Ten New Year's Resolutions for the Violinist
1. Practice every day!
There are no short-cuts; this is the only real way to learn and maintain your violin skills. Not only that, but once you have formed the habit, it's easier to practice every day than to practice some days. Start with a goal of 21 straight days. If you fall off the wagon, start counting at "one," until you reach 21 days in a row. When you have reached 21 days, you will find that you have a strong habit going. Then, keep it going! It's a virtuous cycle: the more you practice, the better you play; the better you play, the more you practice.
2. Learn a new piece.
For students, this is obvious; keep progressing. For those who have graduated to independent study (a lifelong state, as far as I'm concerned!), one has to direct this effort, make it happen. You only live once; What piece have you always wanted to play? Well, try it! Or at least figure out the path you need to go in order to play it. If you are a teacher, look at new pieces and collections for your students.
3. Resurrect an old piece.
Whether you have been playing for 30 years and are re-working a piece you learned as a college student, or you are in Suzuki Book 4 and brushing off a piece from Suzuki Book 2, this can be incredibly rewarding. An old piece becomes a completely new endeavor when you add your experience, better technique (hopefully!) and new perspective. Things like fingerings, bowings, etc. will come back to you quickly, and then you will be building into higher realms of playing: taking techniques to a higher level of refinement, gaining musical insights and thereby getting to a new level of fluency on the instrument.
4. Choose a technique to master this year, and put it into your daily practice.
This should be a technique that you already know, but something you feel you would like to do better. For example, a few years back, I decided that I was just "getting by" with the ricochet; probably it was a run through Mozart 3 that got me thinking about it. So I incorporated ricochet it into my three-octave scales: double, triple, quadruple ricochet; up-bow, down-bow, on one note, over several notes, etc., you get the picture. It's amazing, when you make something part of your daily practice, how quickly things get easier. Also, once you've mastered the initial exercises, you will want to go deeper, finding or inventing new exercises for that particular technique.
5. Take a friend to a concert that features violin music.
We are the best advocates for the music we love! Resolve to, at least once this year, reach out to someone who seems interested in your music, and get that person even more interested.
6. Resolve to practice your orchestra music.
If you are a student, practice it until you know it well. If you are a professional symphony player, you know what I mean. It doesn't take all that much effort to brush up the nasty passages, and it makes orchestra so much more enjoyable.
7. Exercise!
This is a regular item on most people's list of New Year's resolutions, whether they are musicians or not. Certainly, maintaining strength, flexibility and endurance will help your playing. Also, exercise will help your overall health, physically and mentally. So many problems can be solved by a simple regimen of physical exercise, so to quote Nike, Just Do It!
8. Listen.
Listening is a fundamental part of music-making, it's where it all begins! Yet sometimes when life fills up with making music, practicing, etc., we forget to be passive now and then and just listen. This year, resolve to seek out at least one fantastic performance or recording every month. You may want to attend a performance, buy a CD, watch something on Youtube. You could listen to violin music, symphony music, a performance by a fine vocalist, a wonderful clarinetist, a band that you find inspiring. Just don't forget to listen!
9. Volunteer.
This is rewarding, whether or not your volunteering is music-related. Here are some ideas, though, if you'd like to volunteer for music-related causes: speak to or play for a classroom of children, work the phones an arts organization's funding drive, serve on the board for the local symphony or other arts organization, join the fight to keep music in the schools (or bring music to schools), etc.
10. Tell a friend or colleague about Violinist.com!
If you have found Violinist.com to be helpful or inspiring, we hope you'll spread the word so that we can continue to grow our community! (Click here to join our e-mail list, and feel free to share that link!)
Please feel free to add your own ideas for New Year's resolutions, or about these resolutions. Happy New Year!
You might also like:
- New Year's Resolution for Practicing: Be Careful What You Measure
- New Year's Resolution: Focus on the Building Blocks for Your Goals
- New Year’s Resolution: Play More Chamber Music
* * *
Enjoying Violinist.com? Click here to sign up for our free, bi-weekly email newsletter. And if you've already signed up, please invite your friends! Thank you.
Tweet
Replies
Perfect!
Wonderful list. As a life-long amateur, may I add an item to this great list. I'm assuming that your item 8 (Listen) implies the following. But if not, how about this?
11. APPRECIATE. Once a day, find one small passage that you've either heard hundreds of times or that you usually don't pay attention to. It can be a long passage or a very brief one or one that you usually don't care about. Pay attention to that passage and find something about it (technically, aesthetically, historically, a great performer, or whatever) that helps you discover (or rediscover) and fully appreciate that passage.
Happy New Year to everyone.
I'm in! Thank you, Laurie!
Check: 1, 2, 3,4,6,7,8,10!
I missed 5, and 9 - but if I play in a community orchestra without pay isn't that volunteering? So maybe I have 9/10.
'Take a friend to a concert featuring the violin': a good idea I should do this year.
To have any credibility or moral force one's resolution list has to be witnessed and monitored, penalty notices being issued when contraventions are detected. So this year I think I'll pass.
OK, so anyone missing even one of the 10 resolutions for the day owes me $1 as a penalty. How's that?
OK Sanders. Every resolution we miss we pay you 1$ - but every one we keep you pay us one ....
Kaching!
Excellent post, especially about practice, and structured practice for me in particular.
The only thing I do from the list religiously is exercise every single day for at least an hour, calisthenics and interval training.
Great list! I particularly like the exercise idea.So important as we age and sit in a practise chair for hours on end.
This list is meant to inspire - let's forget the penalties and just do our best!
Thank you Laurie for the great list! It resembles the list of goals I have made for the year, and I believe I will be able to achieve it. And if life gets in the way by means of things out of my control, then one needs to be kind to oneself and just get back to it as soon as it is possible. Positive steps forward!
How about a variation of number 5: take a friend to a concert that features viola music. Well, there aren't that many to choose from, so pick music that contains passages featuring the viola. (Guess what instrument I play.)
One more -- maybe to combine with "Volunteer."
11. Donate. Do you have $100 that you can give to your local freeway phil or community orchestra? Do you have an old fractional violin in decent shape that would be welcomed by a school or other charity?
Donating is the perfect alternative to volunteering for the person who has loads of money but no time. Most of us can do some of both.
@Steve -- I will self-monitor, as I am the person to whom I need to be most credible.
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
Violinist.com is made possible by...
Dimitri Musafia, Master Maker of Violin and Viola Cases
Johnson String Instrument/Carriage House Violins
Subscribe
Laurie's Books
Discover the best of Violinist.com in these collections of editor Laurie Niles' exclusive interviews.
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 1, with introduction by Hilary Hahn
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 2, with introduction by Rachel Barton Pine
December 29, 2023 at 10:35 PM · An inspiring list! Laurie, what about raising the matter again, perhaps as a questionnaire, at the end of January, to help us to stick to the self-promises?