:11 AM

Certainly an interesting experiment! But I have to say that as a 20 + year amateur who practices regularly and has pretty good dexterity (but has to work on tone and cleanness and all that), I would be very, very impressed if you pull off your final objective.

Having said that, I watched a couple of your videos and am amazed at your progress, considering how short a time frame is involved.

Keep posting!

PS: If you want to feel totally inadequate, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEyrli0LcjU. Or this, two years prior: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucqCefwInWc&feature=related

From Bart Meijer
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 4:20 PM

Good luck, and have fun. The theme is actually rather easy.

If you do succeed, I'll be green with envy. Not really, but it would be surprising.

Looked at your site, and saw that you cheat a little. Besides Paganini you also play Kreutzer and Sevcik: good for you!

an afterthought: you could always save Twinkle for next year.

From Ryan Vaughn
Posted on March 20, 2011 at 1:13 AM

Hi Laurie, Alice, and Bart,

Thanks for looking at the site, and thanks for the warm comments!

And Alice, I enjoyed watching Elli play the Caprice. She actually used to study with my wife Danielle for a short time before deciding to study at the Julliard pre-college program. Although, Danielle would say she had little to do with Elli's greatness since she came to her already very advanced at age 7.

From Alice Kowalski
Posted on March 20, 2011 at 10:31 AM

Vaughn,

Danielle certainly had a lot to do with Elli's music. I believe the most important thing a teacher can do with a super-talented student is not spoil their enthusiasm and love for the music. Sounds trivial, but I really don't think it is. And now, she is doing it for you too!

I'm cheering for you, while also acknowledging I will be very amazed and more than a little jealous if you do succeed....

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Vaughn Vs Violin

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