No, no, no, no.

By -
Photo by Bill O'Neill
In August I played at a fiddle contest. No, I didn't win. My goal was to make it through both tunes without stopping. And I achieved my goal. After all, I've only been playing for a couple of years.

 In fact, before I played, I said something to the effect of: "I've only been playing for two and a half years - I'm saying this not to get your pity, but to tell you that if you want to try something that seems really hard, even at an 'advanced age,' go for it!"

 After the contest was over, the musicians were starting a little jam session. Someone came up to me and told me how much what I said had inspired him. He said, "I really want to play again. I played when I was in high school, and everyone really thought I was good then."

 "Well, why don't you come and play with us now? Someone will loan you a violin!"

 "No, no, no, I couldn't do that, they would laugh at me!"

 "OK. If you want to play as an adult, I have a couple of suggestions - I was in the same position as you a few years ago and this is what I did - there's some jam sessions in this area you could attend. Where do you live?"

 "No, no, no, I couldn't do that. I need to start playing at home, I would embarrass myself playing with other people."

 "Trust me, they won't mind, these musicians are very encouraging of people of all levels, they were in that position themselves."

 "No, no, no, I would just be too horrible, I just couldn't."

 "Well, if you want an easier start, there is a great weekend event you could attend, it's called Folk College, in central PA, where they have workshops for people who are getting back into music, they'll teach you how to jam, it's a really great thing to do."

"No, no, no, I think I just want to find a teacher,"

 "OK, sounds good, in my experience a teacher is important but playing with others is also really important, and probably much easier than you think."

 I realized I had heard "no, no, no," a lot of times, and I realized how scary it really is to try doing something new as an adult.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Make a "Rush" Woven Seat Chair Using Old Jeans (or Fabric Scraps)

By -
Image
I used the technique for weaving a rush chair seat to make a chair seat using old jeans. The antique ladderback chair is just the right height for me to practice my Québécois button accordion. Fabric Choice Although at first I considered using t-shirt strips (also called tarn), I decided to jeans because denim is stronger and not stretchy. I had some old heavy linen fabric that would have done the trick, too, but I didn't have enough for the whole chair with either linen or jeans. I decided not to mix them, at least not for my first chair. I was advised, (correctly!) by other crafters, that all I had to do was out the word out, and I’d get donations. I sent out 4 emails and literally went shopping and there were two pairs of jeans on my doorstep. I had five more pairs by the weekend. (Now I need another chair!) Some Pointers Before I describe the process, here are some pointers. I don't recommend doing this with a stretchy fabric. Therefore, if you use jeans, avo
Read more

Keep One Point

By -
Image
I've been slowly but surely writing of a series posts devoted to each of the  four basic principles of Kokikai Aikido . One of these is Keep One Point to Develop Calmness. We spend about 90 minutes in each aikido class, and most students practice once or twice a week - only a small proportion of the of hours we are awake each week. It may be plenty of time to spend doing a demanding physical exercise, but we need to spend more time working on the underlying principles for them to become second nature in our bodies. Fortunately, all of the basic principles are easily practiced at any time, not just in class. We can easily practice finding and keeping One Point while off the mat, and test the results when we're back on the mat. What Is One Point? One Point is a concept closely related to your center of balance. Centuries ago martial artists discovered that if the mind is focused on keeping this point low, one becomes stronger and harder to move. In Kokikai, we first learn
Read more

Kotsu-Kotsu

By -
Image
Several years ago I visited Japan for the third Kokikai Aikido International Convention. Because of the language barrier I wasn’t able to talk to very many of Maruyama Sensei ’s Japanese students in depth. However, I did spend some time talking to Shuji Ozeki, founder of Kokikai Australia , who speaks English fluently. Ozeki Sensei has practiced Kokikai Aikido for over 25 years. He now lives in Seki, Japan and runs the Ozeki School of Japanese Cuisine .  We immediately slipped into a discussion about the core of Sensei’s teaching, and whether it was different for Japanese or American students. Ozeki Sensei was effusive about the way that Sensei’s teaching has greatly benefited his own life and benefits others by encouraging all human beings to respect one another. with Shuji Ozeki at Kokikai Aikido International Convention Ozeki Sensei explained to me the Japanese phrase, “Ichi go, ichi e.” I had purchased this calligraphy at a temple in Kyoto. I have heard it interpreted in
Read more