V.com weekend vote: If a genie gave you one magic wish for your playing, what would it be?
Playing a stringed instrument such as the violin, viola, cello or bass is endlessly demanding. You make progress on intonation, only to find that you can't seem to keep the bow from going over the fingerboard. You get the rhythm right, only to find that now everything sounds metronomic and unmusical.
So if a genie gave you one magic wish for your playing, what would it be?
For me - being quite left-handed - I would wish for more ease with my bow. What would your wish be? Please participate in the vote and then tell us about it!
Replies
better rhythm, any hints on how to improve it?
Something else:-- the mental/emotional talent to play well for solos and auditions, instead of everything going wrong that could possibly go wrong, a kind of clumsiness. My last teacher, at my last lesson, , at a major music school, said that I had the best technique of any of his students, but, something was missing.
TECH. (But more money per gig so I can get better instrument)
I was stuck between better bow technique, better left hand, and better rhythm ... one thing I would definitely like is a better ability to follow the rhythm written in front of me. I've been called up more than once in relation to popular pieces of music, for playing what I remember, not what the score says.
My right hand is coming along nicely. But my left hand challenges me. My intonation is okay, but my pinkie finger is too short. I’m still a ways from learning vibrato or shifting, but I don’t mind.
I want to be good enough to play onstage with my band of ukulele players. I would also like to jam with the bluegrass musicians here.
I have an excellent violin teacher, who plays concert master in a 25 piece orchestra. If she doesn’t know something, she looks it up.
Other: -
Better memory.
Arthritis I can cope with, but with glaucoma and cataracts on their way too, I'm lost without memory if I can't see the sheet music.
Yes...glaucoma has lead to an understanding of just how much our focused vision darts around the music, both instrumentally and in singing.
I chose better bow technique in the vote but I have changed my mind now. If I could wish for anything, I would wish to be able to play every single piece in the repertoire. I don't think anything could be better than that.
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March 17, 2025 at 11:21 AM · I personally think intonation matters more than anything else, and is the one thing that very few people can have perfect control over as it is a matter of your hearing, for instance if you cant hear certain registers. Whereas bowing technique can be improved with practice and hard work.
Just my opinion though.